Ferrari 250 GTO 1962 – Most Expensive Car

You might have read that this 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO is the most expensive car. Well that is partially right and partially wrong. The world of classic cars is engulfed with superbs and anecdotes, with a large dose of hyperbole thrown in. Read closely to understand more about the Ferrari 250 GTO.Ferrari 250 GTO Driver's Side

Ferrari 250 GTO – Most Expensive

Let’s cut to the chase. This specific model of the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO by Scaglietti as of now is the most expensive car ever bought at a public auction. Period. Now as we previously covered, there is another Ferrari 250 GTO that is generally thought to be the most expensive car purchased but it was a private sale and the exact details are not a public record-yet.

Ferrari 250 GTO – In Demand

So many might ask what causes these models to be so expensive. Well like many classic cars, price is determined by rarity and provenance or background. The Ferrari 250’s are in demand because they are rare with only 36 made in various versions and iterations. Plus these cars were specifically designed and intended for racing. Ferrari 250 GTO Rear view

Ferrari 250 GTO – Racing History

The Ferrari 250 GTO was designed in a wind tunnel to compete for the International Championship for GT Manufacturers.  The hood was lowered and the windshield raked back for better aerodynamics.  This specific car won the 1962 Italian GT Championship and won several class first place finishes between 1962-1965. It last raced in manufacturers racers in 1965 when it won the Redex Trophy at Brands Hatch.  Though it then continued racing in smaller club races and changed hands often.  Strange that these beasts were raced extensively and yet all survived and are accounted for.

Ferrari 250 GTO – Vintage

The race car was entered into numerous vintage races over the years. Eventually Dr, Gregory Whitten in 2000 purchased the car. Whitten is able to collect vintage historic collector cars as he was an early employee at Microsoft and was their chief software architect.

Ferrari 250 GTO- Condition

It is interesting to note that this race car came with the original engine, already pulled and preserved for historic purposes and fitted with an additional 250 GT engine block (V-12 with 3 liter displacement producing 300 HP) that was upgraded to GTO specs.Ferrari 250 GTO V-12

Ferrari 250 GTO – Sold

At the Monterey Auction for RM Sotheby’s the car sold for $48,405,000 (including commission) after an opening bid of $35 million. In ten minutes it was gaveled sold to an undisclosed buyer.  Allegedly Whitten had bought it for less than $5 million, proving that his doctorate degree in Mathematics from Harvard wasn’t a fluke!

Photos courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

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John Cena GT Sold at Russo and Steele

John Cena GT

It must be sad to hear an auction house refer to a Ford GT as the “infamous” John Cena GT. Sigh. But tonight in Monterey, California the Russo and Steele Car Auction sold the John Cena GT. The 2017 Ford GT is touted as being the first “unencumbered” sale of the Ford GT.John Cena Ford GT Passenger Side

History of the GT

The 2017 model of the Ford GT is actually the third version of the Ford supercar. The original model was called the Ford GT40 and was produced from 1964-1969 strictly for racing  Ford dusted off the design and cranked out the second version from 2005-06 to honor their 100th anniversary. Interestingly in a quirk, Ford had never registered the original trademark and so had to call the second iteration the Ford GT.

Ford GT

When Ford announced the latest version of the GT they limited the production to only 1,000 cars and they required potential buyers to apply for the right to buy the car. The Ford folks vetted the applicants and required them to agree not to sale the car for two years. Since they came out, the GT’s have shown up at various events like this yellow GT. Exactly as Ford intended.Yellow Ford GT

John Cena GT

Enter the pro wrestler John Cena who applied and was approved to buy a Liquid Blue GT. He paid $463,376.50 for the car on September 23, 2017 and promptly sold it to a California reseller a month later. Ford threw down the lawsuits suing both the dealership and John Cena. Cena ultimately settled with Ford by agreeing to pay an undisclosed amount to an undisclosed charity through Ford. He also encouraged all other owners to honor their agreement not to re-sell the cars.John Cena Ford GT

John Cena GT Chapter Two

The John Cena GT was purchased by a California farmer (I’m not making this up). He cranked up the odometer to 625 miles before deciding his back was not conducive to the GT supercar. So now Russo and Steele had the chance to auction this car. Ironically the same dealership that Cena sold the GT to is representing the elderly farmer in this auction transaction!

John Cena GT at Monterey

The car auctions held during the week before the Pebble Beach Concours extravaganza mark the end of the “season”. Sure there will be more auctions for the balance of the year, but this week of auctions represents the other bookend to the start up of the classic car season that kicks off in January in Arizona. Russo and Steele is a big player in this arena and brought out plenty of potential bidders.

John Cena GT Sells

After some spirited bellowing by the auctioneers, the John Cena GT sold with a hammered price of $1,400,000 plus commission. Perhaps with that price it will lose the tag of being “infamous”?

Photos courtesy of Russo and Steele

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Nonsense All Purpose Cleaner from Chemical Guys

            Car owners realize that keeping their car clean is important but sometimes life gets in the way. Before you know it, a car interior can get grungy. But it is amazing how simple it can be to bring a car’s interior back to prime looks. A useful all purpose cleaner is Nonsense from Chemical Guys.Bottle of Nonsense All Purpose Cleaner

Nonsense

            I have been a huge fan and user of Nonsense ever since the main guy behind Chemical Guys recommended it to me. It comes full strength and I usually get great results diluted to a 10:1 ratio. Nonsense pulls up the grime, leaves no sticky residue and doesn’t engulf the air with perfume odors. We love that it just does the job and gets great results.

Nonsense to the Test

            These seats on a 2007 Toyota Camry are a soft fabric, but the light gray coloring will attract dirt quickly. I was wondering if the dirt was ground in too much, so I did a test strip first. A simple spray of the cloth, followed by a brisk scrubbing with a hand held brush and the results showed up! Dirty Car Seat Half Cleaned with Nonsense

A few more minutes of scrubbing and the whole car seat came back to new. I especially like the fact that the cloth maintained the original feel and shape with no soapy residue left behind.Cleaned with Nonsense Close Up

Nonsense from Chemical Guys

            Nonsense is part of a complete set of boutique car detailing products offered by Chemical Guys. You can also get it at their franchised retail stores- Detail Garage. It works on a variety of stains and never lets me down. For a super tough stain you could amp up the dilution level but 10:1 seems to be the perfect stain removal solution for me. Try some and let us know what you think!Cleaned with Nonsense Extreme Close Up of Cloth

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Detailing Rig from MYCHANIC A Rolling Masterpiece

Wow!  The first thing we recognized when checking out this MYCHANIC  Detailing Rig is just how well designed it is. This is not just another one size first most water bucket but a purpose built detailer’s dream.DSCN1163

MYCHANIC

The MYCHANIC brand is an up and coming brand that is making a name for itself with well designed and professional grade materials. This detailing rig is no exception. Dressed out in their iconic Irish Green hue, this detailing rig is eye catching and handy. When offered a chance to try out this detailing rig, we jumped at the offer! They are based in Tennessee and we first met them at the AAPEX show in Las Vegas, NV last year.

Detailing Rig

The box arrived with the partially assembled detailing rig heavily padded and carefully wrapped. Order this and the FedEx man won’t be delivering a banged up, damaged product. When a company puts this much thought into how to package and ship it, you know this is a company you’ll like seeing more of.DSCN5519

This rig is made of powder coated heavy gauge metal pieces that were easy to assemble. It helps if you follow the instructions, but it was easy to assemble.

Detailing Rig Design

This detailing rig comes with FIVE heavy duty urethane casters with roller bearings. The fifth caster on the one end makes it that much harder for it tip over.  Again, well engineered!  DSCN1170

The bucket comes with a removable perforated bottom grid.  You’ve probably seen endless variations on this guard, but the purpose is to let the dirt and grime that accumulates in the water bucket, settle below the grid and not in your bucket water. Many serious detailers use a two bucket method to further reduce the dirt accumulation in your wash water, but again this shows MYCHANIC’s attention to detail. The bucket rim includes two sets of cutouts to hang your favorite detailing product from.DSCN1160

Detailing Rig Components

The metal tray is a great place to store a few rags or tools while detailing your car.  The side beverage holder is a great place to plop a drink, cuz’ we all know detailing is hard work.DSCN1159 The padded seat is form fitting and provides for a comfortable pad for your aching butt. Best news is the seat pad is easily detachable, so it can serve as a kneeling pad or you could even plop your rear end even lower to the ground.DSCN1166

The detailing rig is a good height and will put you up along the belt line of the car if you need to do some serious work along the sides of the car. Plus with the bucket it is a great tool for general car washing duties.

Useful Detailing Rig

Of course this rig is not just reserved only for detailing duties. It would be a great overall mechanic seat when working on brakes, front end and other car parts. It is heavy duty and will stand up to some serious work duty.  You can check out the seat here or look over their entire product lineup. They are good folks with some great ideas.DSCN1172

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Most Expensive Classic Car -Ferrari 259 GTO

Records are meant to be broken and in the world of classic cars and tons of money, the records fall quickly.  For a spell this 1936 Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic was thought to be the most expensive car. It is owned by Rob Walton (yes of the Wal-Mart Walton’s) and allegedly sold for $40 million dollars in 2010.1936 Bugatti

1936 Bugatti

We had the chance to see it up close and in person at a local Concours show and it certainly was a classic. But like we say, records fall fast around classic cars. It had the reputation as being the most expensive car ever sold.  It is a ‘reported” price as it was a private sale and not subject to any public certification or event. A co-owner is listed as Peter Mullin who runs the Mullin Automotive Museum. It is a featured car at the museum when not in shows.1936 Bugatti Front

 

1963 Ferrari 250 GTO

Earlier this year that record for most expensive car was shattered, again “reportedly”, when a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO was sold for $70 million in a private sale. It was bought by David McNeal who founded WeatherTech- the rubber mat company. This Ferrari has a great racing pedigree, including coming in fourth at 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963 and won the Tour de France course in 1964.Ferrari 250 GTO

 

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO

Next up? Potentially this red 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO .  It is offered up at the Monterrey Auction by RM Sotheby’s with an estimated price tag of between $60-45million, which is quite a range. Now auction houses are now for hyperbole but they probably have nailed the low end for this Ferrari.1962 ferrari 250 gto

Only 36 GTO’s were built, so this becomes a pretty exclusive car. It also has a good racing pedigree and was one of four upgraded by Scaglietti with the Series II coachwork, which features a wider aerodynamic body. the new bodywork lowered the car, crafted a better balanced car and allowed for better handling on the road courses.  Interestingly the original engine was removed from the car and preserved with a different 250 GT block presently in the car. So an owner could drive the red racer and still have the original engine for history and originality.

Will it exceed $60 Million? Hard to say but the scarcity of the Ferrari’s suggest that some company stock might be sold off to allow for a new car in somebody’s stable.

Some photos courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

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