Yahoo Autos Bring a Trailer's 10 Most Expensive Auction Sales of 2023
Like Car and Driver, Bring a Trailer is part of Hearst Autos. Our colleagues at the auction site have gotten pretty good over the years at putting on a good sale, and you can count on finding some pretty incredible cars there. Don't tell Ed., but our staff love to pass time scrolling through the listings instead of doing our actual jobs. So, just as we did in 2022, we thought it would be a good idea to share our list of the most expensive BaT auctions of 2023. Patterns emerged, and a few storied icons worked their way onto the list. We hope you enjoy reminiscing as much as we did. We're looking forward to watching even more auctions and getting even less work done in 2024.
2019 Ford GT '68 Heritage Edition
Sold for: $1,256,000 on 1/23/23
When Ford brought the GT back to life in 2015, it started by only selling to customers who met certain criteria, chief among which was agreeing to actually drive the car. Ford didn't want its special project hidden away under lock and key for someone else's potential profit. The strategy seems to have failed with this particular GT, which has only amassed 10 miles in the four years of its life. Besides being an already rare Ford GT, this is one of 50 1968 Heritage Edition examples built in commemoration of the GT40 Mk1 race car that won the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans. We're hoping the new owner left some room in their bank account for gas money.
2019 McLaren Senna
Sold for: $1,286,000 on 5/22/23
A car with a name so big it had infinitely large shoes to fill—and yet the Senna managed to fill them. On top of being one for the history books, following a bizarre set of events at Lightning Lap 2019 the Senna is also a car that exists in the annals of Car and Driver test history. Four years later, and there hasn't been a production car within 2.0 seconds of the Senna on our Lightning Lap leaderboard. This Senna is number 108 of the 500 created to commemorate Ayrton Senna's legendary Formula 1 success with McLaren.
2021 Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition (14-Mile)
Sold for: $1,385,000 on 8/22/23
How much would you be willing to spend to drive two miles in a new Ford GT? 50? 100? 500? If this 14-mile 2021 Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition and the matching 12-mile edition two slots down are any indication, those two miles could cost you $66,000. Yep, this 14-mile car sold for $69,000 less than the car with only 12 miles on the clock. Seems like a lot to spend on bragging rights if you ask us.
1963 Ferrari GT 250 GTO Lusso
Sold for: $1,402,000 on 10/11/23
If you're looking for an icon, look no further than this 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso. According to the BaT listing, this 250 was the 32nd of 350 examples manufactured during the 18-month production run of the car. After being delivered to its first owner in Milan, Italy, the 250 made its way stateside where it was repainted in black and fitted with a 3.3-liter Colombo V-12 from a 1965 Ferrari 275GTB. There's no denying the beauty of the 250GT Lusso, and even with more than 50,000 miles on the car, it looks to be in immaculate condition. Our hats off to the previous and new owners of the car.
2021 Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition (12-Mile)
Sold for: $1,451,000 on 3/20/23
In addition to selling for $66,000 more than the '66 Heritage Edition above, this one sold a few months beforehand as well. Like the rest of the modern Ford GTs, this one is powered by a twin-turbo 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. In addition to all the standard equipment, the GT came with an ordering kit, build photos, a car cover, air duct covers, and a battery tender. The last will be important, as the odometer of this car likely won't be going much higher anytime soon.
