3005 Ferrari F430 Berlinetta Scuderia Badged F1 W/ Hre Wheels. Carbn Fiber Seats on 2040-cars

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Nigel Mansell's Ferrari F40 sells for $870k

If you look at the $1.35 million price tag on the new LaFerrari and wonder how Ferrari can possibly charge that much for a single car, you could look at the prices of its competitors like the McLaren P1 that lists for almost as much at $1.15 million, you could look to the $2.5 million which Ferrari is said to have charged for the exclusive F60 America - or you could look at the prices at which LaFerrari's predecessors are still trading. Take, for example, this Ferrari F40 which, 25 years since it was built, just sold for nearly $870,000 at auction.
The F40 in question, a 1989 model, may be just one of 1,315 examples made, but it has a rather noteworthy provenance: the car once belonged to Nigel Mansell, the only driver ever to hold both the Formula One and Indy titles at the same time. That Mansell - a man who had access to some of the fastest and most capable racing cars ever made - selected the F40 as his personal ride of choice speaks volumes about the car's abilities and appeal. But then he did, after all, drive for the Scuderia that season, winning the Brazilian and Hungarian grands prix.
The celebrity provenance, however, may not have actually jacked the price up at all. While it may rank towards the top of the list, this was hardly the highest price paid for an F40 at auction. According to Sports Car Market, which tracks such sales, the record currently belongs to a 1993 Ferrari F40 LM that Bonhams also sold for $2.2 million at Monterey. The highest price for a standard, non-LM model was recorded at the same event at $1.43 million.

Bertone's shark-nose Ferrari 250 set to break records

If Nuccio Bertone had one regret, it's that he didn't get to work more with Ferrari. "They have always been with Pininfarina," Bertone was quoted as saying toward the end of his career. "I would have liked to have done more for Ferrari." There were a few exceptions, like the atypical Dino GT4, the angular Rainbow concept of 1976, and the unique 250 GT you see here. Only this one wasn't just designed and crafted by Bertone – it was designed and crafted for Bertone. And now it's going up for auction. Inspired by the 156 Grand Prix racer, this one-of-a-kind 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta was commissioned by Bertone to showcase its capabilities at the Geneva and Turin motor shows that year, and to serve as Nuccio's personal wheels. The design was carried out by none other than Giorgetto Giugiaro, in close collaboration with Bertone, and is characterized by the shark nose that would look right at home on a week-long Discovery Channel special... if it were directed by Roberto Rossellini. It's painted in Blu Notte Metallizzato (Italian for "midnight blue metallic") with a rich burgundy leather interior. The only one of its kind, chassis 3269 GT has been part of the Lorenzo Zambrano collection for over three decades now. It's slated to cross the auction block for the first time next month at Pebble Beach. That's where Gooding & Company expects it will fetch around $15 million, which would (according to the archives at Sports Car Market) make it one of the most expensive Ferraris, and by some margin the highest-priced 250 GT SWB Berlinetta, ever sold at auction. 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Speciale (Estimate $14,000,000-$16,000,000) Any coachbuilt Ferrari will stir excitement on the auction block, but 3269 GT is quite possibly the most important 250 GT SWB ever to be presented at public auction. Built for and personally owned by Nuccio Bertone to showcase his company at the Geneva and Torino Auto Shows in 1962, this one-off "sharknose" Berlinetta Speciale Ferrari is sure to electrify the Pebble Beach Auctions when Gooding & Company presents this Italian masterpiece in August. This unique Ferrari was one of the first cars penned by the well-known stylist, Giorgetto Giugiaro, while working for Nuccio Bertone. The two worked together to create one of the most viscerally moving designs in Ferrari's history, which was inspired by the world championship-winning Grand Prix car - the Ferrari 156 F1.

Sergio Marchionne confirms Ferrari LaFerrari Spider

Sergio Marchionne has been the CEO of Ferrari for about five minutes, and there's already big product news coming from Maranello. The LaFerrari hypercar will be sold as a convertible (or Spider, if you prefer). Marchionne confirmed the Spider during an interview with Automobile Magazine, which looks like it happened before today's CEO announcement. After being asked about the so-called LaFerrarina – which Automobile calls "a less extreme version of LaFerrari" – Marchionne said "the only future product connected to LaFerrari is the Spider," which was "no secret since potential customers have already been approached." While the company is hard at work on the LaFerrari Spider, Marchionne was less forthcoming on the long-rumored, V6-powered Dino. "Where should that Dino be positioned? How much should it cost? How would it relate to the next 488? What is the right balance between too many and not enough units?" Marchionne peppered. "We haven't found answers to these questions yet." Marchionne didn't go as far as saying when Ferrari would sell the LaFerrari Spider, but if the company is already reaching out to its exclusive clientele, a debut can't be far off. Perhaps 2017? That year is, after all, the 70th anniversary of the first Ferrari-badged car, 1947's 125 S. Related Video: