Maranello, Italy - Ferrari set a new auction record of €8.3 million (R129 million) for a 21st century car at an RM Sotheby’s auction on Saturday, during the icomic carmaker’s 70th anniversary celebrations at the Fiorano test circuit, across the road from the factory.
The proceeds from the sale of the car will be donated to Save the Children, an international organisation that works to improve the lives of disadvantaged children in more than 120 countries worldwide. In this case, the funds raised will be used for educational projects in Asia and Africa.
The LaFerrari that set the record is in fact a special extra addition, No.210 in a limited edition of 209 LaFerrari Aperta convertibles, and it’s finished in a special livery with a double racing stripe in metallic white on its bonnet and tail.
Several other valuable Ferraris were also sold at Fiorano, not least a California 250 GT SWB that went for for €7.9 million (R122.5 million), a 1958 250 GT Cabriolet Series I for €4.7 million (R73 million) and the only street-legal aluminium-bodied 365 GTB/4 ever built, rediscovered in a Japanese hayloft after having been missing for almost four decades, which changed hands for €1.8 million (R28 million).
The previous record of $7 million (then R98.6 million) was set in December 2016 at Daytona by an exclusive LaFerrari, which went under the hammer to raise funds for earthquake victims in Central Italy.