This year the biggest Monterey buzz, stories and misinformation came from the lead up to Bonham’s sale of the 250 GTO chassis 3851GT including nine other cars from the Italian Collezione Maranello Rosso.
And $38,115,000 USD was the price for the GTO including Bonham’s 10% buyer’s premium. The figure was spot on and proof that big money has little to do with a media blitz. It shows signs of a healthy collector car market, one that can remain consistent for years to come. This result was also completely contrary to those punters behind cameras, cellphones and wordpress that wanted the 50-100 million ‘story of century’, even if it made no sense at all.
But there’s another side to this story and that is Fabrizio Violati, the man who purchased this GTO from Enzo Ferrari 49 years ago. He loved and cherished 3851GT alongside his stable of Italian cars in the Collezione Maranello Rosso museum. Leading up to his last years, in his early seventies, Violati car drove only this car from the collection with his dog sitting shotgun.
For Bonhams, the rest of Quail sale can only be described as a resounding success. They bested their total amount thanks to Violati’s great Ferraris and set some production car records including $3,850,000 for a steel-bodied Ferrari 275 GTB, $385,000 for a Maserati Ghibli coupe and $2,640,000 for a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider.
Our gallery from Bonham’s sale has all the cars with descriptions and prices realized.
