A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO race car sold for $38,115,000 (including auction fees) at an event hosted by Bonhams in Carmel, California on August 14, breaking the world record for most expensive car sold at auction.

The auction company offered no official pre-sale estimate, but experts expected the car to net at least $25 million, and possibly as much as $50 million or even $75 million. (Similar racing Ferraris have traded hands privately for nearly as much in the past few years.) The "previous record holder", a 1954 Mercedes-Benz racer, had sold for $29.6 million in July 2013.

The '62 Ferrari 250 GTO – chassis 3851 GT – was the 19th of 39 GTOs built, and started its racing career with a second place win at the Tour de France Automobile, but was crashed on its second outing, killing its driver. After its repair by Ferrari, the car saw even more action on the track at the hands of its two subsequent owners.

Collector Fabrizio Violati added the car to his Maranello Rosso collection in 1965 and used it mainly on the street (and allegedly mainly at night, since he was keeping the car a secret from his family). He kept it until his death in 2010; the car was one of 10 being sold off by his estate by Bonhams.

Bidding on the car started at $1 million and within 30 seconds hit $30 million, where it plateaued and made its slow climb to its final $34.65 million sale price (before auction fees).

The Bonhams auction was one of several going on during the Monterey Car Week event in California, August 11 through 17.