Ferrari classic record breaker

At the annual RM auction event for exceptional Ferraris, held at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, radio personality Chris Evans made the winning bid for the auction’s star item, a 1961 Ferrari 250GT SWB California Spyder. The car was once owned by actor James Coburn but will now become part of Chris Evans' growing collection of supercars. Originally guided at £2M the bidding was fiercely contested between two potential buyers until Chris Evans made his one and only knock-out bid of 6.45M euros (the final price of £5.7M is arrived at once the 10% buyers commission and VAT are added to his winning bid).

It could cost Chris Evans even more to bring the car to the UK as there will be VAT to pay on the £5.7M purchase price as the car is currently registered in the USA and to bring it into the UK will require VAT to be paid on entry, although on historically important cars the VAT office can reduce the amount that needs to be paid and often this is around 5%, rather than the standard 17.5% rate.

Whatever the VAT man decides, this car sets a new record for a car sold at auction, beating the previous recordholder which was a Ferrari 250 GTO sold by Sothebys at an auction held in Monaco back in 1990. That car fetched £5.63M, still an amazing sum for a car sold eighteen years ago.