1957 Ferrari 335 Sport Scaglietti Spider

Telegraph:

A 1957 Ferrari driven by the great British motor racers of the 1950s broke the record for the world’s most expensive racing car sold at auction after fetching just over €32 million ($35.7 — £24.7 million) on Friday.

Despite the stratospheric price at the Artcurial auction in Paris, the buyer cannot use the vehicle on the roads as it was designed purely for racing.

Only four Ferrari 335 S Spider Scagliettis were ever produced, and this one had been in the hands of a private French collector for more than 40 years – hence the feverish excitement at the Rétromobile classic car show in Paris, where the auction took place.

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FCAuthority:

Chassis 0674 left Enzo Ferrari’s Maranello workshop in 1957 and in March of that year was entered in the 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida. It was driven by Peter Collins and Maurice Trintignant in the endurance race and finished sixth. In May, Ferrari brought the car back to Italy and entered it in the 1,600 km Mille Miglia with Wolfgang von Trips at the wheel. It was one of four cars Ferrari entered in the race and it finished second behind Piero Taruffi and his Ferrari 315 S.

Following the 1957 Mille Miglia, which turned out to be the last-ever edition of the road race after 12 people were killed, the car was returned to the Maranello factory and upgraded to ‘335 S’ spec. This entailed boring out the 3.8-liter V12 to 4.1-liters, which boosted output from 360 horsepower to 400 and raised the top-speed to 186 mph (300 km/h).

Following the modifications the car was entered in the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans where it was raced by F1 champion Mike Hawthorn and Luigi Musso. It was unfortunately retired in the fifth hour due mechanical problems, but not before it took the lead ahead of the Maserati and Jaguars and set the first lap record at Le Sarthe with an average speed of over 200 km/h (203.015 km/h).

Following its Le Mans showing the car finished fourth in the Swedish Grand Prix, second in the Venezuela Grand Prix and helped Ferrari win the World Constructors’ Title. In 1958 it was piloted to victory in the Cuba Grand Prix by Masten Gregory and Stirling Moss and was also raced in various American races by Gaston Andrey and Lance Reventlow.

The car has sat in Bardinon’s collection since 1970.