It was the final car on offer at the last major classic car auction of the year, the extremely rare and sought after 1956 Ferrari 290 MM by Scaglietti. After a lengthy bidding war, the car was eventually sold for $22m, the equivalent of over £17m. The sale took place at the RM Sotheby’s Los Angeles sale, which was held at the prestigious Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on Saturday 8th December.
The super rare Ferrari led the group of 64 vehicles and 77 lots of memorabilia on offer at the recently redesigned museum, and now the classic car has become one of the most expensive motor cars to have ever been sold at an auction.
It was one of the last surviving models of the four that has been built by Ferrari, and it has quite an impressive motorsport pedigree. The 290 MM was driven in some of the most prestigious racing events throughout the world, and piloted by some of the most renowned factory team drivers, from Juan Manuel Fangio to Sir Stirling Moss.
Ferrari developed the classic car specifically to contest the 1956 World Sports Car Championship and the Mille Miglia, which is where the car gets its MM initials. The car was intended to help the manufacturer compete with their biggest competitors, Mercedes-Benz, and Maserati.
The Chassis no. 0628, which was sold at the auction, was the final model 290 MM ever built. 7 years ago it had undergone a meticulous restoration by Ferrari Classiche. Now only 3 of the 4 290 MMs built are still around, so this purchase was truly a rare opportunity for the collector to own a two-seater sports racing barchetta from what can be considered Scuderia Ferrari’s golden era.
Image by
Tino Rossini from Toronto, Canada [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
