Ferrari sold for record £22 million

A RARE FERRARI has been sold at auction for a record price of £22.84 million.

One of just 39 models made and regarded as one of the greatest Ferraris, the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta went under the hammer at Bonhams' auction in Carmel, California.

A huge crowd watching the bidding broke into applause at the confirmation of the final price, which outdid the previous record for a car sold at auction.

That record was set at Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed auction in Sussex last year when a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R F1 Racer sold for 30 million dollars (about £18 million).

The GTO was the 19th of the 39 off the assembly line and had been owned by the Violati family - Ferrari and motor racing enthusiasts - since 1965.

The car competed in a number of races. In one of them, in 1962, the car was wrecked and its driver, former French ski champion Henri Oreiller, was killed.

Ferrari repaired the car and the Violati family continued to race it in the first decade of the 21st century.

Bonhams chairman Robert Brooks said: "It's been a genuine privilege to represent this outstanding car and we are absolutely delighted with today's results."

By Peter Woodman, Press Association