The 330 LM Might Be the Most Expensive Ferrari Ever Sold at Auction

Heavily based on the 250 GTO, the car specifically designed to beat the Shelby Cobra and the Jaguar E-Type, and built to comply with the changing FIA regulations, the Ferrari 330 LM came in the 1960s as the ultimate racer.

Ferrari only made 36 GTOs between 1962 and 1964, with 33 of them sporting the Series 1 bodywork, one developed in the wind tunnel, road, and track. But the 330 LM/250 GTO that we are dealing with, chassis number 3765, is even more special, as it is the only factory-raced GTO ever.

The 330 LM is powered by a 4.0-liter V12 with six Weber 42 DCN carburetors and a dry sump lubrication system, which furiously churns out 387 horsepower (390 PS). Those figures were enough to make it flash straight to a top speed of 174 mph (280 kph). As spectacular as that seems, even by today’s standards, it was nothing out of the ordinary for race cars back then.

Not much other info is availale about the performance of the car. But it was a racer. So racing it did.

The Ferrari 330 LM came with a tubular steel frame with independent, unequal-length wishbone, co-axial springs, and telescopic shock absorbers, plus an anti-roll bar. There was a live axle at the rear with semi-elliptic springs, and telescopic shock absorbers. As sophisticated as it may sound, the setup only underwent minor tweaks compared to what the 250 GTO sported, and those were mainly intended to reduce weight and ground clearance.

Among the mods is the longer floorpan, designed that way to accommodate a larger 4.0-liter engine. The 250 GTO was powered by a 3.0-liter Tipo 168/62 Colombo V12 with 296 horsepower (300 PS), the one used in the 250 Testa Rossa Le Mans winner.

The model comes with an impressive career on the racetrack. It raced and finished second overall in the 1962 Nurburgring 1000-Kilometer race. It also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans that same year, driven by Mike Parkes and Lorenzo Bandini for Scuderia Ferrari. It crashed on lap 56 and was forced to retire.

It got fixed and resumed racing. In 1964, it was sold for $6,000 with a 3.0-liter engine instead of the 4.0-liter unit, so it could be fielded as a GTO in Italian GT racing. Then again, in the 1980s, when it finally underwent restoration to mint concourse condition. The list of owners also includes a chairman of the Ferrari Club of America. It has been under the current ownership for 38 years.

A lifetime of awards

The Ferrari 330 LM has been collecting awards since day one. It was the winner of an FCA Platinum Award and was chosen as the one to deserve the Coppa Bella Machina at the Cavallino Classic. It finished second in the GTO class at the 2011 Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach, outrunning 22 competitors. It also left home with a Best in Show Award at the Amelia Island Concurs d’Elengace and won the Blue Ribbon at Meadow Brook.

So far, the world’s most expensive Ferrari was the 1963 GTO, chassis number 4153GT, sold in a private sale in June 2018 for $70 million. But that one did not have such a pedigree.

RM Sotheby's is teasing the model that might be the most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction

Now this one right here, the only factory-owned Ferrari 330 LM, has every chance to set a new record and snatch that crown from the 1963 GTO in New York, where it goes under the hammer with RM Sotheby’s this fall, in November. It is expected to fetch at least $60 million. But with all the frenzy that surrounds the super exclusive model, seeing it go way past $70 million would not come as a surprise.

It goes with copies of factory build sheets, the owners' correspondence, period racing coverage, as well as magazine features. So the one who will buy it will have a very well documented exclusive Ferrari.

RM Sotheby’s has published a teaser for the Ferrari 330 LM. It is not something that the auction house does for every car that goes under the hammer with them. "Don’t blink!" they write on the model’s teasing page, adding: “One Lifetime. One car. Once chance.”

The RM Sotheby’s representatives claim that it is not just a classic that they are selling, but a true legend, “an unparalleled piece of automotive history,” since it is the only series 1 GTO that ever raced as a factory-campaigned car. And it is the first time the model has come to market after nearly four decades in private ownership. It is the moment collectors have been dreaming of for ages.