Ask what the most expensive car ever sold at auction is and you get two honest answers, because there are two kinds of record. One belongs to a single silver coupé that Mercedes-Benz kept for 67 years. The other — the one a collector can actually walk into a saleroom and chase — belongs, almost entirely, to Ferrari. Most published lists blur the two. This one keeps them apart, with every figure verified against the auction houses themselves. Prices are final, buyer's premium included, and current as of 2026.
What is the most expensive car ever sold at auction?
The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, sold for €135,000,000 — about $143 million — by RM Sotheby's on 5 May 2022. It remains, comfortably, the most valuable car ever to change hands under the hammer. Two things make the number sit apart from every other result. First, it was Mercedes-Benz's own car: one of only two built, engineered by Rudolf Uhlenhaut from the W196 Grand Prix machine, and never previously offered for sale. Second, the sale itself was an invitation-only auction held inside the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, open only to pre-screened collectors; the winning bid was placed by Simon Kidston for an undisclosed buyer, and the proceeds established the Mercedes-Benz Fund, a scholarship program. The car must still be made available for occasional public display.
That invitation-only format is why the Uhlenhaut Coupé is usually footnoted rather than treated as a normal saleroom result. It nearly tripled the previous auction record. Nothing has come close since: the nearest challenger, a 1954 Mercedes W196 R streamliner, reached $53.9 million at another museum sale in 2025.
The open public-auction record: a $51.7 million Ferrari
Strip out the two curated museum sales and the record for a car sold at a fully open public auction is the 1962 Ferrari 330 LM / 250 GTO by Scaglietti (chassis 3765), which brought $51,705,000 at RM Sotheby's in New York on 13 November 2023. It is a one-of-one: a 250 GTO fitted from new with a 4.0-litre V12 and the only example campaigned by the works Scuderia Ferrari team, taking a class win and second overall at the 1962 Nürburgring 1000 km. It is the most expensive Ferrari ever sold, and the true open-auction high-water mark.
The verified ranking
The ten highest prices ever paid for a car at open public auction, as of 2026:
| # | Car | Price | Year | Auction house |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1962 Ferrari 330 LM / 250 GTO | $51.7M | 2023 | RM Sotheby's |
| 2 | 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO (chassis 3413) | $48.4M | 2018 | RM Sotheby's |
| 3 | 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO 'Bianco Speciale' | $38.5M | 2026 | Mecum |
| 4 | 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO (chassis 3851) | $38.1M | 2014 | Bonhams |
| 5 | 1964 Ferrari 250 LM (1965 Le Mans winner) | $36.3M | 2025 | RM Sotheby's |
| 6 | 1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti | $35.7M | 2016 | Artcurial |
| 7 | 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta | $30.3M | 2023 | Bonhams |
| 8 | 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R (Fangio) | $29.7M | 2013 | Bonhams |
| 9 | 1956 Ferrari 290 MM | $28.1M | 2015 | RM Sotheby's |
| 10 | 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider | $27.5M | 2013 | RM Auctions |
Why Ferrari owns the list
Eight of the top ten are Ferraris, and four of the top four are 250 GTOs. Only 36 GTOs were built between 1962 and 1964, every one survives, and each carries a documented competition history. That combination — absolute scarcity, an unbroken racing record, and hand-formed one-off coachwork — is what the market pays for. The two non-Ferraris on the list are Mercedes Grand Prix machinery and, just outside it, a Jaguar D-Type; the pattern is consistent, front-engined 1950s and 1960s competition cars with named drivers in their history. You can read the full story of the record-setter in our profile of the Ferrari 250 GTO.
Public auction versus private sale
Auction prices are public and verifiable. Private sales are neither, which is why they never count as records even when the numbers are larger. The most-cited example is a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO, chassis 4153GT, reported to have sold privately for around $70 million in 2018 — a figure the parties never confirmed. Treat private figures as market colour, not fact. The honest headline remains: about $143 million at a curated museum auction, and $51.7 million at a fully open one.
What actually drives the price
Four things, in roughly this order: rarity, race provenance, originality, and ownership history. A car with its original engine, gearbox and body, a single documented family of owners, and a period result at Le Mans or the Mille Miglia will outrun a prettier but less honest example every time. It is why a charity one-off such as the 2025 Ferrari Daytona SP3, which reached $26 million, sits in a different category from a numbers-matching 1962 racer: one price reflects generosity, the other reflects a market that has decided these shapes are finite.
The shapes worth immortalizing
There is a reason the cars at the top of this table are also the ones most often cast in metal and bronze. When a shape becomes both unattainable and historically fixed, it stops being transport and becomes sculpture — which is the thread this site follows. The same cars that set these records, the 250 GTO, the F40 and the Lamborghini Miura, are the ones collectors want to keep in the room long after the auction is over.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most expensive car ever sold at auction?
The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, at €135 million (about $143 million), sold by RM Sotheby's in 2022 at an invitation-only auction inside the Mercedes-Benz Museum.
What is the most expensive car sold at a normal public auction?
The 1962 Ferrari 330 LM / 250 GTO, at $51,705,000 (RM Sotheby's, New York, 2023). It is also the most expensive Ferrari ever sold.
Has any car sold for more privately?
Reportedly yes — a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO is said to have sold for around $70 million privately in 2018 — but private figures are unconfirmed and are not counted as records.
Why are Ferraris so dominant at the top?
Extreme rarity (only 36 250 GTOs exist), unbroken 1960s racing history, hand-built one-off coachwork, and documented provenance — the exact qualities the collector market rewards most.
