Public sale home RM Sotheby’s is making ready to promote a 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa that makes most trendy hypercars look just a little mundane. Restricted to 19 models, and constructed earlier than the famed 250 GTO, the 250 Testa Rossa retired as one of many Italian model’s most profitable race vehicles.
Given chassis quantity 0738 TR, and fitted with a Pontoon-Fendered physique by Italian coachbuilder Sergio Scaglietti, this 250 Testa Rossa gained 4 of the almost 20 races it participated in shortly after rolling out of the Maranello manufacturing facility. It reportedly spent its early years racing in Brazil, the place it notably gained the 1965 version of the Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix, and it later went by the palms of a number of Brazilian homeowners earlier than ending up in america within the Eighties. It had been re-bodied within the Sixties however it surprisingly stored its authentic drivetrain.
Whereas making main modifications to a uncommon basic may sound insane, needless to say many of the multi-million-dollar classic race vehicles which have popped up at big-name auctions in recent times have been price little or no after they have been a few years previous. They have been outdated, which means the percentages of them successful a race have been low, so many ended up with a more recent physique, a more recent engine, or each. Others acquired crushed.
As values and curiosity in basic Ferrari fashions started to rise, chassis quantity 0738 TR was handled to a full restoration by Ferrari Classiche, the model’s in-house basic division. It obtained the coveted Crimson E-book certification, which notably confirms the automotive retains its authentic engine and gearbox. Talking of the engine, the three.0-liter V12 explains the identify: “Testa Rossa” means “red [cylinder] head” in Italian.
Chassis quantity 0738 TR reveals how relative the time period “rarity” may be. Ferrari’s LaFerrari is taken into account a comparatively uncommon automotive; 499 models have been constructed. The born-again Lamborghini Countach is restricted to 112 models, and Bugatti made 40 models of the Divo. Right here, we’re taking a look at one among 19.
Sotheby’s notes that chassis quantity 0738 TR has been stored in a non-public assortment for over a decade, which feels like a delicate means of telling fanatics that they could want to attend at the very least one other decade for the subsequent alternative to bid on it if they do not take it house this time. The public sale opens in Detroit, Michigan, on February 21, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Japanese time, which is 2:00 p.m. in California, and it closes two days later. Proudly owning a bit of Ferrari historical past isn’t low-cost, and Sotheby’s estimates the 250 Testa Rossa might promote for as much as $38 million.
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