Holy Grail Classics: Some of the most valuable collector cars by make

Every collecting pursuit, from comic books to Beanie Babies, has a “Holy Grail” — its rarest and most valuable object. And so it is with car collecting. Here are the “Holy Grails” of six famous makes:

1. Chevrolet — 1967 Corvette L88 ($3.8 million): The L88, although a regular factory option, was never meant to be sold to ordinary civilians. For those in the know, it was a clever way to skirt GM’s official ban on racing. The L88 was a stripped-down version of the Sting Ray without niceties like a radio, heater or even a radiator shroud. Try idling in traffic in one and you’d overheat quickly. To further discourage ordinary rubes from buying one, the L88 engine was purposely underrated on the option sheet at less than the 435 hp of the cheaper street big block 427. In reality, it made well over 500 hp. 1967 was the only year that the L88 was available in the C2 Corvette, and Barrett-Jackson set the Corvette record last January at $3,850,000.

2. Ferrari — 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO ($52 million): The 250 GTO may well be the most gorgeous sports car ever. It’s certainly the pinnacle of the front-engine “dual-purpose” GTs that Ferrari built in the 1950s and 1960s, and just 39 were built. While technically street-able (hence the “dual purpose” designation), the interior of the 250 GTO was sparse in the extreme and lacked any creature comforts, or even a speedometer. Its real purpose was international GT racing. In the late 1960s, when these were just obsolete race cars, you couldn’t get $6,000 for one. The last one sold privately for more than $50 million, and the next one will almost certainly bring considerably more. Snapping up a 250 GTO at six grand, making sure your parents meet on the dance floor or buying a sports almanac from the future: What’s your choice for the best use of a time machine?