Could This 290 MM Become the Most Valuable Ferrari Ever?

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2015 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by George Kennedy 

                               

 

We’ve come to an incredible place in the world of rare classic cars, where any vintage Ferrari with a racing pedigree is likely to fetch millions of dollars without raising eyebrows. To be a standout, you have to be ultra rare, have a great story to it, and be in pristine condition.

 

The 1956 Ferrari 290 MM that you see here meets all of the aforementioned criteria. As you may have guessed from the paint job and the bold numbers on the hood and doors, the car certainly has a racing past. It was built specifically for famed Ferrari driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

Fangio dominated Formula One racing in the 1950s, winning F1 championships in 1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, and ’57—a record that stood for 47 seconds. The car you see here was designed specifically for the Argentinian racer, and was only one of only four 290 MMs to have ever been built. In 1957 it was driven by Eugenio Castellotti, Luigi Musso and Masten Gregory to victory in the Buenos Aries 1000 km.

According to auction house RM Southeby’s, the car was purchased by enthusiasts Temple Buell in 1957, who continued to enter it in races. It was then acquired by a collector named Pierre Bardinon and became a part of the Mas du Clos collection for nearly 34 years before it was purchased by the current owner, who was identified as a private collector out of Europe.

The car has a pre-auction valuation of $28 million, but when it comes to rare racing Ferraris, the final bid can far exceed pre-auction estimates. In order leave the RM Southeby’s New York auction on December 10 as the most expensive Ferrari ever, it will have to beat out an iconic 250 GTO, which sold in 2014 for $38.1 million.