The most expensive cars ever sold at auction
Beyond a certain level of value, some cars transcend being simple machines and become an asset class all of their own. These are the cars that sit alongside rare wines and fine artworks in the basements of the super rich
Dream garages for mere, average-earning mortals are an intangible fantasy. The list reads both long and varied, with Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis featuring alongside other illustrious names from the automotive present and past. For a very wealthy few, however, the problem of how to populate a mind-blowing collection of dream cars is real, and when these like-walleted individuals come together at one of the world’s top car auctions, prices can sail into the stratosphere.
The prices paid can make for eye-watering reading, but sometimes things escalate to a whole new level and in no time, we find ourselves looking at one of the most expensive cars ever sold. Here we take a look at the incredible cars that have seduced buyers into paying top dollar in a one-upmanship-fuelled, auction environment.
Despite extortionate prices, these examples of car design are investments for some and status symbols for others. Below are the most expensive cars ever to be sold at auction...
(all prices approximate due to variances in conversion rates)
1. Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe (1955) – £115,000,000
Sold by RM Sotheby's at an exclusive auction in 2022, this Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe sold for a record-breaking $142,000,000 (c£115,000,000), making it the world’s most expensive car sold by some margin. Launched with a starting bid higher than the £37.2m winning bid of the second place Ferrari 250 GTO on this list, the Uhlenhaut Coupe was bought by a private seller at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
Named after Rudolf Uhlenhaut, its creator and chief engineer, the model was built as a road-going variant of the two-time Grand Prix World Championship-winning W196 R. Featuring an uprated variant of the same 3-litre straight-eight power plant, a 302bhp output helps push it to a 180mph top speed, the highest of any road car in its day.
2. Mercedes W196 R Stromlinienwagen (1955) – £42,970,200
It feels perverse to say that in selling for £43million, the Mercedes W196 R Stromlinienwagen is worth less than half (without factoring in inflation) what the Uhlenhaut is, but the facts are the facts. Sold by RM Sotheby’s in February 2025, the W196 R does at least have the title of the most valuable F1 car ever sold.
If you’re confused as to why this is classed as a grand prix car but isn’t open-wheel, the clue is in the Stromlinienwagen name, which is German for ‘streamliner car’. This bodywork was used during races like the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, to reach higher speeds on the famous banked section.
It’s the first of the four made ever to be offered for sale with 00009/54 having been driven to victory by Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1955 Buenos Aires Grand Prix. Mercedes donated the car to the Indianapolis Motor Sportway museum in 1965 and there it has remained since, until the IMS offered it for sale through RM six decades later.
3. Ferrari 250 GTO/330LM (1962) – £42,103,381
The car you expect to see on a most expensive cars ever sold list, multiple times over, is the Ferrari 250 GTO. And so you shall. The first is this 1962 330 LM / 250 GTO, sold at the RM Sotheby’s 2023 New York sale for over £40million. The strange name comes from the fact that this is the only works GTO that received a 4-litre Colombo V12 engine in period, which meant it went from having a 250cc per cylinder swept capacity, to 330cc per cylinder.
Beyond its larger engine, this is also the only ‘factory’ GTO – the only one raced under the Scuderia Ferrari team, which at the time more regularly farmed out GTOs to privateers and focused its own efforts on developing and racing mid-engined machinery. Its history is strong too, with a class win at the 1962 Nürburgring 1000km and an appearance at the 1962 Le Mans 24 hours. It’s a known car, with plenty of latter day concours accolades too.
4. Ferrari 250 GTO (1962) – £37,240,144
Sold in 2018 at RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale, this Scaglietti-fettled Ferrari 250 GTO became the world’s most expensive car ever sold at auction, solidifying its place as the poster child for the expensive automobile.
Considered to be ‘the world’s most important, desirable, and legendary motor car’, this example was one of just 36 GTOs built. It is said to be the most authentic and original of all 36, and to top it off, is one of only four upgraded by Scaglietti with its most aggressive and successful additions. Aside from this, it has a rather colourful racing history, too, holding over 15 class and overall wins to its name during the 1962-1965 seasons.
5. Ferrari 250 GTO (1962) – £31,669,317
Sold at the Bonhams Quail Lodge auction in 2014, this GTO held the title as the most expensive car ever sold at auction until the above example took its place.
Coachbuilder Scaglietti penned the stunning body that’s often hailed as one of the most beautiful Ferraris to emerge from Maranello. The car itself was created to compete in the FIA GT World Championship and won the world title two seasons consecutively, piloted by Jo Schlesser/Henri Oreiller, Paolo Colombo, Ernesto Prinoth and Fabrizio Violati.
6. Ferrari 335 S (1957) – £29,268,961
Clearly well-cultured when it comes to cars, Lionel Messi was the proud procurer of the third most expensive car sold at auction. Built in 1957, in a golden era when nothing short of a 12-cylinder configuration was deemed worthy of a Ferrari, the car boasted a mighty four-litre V12 engine.
The design brief for the 355 S was simple – beat the Maserati 450S. It was the eventual runner-up in the gruelling Mille Miglia, and averaged a staggering 124mph on a lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe.
7. Ferrari 250 LM (1965) – £29,080,153
The newest inductee to this list, following hot on the heels of the Streamliner above, is this Ferrari 250 LM. It has the distinct honour of being the last 12-cylinder Ferrari to win Le Mans. Until Ferrari broke its drought in 2023, it was also the last Ferrari to win Le Mans overall, all the way back in 1965.
It’s also the only Ferrari built under Enzo’s era, to have competed in no less than six 24-hour races – three outings at Le Mans and three at Daytona, over the course of six years. The fact it even survived is borderline miraculous. Given this car’s significance, then, the £29million it fetched at RM Sotheby’s Paris sale in February 2025 almost seems like a bargain.
Like the Mercedes Streamliner, this 250 LM came up for sale after being in the care of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. The IMS bought the car from Chinetti Motors, just a few months after it finished the 1970 Daytona 24.
8. Mercedes-Benz W196 (1954) – £24,994,480
Juan Manuel Fangio’s W196 that sold at Goodwood FOS in 2012 is no manicured show pony. It crossed the auction block bearing the battle scars it had garnered on its way to victory at the German and Swiss Grands Prix during the 1954 Formula 1 season.
Despite being half a century old, the Stuttgart-born racer incorporated very cutting-edge technology for the period. Integrated within the rigid space-frame chassis was a fuel injected 2.5-litre engine which propelled the no. 12 car to championship victory in 1954.
9. Ferrari 412P Berlinetta (1967) – £23,768,328
Selling in 2023 for just under £24million at the Bonhams Quail Sale, was this Ferrari 412P Berlinetta. A car that under Maranello Concessionaires contributed to Ferrari’s 1967 World Sportscar Championship win, it racked up third at the Spa 24 and overall wins in 1968 at Nuremberg, Solituderennen and the Swedish Grand Prix.
Much of the original bodywork was replaced with glassfibre in 1969 after an unfortunate fire but incredibly, the car was recently reunited with much of the original alloy coachwork after an extensive restoration.
10. Ferrari 290 MM (1956) – £23,277,743
Rewind two generations from the Ferrari 335 S and you’ll find the 290 MM. Another Scuderia brainchild, this example was one of the quartet that rolled off the production line. The car raced for almost a decade, escaping a fatal end before being retired in 1964 having competed in the 1000km Buenos Aires.
Honourable mentions: Ferrari 275 GTB/4*S NART Spider (1967) – £23,222,347
Luigi Chinetti, head of NART (North American Racing Team), wanted to bring a slice of home with him to America. He just about convinced coachbuilder Scaglietti, and thus Ferrari, to build him an allocation of ten cars for stateside life.
This gorgeous roadster drew the multitude of potential suitors into a bidding frenzy with RM facilitating the multi-million dollar acquisition in Monterey, California.
Honourable mentions: Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale (1964) – £21,936,705
Yes, the prancing horse theme continues. Another take on the elegant design of the 275 Scaglietti-conceived body is the GTB/C Speciale edition. An array of modifications were imparted upon the 250 GTO successor, louvres, intakes and a bonnet scoop being just a few – tailoring it in a race-ready frock.
Only three of these handcrafted aluminium-bodied cars were realised, and just one of the trio made it to competition due to a dispute between Ferrari and the FIA over the homologation of the car in reference to its weight. This specific example has only competed in historic events as a result of its exclusion from period racing.
Honourable mentions: Aston Martin DBR1 (1956) – £18,096,282
On 19 August 2017, this DBR1 sold for almost £20m at RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction. The very first of the five models ever made, it won the 1959 Nürburgring 1000km, was piloted by none other than Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham and Carroll Shelby to name a few, and is considered to be the most important model in the history of the British marque.
Honourable mentions: Ferrari 290 MM (1956) – £17,238,070
It might not be a 250 GTO, but this 290 MM still has some rather impressive accolades to its name, as its sale price suggests…
Having claimed podium places at the Mille Miglia and 1000km Buenos Aires as a Scuderia Ferrari team car, being raced as an official Scuderia Ferrari Works car for the 1956 and 1957 seasons and being the final one of just four cars built, only three of which survive today, it’s easy to see why it made it to this list.
