Stirling Moss Ferrari becomes world’s most expensive car

A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO made for Stirling Moss has just been bought for £22.7 million – becoming the world’s most expensive car ever sold.

Classic Ferrari 250 GTO sold for £20m

Chris Evans buys a Ferrari 250 GTO

The Chris Evans car collection

Bloomberg News reports a Dutch-born businessman based in Sussex has sold the famous green Ferrari to a US collector for the record-breaking sum.

The Ferrari has set a new world record both because it is extremely rare – only 39 250 GTOs were built between 1962 and 1964 – and because the market for luxury cars is, despite the recession, currently booming.

“The market is very active at the moment,” James Cottingham, acquisition consultant for Hertfordshire Ferrari dealer DK Engineering, told Bloomberg.

“A lot of new buyers are expanding their collections and the baby-boomer generation of collectors has reached an age when they’re not using their cars as much as they used to. They want to sell.”

John Collins from Berkshire Ferrari dealer Talacrest in Ascot, Berkshire, told the Daily Mail that the market for classic Ferraris is thriving.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It has gone crazy,’ he said. ‘If someone wanted to sell their 250 GTO, I could find a buyer in 30 seconds.”

Collins says eight classic Ferraris have sold in recent weeks, for a total of nearly £100 million.

“A Chinese customer told me there are three things worth investing in now – diamonds, Warhols and classic Ferraris.”

The Stirling Moss Ferrari 250 GTO was built for Moss in 1962 and painted in the distinctive green of his UDT-Laystall racecar team. However, on April 23 1962, Moss suffered his career-ending crash at Goodwood so never actually drove the car.

It was instead raced by Brit racer Innes Ireland at Le Mans in 1962. However, Moss’ name can still be seen on the back of the driver’s seat.

Image (c) Talacrest