Wealth

This Ferrari just became the most expensive car ever sold

Key Points
  • A 1963 Ferrari GTO was sold for $70 million.
  • It is thought to be the highest price ever paid for a car.
  • Sources said the car was sold by a German collector to David MacNeil, the founder of WeatherTech.
1963 Ferrari GTO
Source: Marcel Massini

A 1963 Ferrari just sold for $70 million, believed to be the highest price ever paid for a car, according to sources.

The 1963 Ferrari GTO — one of only 36 that were made — was sold in a private deal, according to Marcel Massini, the world's top collectible Ferrari expert. Sources said the car was sold by a German collector to David MacNeil, the founder of WeatherTech, the maker of car floor mats.

Previously the highest price for a car was $52 million, paid for another 1963 Ferrari GTO in 2013.

Ferrari GTOs are considered the biggest trophies in the car-collecting world for their rarity, power, beauty and success on the race track. A 1962-63 GTO sold at auction in California in 2014 for $38 million.

The $70 million GTO that was purchased by MacNeil won the 1964 famed Tour de France race and came in fourth at Le Mans, Massini said. It's painted in silver and yellow and despite a winning record on the track was never crashed, unlike many other GTOs.

MacNeil didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. But he is already an avid Ferrari collector, with several multimillion-dollar cars, sources said. Owning a GTO will put him in the most elite club in car collecting — the "GTO Club" of billionaires and multimillionaires who own what many consider to be the greatest Ferrari ever made. The club includes Ralph Lauren, fashion mogul Lawrence Stroll, and Walmart heir Rob Walton.

Massini predicts that GTO prices will continue climbing, since the number of billionaire Ferrari collectors is growing but the number of top-quality GTO's remains constant — with very few willing sellers.

"We will see a GTO sell for $100 million in the next two to three years," he said. "I have little doubt."