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1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Sells For $38 Million At Auction

A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO became the most expensive car ever sold during an automotive auction Thursday night when a buyer paid $38 million for the vehicle at a Bonhams event. Only 39 of the racers were ever built, and it is a favorite among collectors. One reportedly sold for $52 million in a private sale. If true, it would be the most expensive car ever purchased. Another Ferrari GTO built for legendary racecar driver Stirling Moss sold for $35 million in 2012. Thursday's sale broke the auction record set at a Goodwood auction last year of a Mercedes W196R that was driven by Juan Manuel Fangio to wins in the 1954 German and Swiss Grand Prix races by $8 million. Pretty good for a car that went to the auction block with no reserve, meaning there was no minimum price set for the sale of the car, though bidding started at $11 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Ferrari 250 GTO was the star of the show, but it wasn't the only rare Ferrari on the auction block. Bonhams brought ten of the most collectable Ferraris in the world on stage, including a 1962 250 GT Short-Wheelbase Speciale Aerodinamica that went for $6.875 million, a 1953 250 Mille Miglia Berlinetta driven to racing victory by Phil Hill for $7.26 million and even a 1978 312 T3 Formula One car for $2.31 million. All told, the Ferraris sold for $65.945 million, according to Autoblog.

Vettel sticks with Ferrari for three more years in 'a no-brainer' move

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (Reuters) - Sebastian Vettel ended speculation about his immediate Formula One future by signing a three-year contract extension with Ferrari on Saturday. The Italian team, the sport's most successful and glamorous, said the new deal covered the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons but gave no further details in a statement of just 30 words. There will be inevitable questions about possible release clauses, not to mention speculation about how many tens of millions of dollars the 30-year-old German will be earning over the period. But the news, at the Belgian Grand Prix and a week before his team's home Italian race at Monza, will allow Ferrari to concentrate on fighting for the championship without distraction. "I love this team. I love the people who are working for this brand," Vettel told reporters later. "Ferrari has something unique, something that other teams don't have. People talk about a legend. To me it appears that this legend is still alive because of the people who work for it, day in, day out. "In a way, it was a no-brainer to continue. We haven't yet achieved what we wanted to achieve but things are looking pretty good, and obviously we have a long road ahead of us," he added. The four-times champion, who joined Ferrari from Red Bull in 2015, is 14 points clear of Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton in the current standings with nine races remaining. The German had been out of contract at the end of this season and there had been speculation about a possible switch to Mercedes -- a move that would have sent a tremor through the paddock. Hamilton, a triple world champion who has one more year left on his Mercedes contract, laughed off that possibility earlier in the week when he told reporters that his rival did not want to be his team mate. Niki Lauda, the Mercedes non-executive chairman, told Sky Sports that there had been talks with Vettel but team principal Toto Wolff said that was not the case. Vettel's Finnish team mate, Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, has already agreed a contract extension for 2018, keeping Ferrari's line-up unchanged for next year. Raikkonen, 37, and Vettel get on well, with the Finn playing the role of loyal sidekick to the team's main championship contender. Mercedes are now likely to retain Finland's Valtteri Bottas, who joined in January from Williams as a replacement for now-retired 2016 champion Nico Rosberg on a one-year deal with options.

2019 Ferrari 488 Pista First Drive Review | Quantum physics

MARANELLO, Italy — Ferrari's special-edition V8s have a long history of delivering more than the sum of their individual parts. The 360 Challenge Stradale (2003), 430 Scuderia (2007), and 458 Speciale (2013) each leapfrogged the capabilities of their donor cars to cement their notoriety in supercar history. The latest in that lineage is the Ferrari 488 Pista, a hopped-up variant that is the most powerful road-going V8 in Ferrari history. The Pista is so quick that its lap time around the company's own private Fiorano circuit is only 1.8 seconds behind the LaFerrari. With 49 more horsepower pushing around 198 fewer pounds, the $345,300 488 Pista looks, at least on paper, like a no-brainer for deep-pocketed speed fiends. But there are also a slew of tiny changes that alter its persona — 50 percent of the engine components are new — as well as intangible characteristics. The carbon fiber intake manifold, for instance, shaves weight but also features shorter, lower-volume intake runners for better throttle response. The turbocharger's turbines are composed of a new aluminum-titanium alloy that slashes inertia in half, trimming the powerplant's already minimal turbo lag. Titanium connecting rods aid cylinder acceleration. And new robot-welded Inconel exhaust manifolds are 10-percent wider and slightly longer, offering reduced back pressure and a throatier note. Coupled with reduced sound-deadening materials, the pipes are responsible for more engine sound reaching the cabin. Before tackling the famed Fiorano track, I drive the 488 Pista on the street to see what 710 horsepower in a twin-turbo Ferrari feels like, and my first impressions came on thick. Sure, there's the expected interior upgrades of copious Alcantara and carbon fiber, visible aluminum floor plates, and massive carbon paddles borrowed from the 488 Challenge race car. Hold the red steering wheel-mounted engine start button with a press of the big drilled aluminum brake pedal, and the 3.9-liter V8 fires up with a noticeably more bass-heavy thrum than before, the first hint that this is an entirely different beast than the off-the-rack 488. Leave the seven-speed dual-clutch in automatic, and gearshifts happen remarkably smoothly, even in the second-most aggressive "CT Off" mode, which removes traction control but keeps stability control active.