- Mecum Auctions will offer a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, chassis 3729GT, next month.
- Chassis 3729GT is the only factory-white 250 GTO and one of eight right-hand-drive examples.
- The car includes period racing spares and a Ferrari Classiche-built 3.0-litre Colombo V12 engine.
The world doesn’t need another reminder that the Ferrari 250 GTO sits on the very top shelf of motoring royalty. Yet here we are again, because one of the most extraordinary examples ever built is about to cross the auction block, and it’s anything but ordinary.
Mecum Auctions will soon offer chassis 3729GT, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO with a combination of traits so rare it reads like collector folklore. One-of-one factory white paint. Right-hand drive. Serious period racing history. A stash of factory spares that borders on absurd.
The price could reportedly exceed US$50 million (around NZ$85.5 million), with some whispering even higher.
White noise (in the best way)
Ferrari built just 36 examples of the 250 GTO between 1962 and 1964. Of those, only one left Maranello painted white. That alone would be enough to make collectors start loosening cufflinks, but this car layers on rarity like a truffle risotto.
Chassis 3729GT is one of just eight right-hand-drive GTOs and arrives with an extraordinary cache of period-correct racing spares. That includes a complete spare Colombo V12 engine, additional wheels and braking components, the sort of extras that usually live in museums, not auction catalogues.
Proper racing pedigree
This GTO wasn’t a static showpiece. Delivered new to British racing team owner John Coombs, it was campaigned by some heavyweight names, including Jack Sears, Graham Hill and Richie Ginther.
The car scored second place at the RAC Tourist Trophy at Goodwood in both 1962 and 1963, before claiming victory at the 1963 Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch.
It continued racing through 1964 before passing through a short list of well-documented owners, eventually joining the collection of former Microsoft president and COO Jon Shirley in 1999, where it has remained for more than two decades.
So… how much is too much?
Mecum hasn’t attached an official estimate, but recent history provides context. The most expensive 250 GTO reportedly sold privately in 2018 for about US$70 million. With inflation, rarity premiums and the unique specification of this car, a new benchmark is very much on the table.
Mechanically, the car is currently fitted with a 3.0-litre Colombo V12 rebuilt under Ferrari Classiche supervision, paired with its original five-speed manual transmission, six Weber carburettors and four-wheel disc brakes, all exactly as purists would demand.
For most of us, this is pure fantasy viewing. For one bidder, it’s about to become the ultimate garage centrepiece and a very expensive shade of white.
