1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sells for $38.1 million, beating record but not expectation

When the 19th copy of Enzo Ferrari's 250 GTO Berlinetta left Maranello in 1962, it was just another race car, one that had a hard life ahead of wrecks and in one instance a driver's death. Yet today, the GTO was poised to become the most expensive car ever sold, the new high mark in a global demand for classic cars.

Instead, Bonhams' auctioneer Roberts Brooks brought the hammer down at $34.65 million -- and with the 10 percent buyer's premium, the final price of $38.115 million set a new record for vehicle auctions, but was well short of the record for a private vehicle sale.

The sale by Bonhams kicked off the classic-car auction bonanza around the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance this weekend. Last year, the auctions by Bonhams, Gooding & Co., RM Auctions and others drew $312 million in sales; estimates by classic insurer Hagerty suggest this year's total could top $450 million, with the GTO leading the parade.

That a 1962 GTO would come up for auction at all is a watershed event; the 39 in existence rarely trade hands, and often only in private. Last year, another 250 GTO sold in a private sale for $52 million, well above the previous record-holder for a car sold at auction, Juan Manuel Fangio's Mercedes W196 that sold for $29.6 million.