This week saw the sale for what has become the world’s most expensive racing car sold at auction, a 1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scagliettis. It went for a mere £24.7 million under the hammer at the Artcurial auction in Paris. For those of you wondering, the former record was held by the £17.5 million sale of a 1953 Mercedes W196 (catchy name) at Goodwoods Festival of Speed in 2013.
Going back to the 335 though, only 4 were made and this one was driven by Peter Collins and Maurice Trintignant in the 1957 Sebring 12 hours where it made it’s debut and came 6th. Two months after the 6th place at Sebring, Wolfgang von Trips took the car to 2nd place in Mille Miglia before the 3.8 litre V12 engine was boosted to 4.1 litres. The result was new bhp figure of 405 as opposed to the former 365. This meant it could achieve a whopping 186 mph, in 1957! This car, under the helm of Mike Hawthorn and Luigi Musso gained Scuderia Ferrari the World Constructors’ title. It also won the 1958 Cuban Grand Prix where it was driven by Masten Gregory and Strling Moss as well as setting the lap record at Le Mans by Mike Hawthorn.
After it’s racing career the car went to Robert Dusek, an architect in Pennsylvania in 1960. He retained the car for a decade before it was acquired by Pierre Bardinon. Bardinon raced the car regularly around his race track before passing away in 2012.
Despite the huge sum paid for it, this will never be allowed on the road due to specification of the vehicle. A lot of money for something that will spend it’s time looking good in a garage! Fear not though as I’m sure you wouldn’t mind having it there only for it’s looks. It’s a lovely piece of design from Ferrari, with it’s swooping lines and it’s trademark red finish, The gills on the back wings are a nice feature, giving it a dynamic look. The buyer is unknown but I’m sure they will enjoy owning this slice of Ferrari racing history.