Money, lots of money, but also class. Ernesto Bertarelli is, perhaps, the most glamorous character of today. A Gianni Agnelli in a modern sauce. Yes, because he has everything you can imagine in the most beautiful dreams.
Handsome, very rich, elegant, refined, sporty, a Harvard graduate, a lover of sailing, a beautiful and very rich wife, an equally beautiful sister.
Bertarelli's Ferrari 250 GTO costed 45 million euros in 2016.
It is not enough? An Aston Martin shareholder, a two-time America's Cup winner and ……. a vintage Ferraris lover. So, to be reductionists, let's say that he lacks for nothing.
At an age when most children learn division, Ernesto Bertarelli studied the pharmaceutical business. His father, head of the drug-making company Serono, took his son to company meetings and industry conferences starting when he was just seven years old.
It would have been stifling pressure for most young children, but Bertarelli found freedom on the nearby Italian Mediterranean. "I remember feeling surprised that my father, who wouldn't let me drive a moped, would allow me to take a dinghy out alone at sea," says Bertarelli.
Exit the dinghy. Like many of his fellow billionaires, those riches have allowed him to indulge his passion on a scale few can dream of.
Alinghi is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup.
Bertarelli now owns one of the world's great sailing teams, Alinghi, which captured the last two America's Cups at a likely cost of more than $100 million per campaign. He hopes to capture a third trophy at sailing's most prestigious event if he can settle disagreements with the team of fellow billionaire Larry Ellison.
Donatella Bertarelli and her partner Yann Guichard.
Dona Bertarelli joins her partner (and 12 other men) on the Columbus route. Hunting for records. 13 October 2013. By Bianca Ascenti.
Every day can be the right one for the maxi oceanic trimaran Spindrift Racing 2 (formerly Maxi Banque Populaire V), which awaits the 'green light' from its weather routier in Portimao (Portugal) to embark on the 'Route of Discovery', a regatta that joins Cadiz and San Salvador to the Bahamas, along the route inaugurated by Christopher Columbus in 1492.
But doing it is not enough, you need to beat the record set by Franck Cammas in 2007. On board this 40-meter giant there is a crew of 14 people, 13 men and a woman or, more in detail, 12 "singles" and a couple, made up of the two skippers and owners of the boat, Dona Bertarelli (she never liked her real name Donatella), Ernesto's younger sister and her current partner, the Frenchman Yann Guichard, with whom she shares the passion for the most extreme sailing.
Dona Bertarelli.
After making her debut in the catamaran circuit years ago on Lake Geneva with her all-pink Decision 35 "Lady Cat" and winning a Bol d'Or (the first woman to achieve this result), Mrs. Bertarelli has focused on strong emotions, on the real challenges, the ocean ones. "To be next to my man", she replies to those who ask her why she is so dangerously involved.
When Dona meets Yann it is love at first sight and the two skippers (she was racing with the “little one” Decision 35, he was sailing with the big Mod 70 Spindrift), decide to unite hearts, strengths and dreams (finances, on the other hand, come from a wallet only), to give life to a great sailing team and race in both categories of boats plus a third, that, in fact, of the maxi trimaran.
The first great satisfaction comes with the victory of the Rolex Fastnet Race, but now it's about breaking a highly coveted record. It is also risky: the idea of crossing the Atlantic at insane speeds on a complex and dangerous boat, however, does not seem to scare in the least Mrs Bertarelli, one of the richest women in the world, (it seems that her insurance company is not at all happy with the project), nor does the thought of sharing such small spaces with a handful of 'rough' sailors (including the Italian Simone Gaeta) frighten her, respecting the sleep, work and guard shifts of two hours each.
And for someone who grew up in luxury and comfort and who owns - among other things - the most elegant hotel in Gstaad, the Grand Hotel Park, the lack of a bathroom and a hot shower is not really a detail….
We don't know how the rest of the crew think, but Dona - who is really tough - has decided, she will be next to her man.
However, there will be very little time for romance, given that the record to beat is of 7 days, 10 hours, 58 minutes and 53 seconds, (reached by Cammas sailing at an average of 21.70 knots).
In 1492, it had taken Columbus five weeks. But the comparison doesn't hold up: he didn't have his girlfriend on board.
The almost unbelievably fabulous life of Kirsty Bertarelli, the richest woman in Britain. Lianna Brinded. Mar 13, 2015.
Kirsty Bertarelli married Ernesto in 2000. She is Britain's richest woman. And, as a multi-billionaire, she lives an enviably incredible life.
Kirsty and Ernesto Bertarelli.
Her fortune is so vast that it eclipses Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and the Queen combined, at £9.75 billion ($14.5 billion), according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2014.
She became Miss UK as a teenager, an accomplished music writer in her 20s and then in her 30s became the wife and the mother of three children with Switzerland's richest man, Ernesto Bertarelli.
Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli with Albert of Monaco.
Now in her 40s, she is trying to take the world by storm with her singing. She has already supported Simply Red's Mick Hucknall in concert and performed for the Prince and Princess of Monaco.
Through interviews from The Telegraph, the Mirror and from her website, as well as pictures from her Instagram, we've put together the fairytale that is Kirsty’s life.
Kirsty Bertarelli, née Roper, was born and raised in Stone, Staffordshire on June 30, 1971.
But her tale isn't a "rags to riches" story. Her father, along with her uncles, owned one of the world’s largest manufacturers of ceramics, Churchill China.
She even went to the now defunct private boarding school Howell’s in North Wales and gained seven O levels.
As a child, “we had so many opportunities: riding, tennis. We were taught good values; in the holidays we worked in my father’s factory. It taught us to be grounded," she said in an interview with the Telegraph.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
On her website, she says her mother encouraged her to write poems and that later became her way of writing songs.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
At 17, she joined a modelling agency in Manchester, which entered her for the Miss UK beauty contest.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
In 1988, she was crowned Miss UK and became second place runner-up for the Miss World pageant. Here she is with 1990's It Girl Tamara Beckwith.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
This opened doors for her in the music industry. She was signed to Warner Records and began writing music professionally.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
Meanwhile in 1997, aged 26, she met her future husband Ernesto at a dinner party in a Sardinian villa.
Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
"There were so many girls wanting to be with him and I think he just found me naively refreshing,” she told The Telegraph in an interview.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
The year 2000 was a year of change for Kirsty. She married Ernesto.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
Ernesto proposed to her with the aid of a Mariachi band in Mexico.
Getty.
The same year, she also scored a n.1 hit single, "Black Coffee," which she co-wrote for one of Britain's most popular girl bands at the time: All Saints.
Getty.
While on honeymoon — a safari run by Massai warriors — she became pregnant with her daughter Chiara, who is now 13. She later had Falco, now 9 and Alceo, 7.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
In 2000, she also became the richest woman in Britain.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
She can largely thank her husband Ernesto for her fortune.
Ernesto sold his family's pharmaceutical company Serono, which was Europe's biggest biotech firm at the time, to German drugmaker Merck in in 2006 for £9 billion.
Reuters.
But her dreams of being a singer were put on hold while her family relocated to New Zealand and then Spain for Ernesto's yachting team Alinghi.
Getty.
In 2003 and 2007, Ernesto's team won the world's most expensive and highly contested yacht race, America's Cup.
In 2003 and 2007 Ernesto’s team won the world’s most expensive and highly contested yacht race-America’s Cup. Getty.
But, despite her incredibly hectic lifestyle, she insists that Ernesto, herself and her children are a "close knit family. Ernesto and I are always at home, bringing up the kids. Every morning we’re preparing breakfast for them, there’s pandemonium," she told The Telegraph.
After 2008, Kirsty and Ernesto split their time between Switzerland and London. Her life has been a whirlwind of parties, fashion shows, holidays and singing ever since.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
But all she's ever "wanted to do" was be a popstar. “I’ve been writing songs since I was in my teens. But now I am a little older, there is so much more to write about!” she says on her website.
Reuters.
She also insists that she has always forged her own way through the music industry. “I don’t think Ernesto is going to stop working and rely on my income quite yet but it still feels fantastic to make your own money. It’s important to a woman’s self-worth and self-belief to be making some money,” she told the Mirror in 2013.
In 2009, Universal signed her and she released her first single "Don’t Say" in December that year.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
2010 marked an incredibly important year in her singing career. Her debut album "Elusive" entering the Swiss charts in the 20th position in January that year.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
In July 2010, she supported Simply Red at the 44th Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland.
Getty.
And in Edinburgh that same year.
Getty.
She then went to sing for royalty...
Reuters.
In 2011, she made a remix of her conservation song "Green" and performed it at the WWF Panda Ball celebrating the association's 50th Anniversary. Here she is with Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco (centre).
Reuters.
In 2012, she then signed a deal with Sony / ATV Music. Her single "Twilight" with trance DJ Armin Van Buuren peaked at the European dance charts for 9 weeks.
Getty.
After releasing her acoustic album "Green" in 2012, she completed another album "Love is" in 2013, which was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
After signing with Decca in 2013, she released her second album "Indigo Shore" in May 2014.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
OK, so she has a fabulous life. But she also makes sure her children remain grounded ...
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
She also loves a good fry up. Her Instagram is packed with pictures of plates of bacon, sausages and baked beans.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
She burns it off with a personal trainer.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
She may go on holiday with her friends a lot ...
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
... but she also goes on a lot of family holidays with her husband and her children.
Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
So, who inspires her the most? "My husband. He's my inspiration," she says on her site.
Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli. Instagram.
Now you've seen the fabulous life of Kirsten Bertarelli ...
If you live next door to Kirsty Bertarelli, she'll probably be your worst nightmare. Getty.
Dona Bertarelli.
Billionaire trying to beat circumnavigation record. Dona Bertarelli aims to win Jules Verne Trophy. December, 22, 2015.
She is co-skipper with partner Yann Guichard. Record is just over 45 and a half days.
In relationships, it's often said that opposites attract.
That was certainly the case when Dona Bertarelli met her partner Yann Guichard -- both accomplished sailors in their own right, but with differing experiences of being at sea.
They are now 19 days into their attempt to sail around the world in the fastest time and claim the Jules Verne Trophy.
Dona Bertarelli.
Swiss national Bertarelli, one of Europe's richest businesswomen -- valued by Forbes at $4.3 billion -- has a wealth of coastal sailing experience, while Guichard is a decorated offshore sailor.
She has twice won the much-coveted Bol d'Or Mirabaud in her homeland -- becoming the first woman in history to do so -- and with Guichard co-skippered the Maxi Spindrift 2 team to line honors in the 2015 Rolex Fastnet race, defending their title.
How to sail the world in record time.
Sailing runs in her family -- Bertarelli's brother Ernesto owned Team Alinghi, which twice won the America's Cup. Its maiden victory in 2003 was the first time a team had won the trophy on its first attempt and it successfully defending it in 2007.
However, prior to meeting Guichard, she had never entertained the thought of offshore sailing.
"The 'why' (to sail offshore) didn't come right away," Bertarelli told CNN Mainsail's Shirley Robertson.
"I was introduced to offshore sailing through Yann because he was doing that already for a long time -- he did the Jacques Vabre four times and he holds two Atlantic records."
Sailors seek the most elusive prize in sport.
The Jacques Vabre is a race that follows a historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil. Despite Guichard's expertise on the high seas, Bertarelli said she initially had some reservations.
"I wasn't ready yet," said the 47-year-old. "The only thing that we were sure of was that we wanted to do a project together."
Bertarelli launched her Ladycat project in 2007 and won her first Bol d'Or in 2010 with the Spindrift team on the Decision 35 catamaran. However, it took some time for her and Guichard to decide what their collective project would be.
"He had his career and I had Ladycat and we were seeing each other sometimes during the weekend if Yann was coming to race in Switzerland. At one point we said, 'okay, we want to share this passion together, so what can we do together?'"
"At first, the reaction was that we wanted to sail for the Olympics but we soon realized that it would not be possible because he's French and I'm Swiss and it would take too many years to get the nationality right," she said.
"So we abandoned that project quite quickly and when Spindrift 2 -- which was the ex-Banque Populaire V -- came for sale then we said, 'okay but what about breaking records, what about offshore sailing?'"
How sailing took on Jules Verne's fictional challenge.
Banque Populaire V is the current holder of the Jules Verne Trophy, having set the leading time of 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds, a record set by Loick Peyron and his crew in 2012. They also won the Fastnet the previous year in a record time.
When it came to the market in early 2013, Bertarelli says her team didn't even ask to try out the 40-meter (130-foot) yacht -- which is the world's largest racing trimaran.
"We just bought it and I was just keeping my fingers crossed that I would enjoy it, that I would not be sick, that I would be able to have a role on board which I really wanted, that I would be able to help -- because that was my challenge," added Bertarelli.
"It was really during the Discovery Route that we did three years ago, doing that offshore sailing and that record. We were 10 days at sea when we arrived back in Miami and I said, 'I want to go, let's go back, I'm ready for some more.'
"I just loved it and the Jules Verne came just right after that, I said, 'okay the ultimate challenge, then it's 45 days at sea' and I prepared for that challenge ever since."
Around the world in 80 days? These sailors smashed it.
To embark on her first real offshore sailing experience -- and one of the most dangerous and grueling in the world -- having a skipper like Guichard, somebody that Bertarelli trusts implicitly, is essential.
"Yann is a leader but he's the type of leader that uses a smooth leadership, he doesn't use strength or authority to gain power or control," she explained.
"He doesn't get excited very often, he's calm and he's someone that thinks a lot, constantly and he's always on watch for everybody all the time but he never screams, he never yells, he never gets mad.
"Sometimes he gets annoyed but he's not the type that is going to make you feel uncomfortable about it, he's going to be talking about it and he's always looking to find a solution and being very positive about what's going on."
Peyron's 2012 success was the eighth time the record had been set, while there have been 15 failed attempts.
As of December 10, on Spindrift Racing's approach to Australia, the team was 198 nautical miles behind Peyron's record as it led rival IDEC Sport -- the former Banque Populaire VII, which set the around-the-world record in 2010.
While tackling such a unique event with a skipper without experience on the route may have raised some eyebrows, especially with names such as Peyron available, Bertarelli had full confidence in her partner.
"I think it's not the question of pedigree or professionalism or are you mature enough or experienced enough. The experience and the professionalism of Yann is there, he has proved it many times," she said.
"Now I think in a challenge like this one, you have to go with people that you trust and to me it's very important to be in a team that shares the same values and sail in the same way."
Dona Bertarelli.
Bertarelli says that everyone she met, even prior to the couple starting Spindrift 2 together, enjoyed sailing with the 41-year-old Guichard due to his "calm, strong and reliable" nature.
"He doesn't take any risks which are unnecessary -- he's very 'reflechie' (thoughtful) as we say in French, so he's a very good teacher," she said.
"He knows how to explain very well what he wants and what needs to be done and it's very reassuring to have someone who has an eye on everything, that knows how to do everything on a boat.
"Yes, I think he's a great leader but a calm one and it's very comfortable sailing with him."
Kirtsty and Ernesto Bertarelli.
The richest in the United Kingdom? Not the queen nor the writer J.K Rowling but Kirsty and Ernesto Bertarelli. She’s a model, he’s the Italian-Swiss king of the pharmaceutical industry. Enjoying a luck of 14 billion euro, stellar villas and yachts, three children going to a school of 225 thousand euro a year. She was Miss. UK in 1988. Alison Boshoff for “Daily Mail”. 8 May 2017.
Miss Uk 1988.
The couple spends the winter in the giant, ultra-modern glass house, worth 24 million euros, located in Gstaad, Switzerland, complete with helipad, lake and garage. Their neighbor is Formula 1 billionaire Bernie Ecclestone. There are two kitchens in the villa, one for Kirsty and one for the chef.
The other property, where they spend the summer, is on Lake Geneva. The usual one instead is in London, worth 12 million euros, complete with a gym and cinema.
The yacht Vava II was built by Devonport in 2012. The superyacht is designed by RWD. Her owner is Ernesto Bertarelli.
The couple owns the largest yacht ever built in Great Britain, called the “Vava II”, costing nearly 120 million euros, 95 meters long.
If you have a 96 meter and 150 million yacht, how can you not have an helicopter too.
They recently went with it on vacation to Alaska, the Caribbean and Indonesia.
Kirsty Bertarelli.
In 2011, for Kirsty's 40th birthday, Ernesto rented the entire "Five Star Island" of Miami Beach for nearly two million euros. Before getting married, she wrote songs. Her record as a singer, however, did not work.
She does a lot of sport, is always on a diet and does not like alcohol. With a perfect face, one would say that he rather loves botox. The couple have three children who go to the school of kings, "Le Rosey" in Rolle, Switzerland, which costs around 74,000 euros a year. Each one.
Kirsty Bertarelli says her love for husband Ernesto inspired the n.1 hit she co-wrote for All Saints in 2000. Chris Jackson/Getty images.
Kirsty Bertarelli, now 46, is still waiting for her big break. Not content with being crowned Miss UK 1988; with marrying Ernesto, a stupendously wealthy ace yachtsman; and producing three children (all excellent skiers), while remaining missing-rib thin — what Mrs Bertarelli wants most of all is for her singer-songwriter career to take off. “So many people would just go off on their yacht and spend their life drinking champagne, but not me,” she once said. “Singing has been inside me my whole life and I can’t not do it.” She came closest with Black Coffee, a n.1 hit in 2000 for girl band All Saints.
Alinghi the first tests on the lake in July 2009.
Alinghi's Ernesto Bertarelli: America's Cup now a game for engineers, I won't be there. May 30 2018.
Double America's Cup winner Ernesto Bertarelli has confirmed Alinghi won't contest the 2021 regatta in Auckland with the Swiss magnate strongly attacking the new direction of sport's oldest trophy.
Alinghi transported by helicopter.
Barcellona 1986. Lloydimages.
BMW Oracle flies around Alinghi.
Alinghi in Genova.
Alinghi BoldOr 2017.
Bertarelli made his name in yachting by winning the America's Cup off Team New Zealand in 2003 in Auckland and defending it four years later in Valencia. He lost a 2010 multihull battle with Oracle Team USA and hasn't been involved since.
Ernesto Bertarelli sprays the victory champagne after his Alinghi team beat Emirates Team New Zealand to win the 2007 America's Cup in Valencia.
Hopes of him returning to the game in Auckland now appear dashed after he expressed disappointment at the direction taken by new cup holders Emirates Team New Zealand who are returning the monohulls to the America's Cup.
GC32 world championship on Garda lake.
Bertarelli, who has just completed the GC32 world championships in foiling 32-foot catamarans, believes multihulls remain the future of the sport.
Emitates team New Zealand.
Team NZ's concept foiling monohull design involves cantilevering T-foils on either side.
He described the new foiling 75-foot boats under design and construction for Auckland as "catamarans dressed as monohulls".
"They will be slower boats than we could have by keeping and developing the catamarans we had seen in the latest edition of Bermuda, probably less governable and safe, because they took away the second rudder," Bertarelli told Italian newspaper La Stampa, breaking his silence on the 36th edition of the Cup.
"Just ask the young sailors what boats they want. As early as 12 years old they would like to get on the flying catamarans like the Moths and then the Nacra 15.
Emitates team New Zealand.
A concept drawing of the foiling monohull to compete in the next America's Cup. Released on November 21, 2017.
"I really do not understand this: why change boat at every edition of the Cup? In addition, the 'single-brand' will also be more expensive."
He felt the expense was limiting the potential field as was shown with only Team New Zealand, Britain's Ben Ainslie Racing, Italian challenger of record Luna Ross and the New York Yacht Club confirmed so far.
He was also disappointed the Cup hadn't been allowed to give more development to the catamarans.
Ernesto Bertarelli has maintained a competitive Alinghi sailing team since stepping away from the America's Cup.
"Come on, now the Cup is a game for architects and engineers, with sailors in the background. And with the risk of investing a huge sum in a very high boat.
"One could see the previous Cup had a direction to follow. You could spend the same amount to develop the project, but with less risk of making a mistake. Take the British and Ben Ainslie in the last Cup: the best sailor in the world, but had a wrong boat. Game over".
Bertarelli confirmed he would have returned to the America's Cup for the next regatta had the foiling catamarans been retained.
"Yes, I would have participated. Switzerland now also has sailors to do it without problems of nationality rules. Changing boats has lost at least two teams, one is Alinghi (the other, Sweden's Artemis Racing). They would have had six from the beginning. And it would have been easy to go up to eight."
Bertarelli, who enjoys maintaining a professional sailing team with his own involvement, said he was content to continue to sail and develop the GC32s.
"Being at the helm of a boat like the GC32 is a great feeling, running at 35 knots… the tension is very high, it's like driving a Ferrari," he told La Stampa.
"And this is only the first generation. We have decided to build a 35-foot catamaran with T-shaped foils and an electronic system for assisted flight management, it will be crazy. We are only at the beginning, the potential for development is enormous.
"I'm a fan of sailing, if it (the America's Cup) were a more balanced game ... however, frankly today I enjoy the GC32 without the problems that the Cup involves and without spending huge sums."
Bertarelli also spoke again of taking on Sir Russell Coutts and key Team New Zealand crew for his first successful foray into the America's Cup in 2003.
Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli.
He had gone to Auckland in 2000 to watch Team New Zealand's first successful defence and then started thinking of getting involved.
But he claims it was Coutts who approached him, rather than the Swiss billionaire poaching Kiwi talent.
"I came home and two or three months later Coutts called me. I had not known him, I had not shook his hand. He told me that he wanted to go, that he wanted to make a team in Europe, that he was talking to different people. He spoke with Bertelli (Luna Rossa), as he did when he left Alinghi and then went with Oracle," Bertarelli said.
There are those who regret the boats of the past, the monohull with the spinnaker.
"It's as if you give someone a Ducati 650 and then tell him: "why don't you get a Harley"? I have a Harley Davidson, chromed, romantic. Every now and then I get my wife up behind and we go for a ride in the countryside. But if I want to race on the circuit, I'll take the Ducati”.
America’s Cup.
The America's Cup doesn't have to be necessarily low cost.
«Yes, but when you are with four teams registered for the next Cup so far (Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa, USA, UK), there’s something you have to ask yourself. You risk it happening as it happened to me on the lake: I made a crazy catamaran, Alinghi 41 Le Black, I won everything for two years and then I turned around and found myself racing alone.
The D35.
Then with the other owners we made the D35 (the D35 was developed as a response to the ever-increasing costs and extremism in multihull sailing on Lake Geneva. A group of owners, including Ernesto Bertarelli, got together with designer Sebastien Schmidt to bring to life a fast, high-tech, but affordable one-design catamaran. In 2004, the first eight boats were launched, since which the class has gone up to twelve boats built) and for fifteen years we have been having fun like crazy”.
You've been an America's Cup Scrooge.
"Yes, it's true. But once I won, I tried to build a Cup that paid for itself. I wanted sailing to become a sport like football, Formula one. In order not to risk precisely finding yourself with four teams, as if it were a race in front of home. The GC32 circuit, for example, is nice even because there are thirteen teams… It has fun, atmosphere, nice images».
You will stay out of it, but will you follow the 2021 America’s Cup anyway?
«Sure, as always».
America’s Cup.
Tell me the truth: the Cup disease has remained in your blood.
“I am a sailing enthusiast, this is the truth. I won the Cup, I lived it for ten years perhaps in its best period, probably the next Cup I would not have been on the boat, I did my time. I am especially sorry for the new generation of sailors who will no longer experience that America's Cup. There were so many teams, there was a wonderful atmosphere. Even the less strong teams were part of the community, maybe they dreamed of beating Alinghi once ... Now the sailors of the Cup are always the same, it's a closed circuit.”
You have fun on the GC32s, right?
"Yes, a lot. Here there are sailors who train 320 days a year. I can do it just for a month, including regattas».
Did you spend a lot of time on the Cup in 2003 and 2007?
“The first time I was able to do business too. Let's say I dedicated a third of my time to the Cup. That event also coincided with a simple private life, I had just got married, my first daughter was two, the company was doing great, our products were launched. The second time, however, was a bit more complicated: organizing and defending the trophy was a great responsibility."
But why did you choose to participate in the Cup?
“I went to Auckland in 2000, when Luna Rossa lost against New Zealand, because I realized that the Maxi One Designs didn't work. I wanted to clear my mind, together with Michel Bonefus, the friend who had helped me with the Maxis. I was surprised by the welcome: Peter Blake, Bertelli who had invited me for a coffee ... In short, many doors had opened, they had shown me the boats, the New York Yacht Club team that wanted to sell me the boat because they had made a disastrous campaign… I saw the first races, I had fun, I came back home, to work. And two and three months later Coutts called me”.
It went as it went. Any regret?
“No, I never look to the past, I always think of tomorrow. Unfortunately, because sometimes I should look back, because then the memories slip away. Maybe I have little memory ... It's just that I didn't want to be just a passenger in the Cup, I also wanted to go boating, I liked being in the team, getting involved ... ".
You talk of respect from the professional sailors of the GC32. Can you explain?
"It means being accepted as a sailor by people who are twenty years younger than you, being able to create a relationship of respect ...".
Well, you are the shipowner, respect cannot be lacking …
«The respect in a competition by professionals is not the same thing. If you're not in the rankings in front of people like Draper, Minoprio, Cammas they won't come to pat you on the back and say “well done, mate”. And that's what counts».
Last question: what about ocean racing? Do you like it? It also seems that the Volvo Ocean Race is for sale ...
«I was born in Rome and I am always cold. I couldn't imagine boating south of Rome. I like the sun…».
The quest for the "Holy Grail" - billionaires line up for world's most expensive car. By Mike Hanlon. August 24, 2018.
Ferrari Classiche's 250 GTO Anniversary tour is held every five years. Ferrari Classiche.
At 8pm on Saturday August 25, one of the greatest heavyweight contests in history will take place. It won't take place in a boxing ring or an octagonal cage, but on the Monterey auction block of RM-Sothebys, the collectible car auction company that has sold more elite automobiles than any other company in the world over the last decade. The contest will be for the ownership of the world's most coveted collectible car – a Ferrari 250 GTO.
The Ferrari 250 GTO is the "Holy Grail" for car collectors. Over the course of the last half century, the Ferrari 250 GTO has emerged as the most desirable and potent blend of style, exclusivity, performance, heritage and status of any automobile.
Statistics unquestionably show that Ferrari is already the most desirable collectible car marque. At any point in time, Ferraris make up more than half the top 100 most valuable cars sold at auction and the prices paid for Ferrari 250 GTOs over the last three decades would make up the vast majority of the highest outright prices paid (including dealer sales and brokered private sales) for any automobile.
The world car auction record of US$ 38.1 million was set at Bonhams' Quail Lodge Sale in August, 2014 by a 1962-63 Ferrari 250 GTO, but many unverified private GTO sales have far exceeded that figure, with the outright world record for a private sale of a car believed to have been set by a 250 GTO at $70-$80 million in May, 2018.
With another Ferrari 250 GTO headed for auction in Monterey on Saturday night, the stage is set for a showdown between the world's UHNWI (Ultra High Net Worth Individuals) for an entry ticket to one of the world's most exclusive clubs.
Ferrari 250 GTO Price history
Normally, the rarity of an object is directly proportional to its value. For example, let's look at the cars that have previously sold at auction for more than $25 million (other than the world record 250 GTO).
There were only three extant (four were made) examples of the Ferrari 335S Spider that sold for € 32,075,200 (US$ 35.7 million) in 2016. Artcurial.
When Juan Manuel Fangio's Mercedes-Benz W196R Silver Arrow sold for £ 19,601,500 (US$ 29,600,000) in 2013, it was one of only 14 W196R machines ever created. With 10 extant (three in museums and six owned by Mercedes-Benz), it was the only Silver Arrow W196R publicly available. Bonhams.
In 2015, a 1956 Ferrari 290 MM sold for $ 28,050,000 in New York. Only four were ever made and this one was driven by the best driver in history too. That's Fangio poised at 6:00 am for the start of the Mille Miglia in this car. RM-Sothebys.
In 2013, one of ten 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 S NART Spiders sold at auction for $ 27,700,000. Unlike all the others, it had never been raced, had been with one family from new, was in perfect condition and had been donated to charity, which always adds a premium at auction.
In 2014, one of just three 1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciales sold for $ 26,400,000. RM-Sothebys.
By comparison, there are a lot more Ferrari GTOs than there should be for them to command such stratospheric prices. The exact number that were produced is a tad complex to understand: 33 Series I cars were made in 1962-63 with the Series I body we all recognize, another three series II cars with an LM style body were made in 1964, plus another three 330 GTOs (with a four-liter engine) in 1964 and four of the Series I cars were transformed by the factory to Series II bodies in 1964 too. So, depending on what you classify as a genuine GTO, the answer is 29, 33, 36 or 39. Regardless, they all still exist and they have traditionally been so closely held that only one has been offered at auction in recent times.
The collectible car marketplace has three tiers: the auction marketplace, collectible car dealers and private sales. The auction segment only accounts for between 10 and 25 percent of the total market, so it is just the tip of this massive multi-billion-dollar iceberg and as the only visible part, it obfuscates what has really happened and gets all the attention.
The history of the world auction record for an automobile. New Atlas.
As you will see in the details below, the Ferrari 250 GTO would have held the world outright record for much of the last four decades if the real sales in the private "brokered" segment of the market had been visible.
When new, the GTO sold for $ 18,500, but as often happened when racing cars were no longer competitive at the highest level, they rapidly declined in value, with one selling for $ 4,000 in 1965, another for $ 3,600 in 1966 and the lowest known cash transaction price for a 250 GTO being $ 2,500 in 1969.
By the late 1970s, prices had risen to past $ 100,000 and the first known million-dollar sale occurred in 1986. A rare GTO appearance at a public (Christies) auction in Monaco in 1987 saw #4561GT sold for $1,545,750.
In the late 1980s, during the height of the the Japanese asset price bubble (the yen strengthened from an exchange rate of JPY 300 to USD in 1985 to 150 in 1989), Japanese buyers began to buy classic cars for effectively half the previous cost in yen and the resultant collectible car price boom saw four GTO private transactions in excess of $10 million, with a peak of $16 million.
When the bubble burst, prices fell dramatically and the subsequent lull saw private prices recede to a low of $2,000,000 in 1994.
In 2004, 250 GTO prices climbed back above the $10 million mark, with unconfirmed sales then seeing the value of the model accelerate quickly to $26 million in 2010, $35 million in 2012, then a private sale of 250 GTO #5111 in 2013 for a reported $52 million. Provenance adds a premium to the sale price of elite cars and the car in question had an impressive competition history, including having won the epic 2,300-km (1,429-mi) 1963 Tour de France Automobile.
Hence the auction record of $38.1 million in 2014 was only a rough indication of the prices being paid privately in the 250 GTO marketplace – the auction car wasn't a perfect example and had little provenance compared to its GTO brethren.
By November, 2016, the $38.1 million world auction record price seemed to have catalyzed movement in the private and dealer market to such an extent that three 250 GTOs were for sale privately or on the dealer market with prices all in the vicinity of $55.8 to $57 million.
The price trajectory continued upwards in late May, 2018 when another private Ferrari 250 GTO (Chassis #4153) was widely reported as having sold for $70-$80 million to WeatherTech founder David MacNeil.
The Monterey auction is hence being seen as an important milestone in the GTO price history as it will be one of a handful of sales in which the price has been publicly visible.
Why the Ferrari 250 GTO is a blue chip investment
British media personality Chris Evans wrote an article for the Telegraph (UK) newspaper in 2008 entitled Why the Ferrari 250 GTO is the best possible investment. That article encapsulates most of the reasons that an enthusiast might consider in justifying to himself why the 250 GTO has become the apex automobile in a market worth many billions of dollars and tens of thousands of cars each year … except for the investment returns, the prestige and the networking with the world's highest performance people involved. Following his own advice, Chris Evans purchased a Ferrari 250 GTO in 2010 for £12,000,000, selling it less than three years later for £18,000,000.
British media personality Chris Evans (above) is one of the select few to have owned BOTH the world's most expensive (auction) car and a Ferrari 250 GTO. Evans purchased actor James Coburn's 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider at RM Auctions Ferrari – Leggenda e Passione auction in May, 2008 for €7,040,000 (US$10,894,900).
Now the 250 GTO has been openly acknowledged as the car you have to have as a car collector, it is attracting a wider audience of buyers who want to be in THE CLUB!
The Ferrari 250 GTO Owners Club
Not surprisingly, counting only people who can afford to have a car in the garage worth $50 million thins the herd to a few hundred of Planet Earth's burgeoning population and the select group of individuals who will be eligible to join Ferrari's 60th anniversary GTO tour in 2022 are the absolute elite of car collectors and a loose gathering of the world's highest achievers.
Not all of the owners of Ferrari 250 GTO cars are known, with many owners preferring anonymity and though some previous lists of 250 GTO owners have been published, they are now well out of date and no-one knows who they all are.
The degree of wealth which GTO owners have stored in their garage generally runs well beyond a single car, often running to more than a hundred cars, many of them worth tens of millions into the bargain. There was a survey done a few years ago that concluded the average Bugatti owner also owns 84 cars, three jets and a yacht. The 250 GTO owners club is infinitely more elite, because you can buy a Bugatti for a fraction of the price of a GTO.
One of the things that became obvious in researching this article is that there seems to be some sort of affinity between the GTO and the Ferrari 250 TR (Testa Rossa), because a very high percentage of GTO owners also have a 250 TR to keep their GTO company.
GTO owners who also own Testa Rossas include Rob Walton, Ralph Lauren, Charles Nearburg, Anthony Wang, Giuseppe Lucchini, John McCaw, Giorgio Perfetti, Lawrence Stroll, Tom Price, John Mozart, Peter Sachs, Chip Connor, Lord Anthony Bamford and Carlos Hank Rhon. That's 14 GTO owners who also own a Ferrari Testa Rossa.
There were only 22 serial numbers allocated by Ferrari for the the TR and 20 machines extant. Do the math!
Hank Rhon purchased the most expensive car to sell at auction in the world at the time when he outbid all comers to score the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (#0666TR) which fetched $16.39 million at Gooding's Pebble Beach auction in 2011.
Here's a précised list of the known GTO Owners:
Lawrence Stroll | Ferrari 250 GTO #3451
Lawrence Stroll (owner of Ferrari 250 GTO #3451) is best known as the former Chairman of the Tommy Hilfiger brand. He is now an investor (ranked #722 on Forbes' list of the world's billionaires with a net worth of $2.7 billion) with a deep love of automobiles. Ferrari.
Lawrence purchased 250 GTO #3451 in 1996 and immediately went about finding and installing the original engine in time to drive the 35th anniversary GTO tour in 1997, subsequently attending Brandon Wang's GTO Garden party and the Coys International Historic Festival at Silverstone in 1998.
Stroll has driven #3451 in all the anniversary tours since then, the period-dress Goodwood Revival Meeting in the United Kingdom and dozens of events in the United States.
Craig McCaw | Ferrari 250 GTO #3505GT
Craig McCaw (owner of this Ferrari 250 GTO #3505GT) was one of America's mobile phone pioneers who saw the future and moved faster than the incumbent telcos to develop the networks and mobile services the public wanted. He was one of four brothers who inherited McCaw Communications and created McCaw Cellular (now part of AT&T Mobility) then Clearwire and his philosophy of "filling a need that others aren't addressing" has built his net worth to $1.76 billion. Two of his brothers own another GTO.
McCaw purchased this car in May, 2012 for a reported $35 million from Dutch-born British vineyard owner Eric Heerema. Heerema bought the GTO in 2005 for $8.5 million from Japanese collector Yoshiho Matsuda, who in turn had traded his way into the car in a deal brokered by Talacrest in 2000 for a price in the vicinity of $8.0 million.
As is the case with most GTO owners, it's not the only car in the shed and in McCaw's case it is just one of many superb examples of almost every conceivable piece of automotive exotica one can imagine. The collection built by Craig and his brother Bruce included more than 400 cars, before they began pruning the less-than-perfect examples.
McCaw's GTO was originally built for legend Stirling Moss, but Moss never actually raced it because his career finished on April 23, 1962 when he crashed a Lotus during the Glover Trophy at Goodwood, putting himself in a coma and partially paralyzing his left side for six months.
The car had been ordered by British Racing Partnerships which raced under the UDT Laystall banner in 1962, hence its distinctive green colour. The team was owned by former Indy 500 competitor, Alfred Moss, father of Stirling and was shared by Innes Ireland and Marsten Gregory for the remainder of the season. Gregory took a second place at Silverstone before the pair struck trouble at the halfway mark in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and retired. Ireland took wins at Brands Hatch and the 1962 Tourist Trophy at Goodwood before season's end when the car was sold to Austrian actor Gunther Philipp who won the 1963 and 1964 Austrian GT championships in the car.
Baron Irvine Laidlaw | Ferrari 250 GTO #3527GT
Scottish businessman Irvine Laidlaw (owner of Ferrari 250 GTO #3527GT) is a former member of the House of Lords who made his fortune by starting the international conference company Institute for International Research (IIR) in 1974 and selling it for £768 million ($1.4 billion) in 2005. Ferrari Classiche.
There are many indications that the good Baron understands what money is meant to be used for, including that at his current tender 72 years of age, he only gave up racing cars five years ago. When his collection of racing cars were sold by RM-Sothebys in 2013, they included a Le-Mans-winning 1955 Jaguar D-Type, a 1965 Porsche 904/6 Carrera GTS, a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Berlinetta Competizione, a 1957 Maserati 250S by Fantuzzi, a 1960 Maserati Tipo 61 "Birdcage", a 1970 Chevron B16 and a 1971 Chevron B19.
This particular 250 GTO was driven in period by the likes of Umberto Maglioli, Lucien Bianchi and Claude Dubois and had a spectacularly successful year in 1963 in the hands of Swiss banker Armand Boller. The car's provenance includes being owned for seven years by Lord Anthony Bamford. Laidlaw purchased Ferrari 250 GTO #3527GT in January, 2005 for an undisclosed price.
Engelbert Stieger | Ferrari 250 GTO #3589GT
The founder of Stieger Textiles, Engelbert Stieger purchased 250 GTO #3589GT in July 1988, immediately having the car comprehensively restored by Sportgarage Fritz Leirer and showing it for the first time at the 1990 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Over the subsequent decade it appeared at the most prestigious events across Europe before becoming part of the Stieger Family's Turning Wheel Collection in St.Gallen. Ferrari Classiche.
The collection also includes a 1951 Ferrari 212 Inter Vignale Berlinetta, a 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Vignale Spider, a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, a 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, a 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB/2, a 1966 Ferrari Dino 206S, a 1970 Ferrari 512 S/M, a 1972 Ferrari 312 P, a 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Coupe, a 1972 Ferrari 365 GTC/4, a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider, the 1973 Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 Prototype, a 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO, a 1988 Ferrari F40, a 2003 Ferrari Enzo Collectors Edition and a dozen more recent Ferraris.
This GTO's journey reflects the racing car's curse of being considered worthless once it was no longer competitive in its class. In the immediate years after it was built it had a spectacular history, being driven by such notables as Michael Parkes, Richie Ginther and Innes Ireland, before falling on hard times. By 1970 it was being rented out by the "Motor Cars Masculine" exotic car rental business of North Royalton, Ohio at $34 a day – #3589 couldn't keep a job, however and from 1972 to 1986 it sat on an open-top trailer in a field. What happened between 1986 and 1988 is unclear, because 250 GTO #3589GT went from being effectively abandoned to being sold to Engelbert Stieger for $4.2 million and was subsequently restored.
Rob Walton | Ferrari 250 GTO #3607GT &
Ferrari 250 GTO #5575GT & Ferrari 330 LMB #4453SA
Samuel Robson "Rob" Walton is the eldest son of the founder of Walmart, Sam Walton. He served as Chairman of Walmart from 1992 to 2015. With a net worth of more than $40 billion, Rob Walton is one of the 20 wealthiest people on the planet. Rob owns Ferrari 250 GTO #3607GT, Ferrari 250 GTO #5575GT and Ferrari 330 LMB #4453SA. Somer Hooker.
Ferrari 250 GTO #3607GT has a fascinating history, having sold at a Sotheby's Monaco auction in May, 1990 for $9,588,780 plus commission but the buyer didn't pay up. In August, 1991, it sold again for $6.9 million before being traded back to one of its previous owners, Pierre Bardinon, in exchange for a Ferrari 330 P3/4. In 1994 it was sold by Talacrest to Walton for $3.5 million.
Walton has since driven it in Tour de France Auto, Spa Ferrari Days, the 40th, 45th and 50th anniversary GTO tours and shown it at Pebble Beach. His car collection includes a 1965 Shelby Cobra, a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, a 1960 Maserati T60, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB, a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, plus another 250 and a 330 LMB.
Both of Rob Walton's GTOs had successful in-period racing histories, with his second Ferrari 250 GTO (#5575GT) campaigned from new by the famous Ecurie Francorchamps Racing Team. The car finished fourth outright and second in class at the 1964 1,000km Nurburgring race and fifth outright and second in the GT class at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, both times driven by Lucien Bianchi with Gerard Langlois van Ophem sharing the first result and Belgian Jean Blaton the second.
#5575GT was owned by Carlos Hank Rhon from 1998 to 2012 when it was sold to Walton.
Walton's third "GTO" is the 330 LMB 4-liter front-engined prototype (#4453SA) that Mamie Spears Reynolds purchased on June 5, 1963 to replace Ferrari 250 GTO #4219GT in her Reynolds Racing Team (read more about Mamie when we get to Brandon Wang's Ferrari 250 GTO #4219GT further down this list).
#4453SA's first start was just 10 days later (June 15/16, 1963) in the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans, where it ran under the N.A.R.T banner with Dan Gurney and Jim Hall driving. In practice, one of the other Ferrari 330 cars (#3765GT) became the first car to surpass 300 km/h (186 mph) on the 6-km (3.7-mi) Mulsanne Straight. In the race, #4453SA was in third place at the halfway mark, but a half-shaft broke and they retired.
The car's only other start was the Bridgehampton Double 500 in September where Dan Gurney finished second in class and third outright and it was onsold before the end of 1963, having eight owners in the next six years. Life was interesting for #4453SA, being owned by one of the heirs to the Coca Cola fortune and during 1968 it was traded for a Bugatti Type 57 SC Atalante and a Mercedes 300SL roadster. Hindsight is indeed the only 20:20 vision.
The churn of owners continued until 1989 when Anthony Wang (now owner of Ferrari 250 GTO #3769GT) purchased it, reselling it 15 years later to the current owner, Rob Walton.
Rob Walton arguably owns three Ferrari GTOs, even if one is a 330 GTO with a different name.
Ed Davies | Ferrari 250 GTO #3705GT
GTO #3705GT was purchased by Ed Davies of Coral Gables, Florida in 1994 from Japanese collector Yoshiyuki Hayashi and has been driven in all the anniversary tour events, raced all around the world at the most prestigious historic race meetings and shown across America at the most important concours events. Somer Hooker.
Indeed, we're not sure what Ed and wife Leslie have done work-wise to accumulate their stellar car collection, because a few years ago a motoring journalist asked Ed what he did for a job and he answered, "not much of anything." That's not bad considering there's at very least a 250 TR, a 290 MM an Enzo and an F50 in the garage.
In its day, GTO #3705GT raced in all the famous events from the Targa Florio and Tour de France to the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning its class in the latter and finishing second outright.
It was offered for sale in 1969 by then owner Cox Kocher for CHF 30,000 (around US$6,380 at that time) but no other price points have been made public along the way.
Jon Shirley | Ferrari 250 GTO #3729GT
Jon Shirley, owner of Ferrari 250 GTO #3729GT, is a former President, Chief Operating Officer and a director of Microsoft Corporation and guided the company through its Initial Public Offering. Prior to Microsoft, Shirley worked for Tandy Corporation.
Jon's #3729GT had a successful racing history in its youth, being driven by such greats as Roy Salvadori, Graham Hill (pictured below in this car) and Richie Ginther.
In 1998, 250 GTO #3729GT was offered privately by Brooks Auctions (Brooks would buy Bonhams in 2001, become Bonhams & Brooks and subsequently Bonhams again), at an asking price around $6 million. It was purchased shortly thereafter by Shirley, though the final price was not disclosed. Shirley is a serious car collector, as this SportsCar Digest interview indicates, as does the clip below.
At the time of the interview, Shirley owned 27 cars, including an 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B, a 1954 Ferrari 375 MM Scaglietti coupe, a Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder, a 1949 Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchetta, a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, a Maserati 300S, a 1934 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3, a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, a 1967 Jaguar E-Type 4.2 Roadster, a 1954 Jaguar XK120 and the ex-Michael Schumacher 1997 F310B Ferrari F1.
Nick Mason | Ferrari 250 GTO #3757GT
The owner of Ferrari 250 GTO #3757GT is Nick Mason, the drummer in Pink Floyd. Mason may well be one of the world's most influential and financially successful musicians, but he has motor oil running in his family's veins. Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Nick's father Bill was a film maker who drove in the Mille Miglia and he made countless documentaries about the history of motorsport.
Nick Mason and fellow-superstar Dave Gilmour (also of Pink Floyd) made a documentary about the famous Carrera Panamerica that is well worth checking out.
At the time of Nick Mason's purchase of GTO #3757GT for $86,000, Pink Floyd's albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975) and Animals (1977) had all been released. Remarkably, The Dark Side of the Moon was still on the Billboard charts five years after its release and would remain so for another nine years.
Despite a hectic schedule in his day job, upon taking delivery of Ferrari 250 GTO #3757, Mason immediately prepped the car for combat and drove it in the Oldtimer GP at Nürburgring on August 12-13, 1978.
Nick was most certainly never a motorsport numpty, having driven his beloved Ferrari 250 GTO #3757 in every anniversary tour event since 1982, famously "dropping a valve" on the outskirts of Paris during the 20th Anniversary Tour event, plus countless races since he purchased the car 40 years ago. As often as not, he let's others play with his $50 million toy and those who have demonstrated the surgical precision of the GTO on the racetrack range from his wife Annette, through internationally recognised stars Damon Hill, Marino Franchitti, Martin Brundle and Jean Alesi.
Lord Anthony Bamford | Ferrari 250 GTO #3767GT &
Ferrari 250 GTO#4399GT
Lord Anthony Bamford owns two Ferrari 250 GTOs. That is his #3767GT above.
Anthony Bamford (Oakamoor, U.K.) succeeded his father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, as Chairman and Managing Director of JCB (Joseph Cyril Bamford Excavators Limited) in 1975, at the age of 30. He was knighted in 1990 at the age of 45. He owns two Ferrari 250 GTOs.
Anthony nearly purchased Jaguar from Ford in 2006, but reportedly didn't want Land Rover (we can't be right all the time) and has an approximate net worth of $3.9 billion. He purchased Ferrari 250 GTO #3767GT in 1974 for an unknown price.
#3767GT was successfully raced in period, with a fourth place in the 1962 Tour de France Auto (behind a Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competition and two identical Ferrari 250 GTOs) and wins in the 1962 Kyalami 9 Hour, 1962 Angola GP and a class win at the secondFIA 500-km race at Bridgehampton of the Double 500. Other notable results included a fourth and a fifth place in class at the 12 Hours of Sebring and third in class and sixth outright at the 1963 1000 km Nürburgring.
This car has been driven in competition extensively by Anthony, who drove it in the 30th, 35th and 40th anniversary GTO tours, by daughter Alice in the 45th Anniversary Tour and by his son Joe in the 50th Anniversary Tour. Joe has also been racing the car since 2006, usually sharing the driving with TV presenter, race engineer and driver Alain de Cadenet.
Lord Anthony Bamford owns two Ferrari 250 GTOs. That is his #4399GT above. Ferrari Classiche.
That's Lord Bamford's other GTO #4399GT above, which he purchased in 1969, subsequently driving it in the25th anniversary GTO tour (1987). Along the way, he has slotted such luminaries as John Surtees, Damon Hill and Jean Alesi behind the wheel. Lord Bamford also once owned the Fangio Mercedes-Benz W196 F1 car mentioned elsewhere in this article.
Anthony Wang | Ferrari 250 GTO #3769GT
The 55th GTO Anniversary Tour was held in 2017. Anthony Wang's 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO #3769GT is the metallic silver car with a central blue stripe pictured amongst its brethren in Maranello, Italy. Ferrari Classiche.
Anthony Wang studied Law at Yale and Cornell Law School before joining his brother Charles at Computer Associates, which Charles had founded in 1976.
As President and CEO, Anthony presided over the company, which became the largest software company in the world before he retired at the tender age of 49 in 1992. He said in an interview with the New York Times upon his retirement: "I didn't want to wait until I'm old and decrepit, having amassed a great fortune and not enjoyed life. Computer Associates is one of those all-consuming places; either you're in it 100 percent or you're not."
Anthony has certainly used his "great fortune" to enjoy himself since then. He purchased Ferrari 250 GTO #3769GT 22 years ago, reunited it with its original engine and subsequently drove it in Ferrari's 50th Anniversary event in 1997, the Coys International Historic Festival at Silverstone (U.K.) in 1997 and the 35th Anniversary GTO Tour in 1997.
His acquisition of Ferrari 250 GTO #3769 in 1996 made his family the only one in the entire world to have both "his and hers" Ferrari 250 GTOs as his wife Lulu had purchased Ferrari 250 GTO #4713 a decade earlier. Before jumping to any sexist assumptions, Lulu made her fortune in her own right and both Anthony and Lulu have shown and raced both GTOs all over the world. Between them they have a very large and beautifully maintained fleet of Ferraris, including a 330LMB, 250P, 250LM, 500TR, 250TR, 166MM, GT 250 SWB, plus, both short and long wheelbase Ferrari GT 250 California Spyders. The last two alone add at least $20 million to the value of the collection and the 330 LMB is one of the 1964 factory prototypes that is sometimes counted as a GTO. That's quite some collection.
Ferrari 250 GTO #3769GT was campaigned from new for four years in events across France, with many wins, before having a string of short term custodians before being purchased by world-renowned cancer surgeon, Paul F. Schouwenburg in 1971.
Anthony Wang's Ferrari 250 GTO #3769GT featured in the book Ferrari Fever: A Lifetime Collecting, Restoring and Racing the Rarest Italian Automobiles, detailing Paul Schouwenburg's passion for restoring a cavalcade of rare Ferraris, with 250 GTO #3769GT one of the cars extensively featured in the book and appearing on the front cover (above) and the back cover. This car was returned to perfection by a world-leading surgeon - not many cars can claim such an honour.
Just what happened to #3769GT in the intervening years is hard to trace, with it being auctioned in Las Vegas in November 1991 with a claimed winning bid of $5.8 million (disputed), then again in Tokyo just four months later where it failed to attract a single bid.
Note that with an LMB in the garage, the Wangs are effectively a three GTO family.
Ernesto Bertarelli | Ferrari 250 GTO #3809
The owner of Ferrari 250 GTO #3809 is Italian-born, Swiss biotech entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli. That's #3809 in period, after Swiss owner-driver Kalman von Czazy had rolled it in one of his monumental crashes at Nürburgring, Montlhery or the Targa Florio. At least it is now being treated lovingly.
Biotechnology entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli's finest moment: skippering an America's Cup victory in 2003. Team Alinghi.
Whilst Ernesto Bertarelli may not yet be a global household name on account of his business exploits, he most certainly is due to his feats on the global stage of competitive sailing where he founded the yachting syndicate Team Alinghi, then skippering the winning boat in the Louis Vuitton Cup and the America's Cup in 2003, returning the "Auld Mug" to Europe for the first time since the inaugural 1851 race around the Isle of Wight. Bertarelli assembled a "dream team" crew and in the 2003 win and the successful 2007 defense, he was the only Swiss national on board. His exploits saw him awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by France and the Cavaliere di Gran Croce by Italy.
In a sale brokered by Simon Kidston in 2016, Bertarelli purchased 250 GTO #3809GT for a price around $45 million. Prior to Bertarelli's ownership, Ferrari 250 GTO #3809 was owned and campaigned since 1976 by German Property Developer Hartmut Ibing, who drove it in the 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th and 40th anniversary GTO tours, but has been seen only fleetingly since the turn of the millennium. It has several times been shown at Techno Classica in Essen and also took a star turn at the Ferrari Exhibition Pantheon, in Basel, Switzerland in 2011-2012.
Concerning the sale of Ferrari 250 GTO #3809, Ibing wrote, "it is never easy to part with a car which has been part of your life for 40 years. When that car is a Ferrari 250 GTO which you dreamed of as a youth and worked hard in your business career to own, the decision is even more difficult ... the memories of this great car will stay with me forever."
The car's in-period racing history, particularly in the hands of Swiss owner-driver Kalman von Czazy, looks decidedly like a win-it-or-bin-it spree, with wins at Solitude, Innsbruck, Eberbach, Nürburgring and Monza and big crashes at Nürburgring, Montlhery and in the Targa Florio.
Carlos Monteverde | Ferrari 250 GTO #3851GT
The current world record holder for any car at auction is this 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta which sold for $38,115,000 on August 15, 2014 at Bonhams' Quail Lodge Auction during Monterey Car Week. The GTO tops our Top 100 Most Valuable Cars listing. Bonhams.
Carlos Monteverde is the son of billionaire philanthropist Lily Safra, who was unlucky in love four times, inheriting an estimated total of $1.2 billion upon the death of her four husbands. Using his resources wisely, Carlos Monteverde's racing career has been quite spectacular in historic racing, having twice won the Le Mans Legend race.
#3851GT is the ex-Schlesser/Oreiller/Colombo/Prinoth/Violati 250 GTO that sold at Bonhams Quail Lodge auction for $38,115,000 on August 14, 2014, setting a new world record at auction for any automobile.
#3851GT was owned by Fabrizio Violati of Rome, Italy for just short of half a century prior to that sale, meaning that Carlos Monteverde is just the fifth owner. Fabrizio Violati was scion of a wealthy family with business interests in agriculture and mineral water bottling under the Ferrarelle brand.
Carlos Monteverde's car collection is extensive, having included at various stages a Ferrari 212E, Lister Jaguar, a Jaguar D Type, a Porsche 917, a Lotus Cortina, Ferrari 250 LM, Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, Jaguar E-type, 1964 Ferrari 275 GTB, Ford Capri MkI RS3100, Ferrari 512 M, Ferrari 206SP Dino and a Porsche 936.
Giorgio Perfetti | Ferrari 250 GTO #3869GT
Italian Giorgio Perfetti is the co-owner of Perfetti Van Melle, the world's third largest confectionery manufacturer and the company responsible for Chupa Chups, Alpenliebe, Airheads and Mentos. He also owns Ferrari 250 GTO #3869GT. According to Forbes, Giorgio and his brother Augusto have a combined net worth of $6.4 billion, now live in Switzerland and are very private, with one exception. Giorgio commissioned a series of 16 books, each detailing one Ferrari from his collection. We don't know what else is in the collection, but the books cover: a 1970 512 SM, a 1972 312 PB, a 1952 500 F2, a 375 F1, a 1990 F40LM, a 1954 375 Plus Spyder, a 1957 315S, a 1958 250 TR 59/60, a 1960 250 Testarossa, a 1966 Dino 206, a 1966 P3/412P, a 1961 250 GT SWB Competizione, a Ford GT40, a 1995 3 33 SP, a 1962 250 GTO (this car #3869GT), a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, Lola T70 Mk. IIIB and a 1962 250 GT SWB Spyder California.
#3869GT has been a lucky car. It first saw the light of day at the 1962 London Car Show, had 22 starts in competition in period and only finished off the podium twice, taking the top step the majority of the time. Since retiring from racing in 1965, it has had just three loving custodians of 12 years, 10 years and Giorgio has owned the car since July, 1989.
John Mozart | Ferrari 250 GTO #3909GT
Ferrari 250 GTO #3909GT (center above) is now owned by property developer, John Mozart. Ferrari Classiche.
John Mozart is a technology billionaire of sorts, as he was in the right place at the right time: Silicon Valley just as it became the global epicenter for digital innovation, venture capital and social media. His privately-owned Palo Alto Property Company has developed over 5.5 million square feet of high technology campuses, mixed-use projects and Class-A office buildings. Many of his projects were built and managed by the company for his own asset portfolio and apart from now being recognized worldwide for his car collection, his mastery of his profession earned him a spot in the Commercial Real Estate Association's Hall of Fame.
In 2011, Mozart turned his passion for automobiles into an art auto museum in Mountain View containing many of the world's finest automobiles. His cars have won awards at the world's most prestigious events, including the Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance and he has won at racetracks across the country. His wife, Heather, was the first woman to win the Wine Country Classic at Sears Point.
John's Ferrari 250 GTO #3909GT (pictured center above) was first owned by Swiss racing team Scuderia Filipinetti and was raced with limited success during 1962/63 with a best result of third outright and third in class at the 1963 500-km de Spa, though it competed in the Tour de France, 1,000-km Paris Montlhery and 1,000-km Nurburgring.
The car then passed through numerous custodianships, including being part of the famous collection of Gaetan Tortora, Luigi Chinetti, Alain de Cadenet, Anthony Bamford, Takeo Kato and John McCaw before being purchased by Mozart in 2000.
Charles E. Nearburg | Ferrari 250 GTO #3943GT
Another image from Ferrari Classiche's five yearly 250 GTO Anniversary tours, this one taken on the Le Mans circuit. Owning a 250 GTO brings privilege that money can't buy. That's Ferrari 250 GTO #3943GT (no 22) owned by Charlie Nearburg. Ferrari Classiche.
Charles E. (Charlie) Nearburg founded Nearburg Exploration in 1979, quickly expanding it to become one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration companies in the US. His auto racing career has been diverse and very successful. In addition to competing regularly in the Toyota Atlantic series, he has competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ferrari 333 SP for Pilot Motorsports, had three appearances in the CART Champ Car series and he has also broken a number of land speed records, including taking the world land speed record for wheel-driven cars in 2010.
#3943GT was purchased by Pierre Noblet in late 1962, with the French driver having just shared Jean Guichet's Ferrari 250 GTO (#3705GT) in a class win and second place outright in the world's most important race, the 1962 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pair were already close friends, having taken Noblet's Ferrari 250 GT SWB to third place in the 1961 24 Hour Le Mans race. Guichet ran a shipyard in Marseille and was a successful industrialist by the time he had turned 21, enabling him to buy and race his own Ferraris and eventually convince Enzo Ferrari he deserved a seat in works cars.
Following the 1962 Le Mans class win, the Noblet/Guichet pairing took #3943GT to fourth outright and fourth in class at the 1,000-km Paris at Montlhery in October 1962, then first outright at the 6 Hour de Dakar in Senegal in April, 1963, then Noblet drove alone for second outright and second in class at the 500-km de Spa in May. Noblet/Guichet resumed their partnership a week later to take second outright and first in class at the 1,000-km Nurburgring and Noblet then drove #3943GT for the entire 12 Hour race at Reims in June, 1963, finishing fourth outright and second in class. The celebrated pairing also shared Ferrari 330 LM #4381SA in the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hour race, breaking an oil line after eight hours and retiring.
The current owner of Ferrari 250 GTO #4757GT, Tom Price, became the owner of this car in mid-1984, racing and showing the car all over the United States until he sold it to Charlie Nearburg in January, 2010.
Ralph Lauren | Ferrari 250 GTO #3987GT
Fashion magnate Ralph Lauren has an estimated net worth of $6.2 billion, which includes one of the finest automobile collections in the world. His cars alone are worth in excess of $300 million, and the Ferrari 250 GTO #3987 he has owned since 1985 is not the only star in the show. The collection also contains a 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe (pictured below).
In a 2004 interview, Lauren said: "I've always seen cars as art. Moving art. While friends of mine were into paintings, I somehow felt that the real beauty of owning a rare and magnificently designed car was the fact that you can use it. You can look at it, enjoy its visual qualities, as with a painting, but you can also get inside and drive it - which means both enjoying the drive itself and going somewhere with it."
Fashion magnate Ralph Lauren's collection includes a one-of-three 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe. Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.
His tastes run from modern cars such as a Lamborghini Reventón, Ferrari LaFerrari and a McLaren F1, through a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gull-Wing, a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta, 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, a 1954 Ferrari 375 Plus, a 1957 Jaguar XKSS, a 1955 Jaguar XKD, a 1950 Jaguar XK120 Alloy Roadster, a 1933 Bugatti Type 59 Grand Prix, 1929 Blower Bentley, 1930 Mercedes-Benz "Count Trossi" SSK, 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Volante, 1965 Ferrari 275 P2/3 Drogo Spider, 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider, 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Gangloff drophead coupe, plus some gems you may not expect such as a 1954 Morgan Plus 4, a 1951 Willys jeep and a 1948 Ford "Woody" station wagon.
A small part of Lauren's collection was exhibited at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris in 2011 in the globally acclaimed exhibition entitled "L'Art de l'Automobile". "L'Art de l'Automobile".
His GTO #3987 had its first race in October, 1962, winning the 1,000-km de Paris at Montlhery in the hands of the fabled Rodriguez brothers, Pedro and Ricardo. It was then purchased and campaigned in America by Roger Penske, who also put Augie Pabst and Richie Ginther behind the wheel during a year that included winning its class and taking fourth outright in the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1963.
Peter Sachs | Ferrari 250 GTO #4091GT
Ferrari 250 GTO #4091GT is owned by Peter Sachs of the famous New York investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Peter Sachs is the grandson of Samuel Sachs who founded the famous New York investment bank Goldman Sachs and, not surprisingly, Peter spent his entire career there, joining in 1956 and retiring as a director after nearly four decades in the business. A gentleman racer his entire life, Peter purchased 250 GTO #4091GT in 1981, trading in his Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione.
His collection is extensive beyond our knowledge but includes or has included a Ferrari 250 TRI, Ferrari 365P, Ferrari 335 Sport Scaglietti Spyder, Ferrari 250 GT, Ferrari 225 Sport Vignale Spyder, a Ferrari 250 MM Vignale Spyder and a Ferrari 500 Mondial Spyder.
Joseph Barone and Vanessa Wong | Ferrari 250 GTO #3223G
Joseph Barone and Vanessa Wong have owned Ferrari 250 GTO #3223GT since November, 2004 when they paid $10.6 million in a sale brokered by David Gizzi of Euro Classics.
Joseph Barone and Vanessa Wong of Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania, have been Ferrari collectors for more than two decades, winning numerous awards at elite concours events with cars such as their 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB (#2807GT), 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Alloy (#09051) and 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Tour de France (#0677GT). The latter of those three cars has a fabulous in-period racing history that includes winning the 1957 Tour de France Auto and finishing third outright and first in class in the 1957 Mille Miglia.
Vanessa Wong is the step-daughter of Taiwan's Yung-Ching Wang who died in 2008, leaving assets that Forbes magazine valued at between $5 billion and $7 billion, but which several of his children believe is actually double that amount and had been hidden. The will has been contested vigorously and, after nearly a decade of litigation, was recently transferred from the American legal system to Taiwan's legal system with the whole process beginning again.
Ferrari 250 GTO #3223GT was the very first 250 GTO built and was the car driven by Willy Mairesse during the initial racetrack testing in late 1961. It was also the first GTO ever seen by the public when it was presented to the world on February 24, 1962. That's it below, on the day of the press conference.
The first 250 GTO, the test car driven by Willy Mairesse in late 1961 and the car shown at the press conference on February 24, 1962: Ferrari 250 GTO #3223GT, take a bow. David Gizzi.
In June, 1962, #3223GT was imported into America by the Ferrari distributor, Luigi Chinetti Motors where it was sold to William McKelvy of the Scuderia Bear Racing Team based in Pittsburgh, PA, for $18,500.
The highlights of the car's initial racing history include a third in class at the 1964 12 Hours of Sebring and a first in class at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona.
Like so many of the cars on our top 100 most valuable cars listing, racing cars once plummeted in value when they were no longer competitive. In 1966 it changed hands for $3,600, with the low point coming for #3223 in 1969 when the aristocratic but completely unappreciated Ferrari crossed the auction block in Baltimore, fetching just $2,500. Almost all new cars in 1969 cost more than $2,500, with the Cadillac de Ville V-8 selling for $5,936, a Lincoln Continental V-8 costing $6,046, and a Chevrolet Impala V-8 costing $2,999.
Dr. Robert Bodin of Minneapolis, MN, purchased the car in 1974, driving it in the 20th, 25th and 30th anniversary GTO tours, racing it in many of the early historic events and attending the FF40 International Ferrari Concours in Belgium. In late 1992 he restored the car before selling it to Japanese collector Yoshikuni Okamoto for $3.5 million in a deal brokered by David Gizzi of Euro Classics.
Okamoto showed the car at Pebble Beach in 1994 before shipping it to Japan where it appeared regularly at the most prestigious concours events.
The finest moment for Ferrari 250 GTO #3223GT was August 21, 2011 when the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance held a 50th birthday party for the Ferrari 250 GTO and 22 genuine GTOs attended. On that day, 250 GTO #3223GT picked up not one, but two awards. In addition to being best in class in the most important concours in the world, it also took out the Strother McMinn Design Award for its inspirational design. Getting a clear run at Ferrari 250 GTO #3223GT with a camera that day was nearly impossible according to New Atlas' Somer Hooker. Somer Hooker.
David MacNeil | Ferrari 250 GTO #4153GT
This car, Ferrari 250 GTO #4153GT, is the most expensive car ever to have sold by auction or private treaty. In late May/early June this year (2018), Weathertech founder and Chief Executive Officer David MacNeil, paid $70,000,000 to German collector Christian Gläsel for #4153GT. Somer Hooker.
45-year-old Gläsel is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of massive German industrial company Weidmüller and has been active in historic and sportscar racing for two decades with many big wins to his name, not to mention an extraordinary collection of vintage racing cars that at various times has included a Ford F40, a Brabham BT49D F1 car, a Sauber C11, a Vignale Spyder 166 MM, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB, a 1997 McLaren F1 GTR, a 1972 Ferrari 312PB, Shelby Cobra Daytona #CSX2300 and Ferrari 250 GTO #4153GT.
In adding the world's most expensive car to his portfolio of investments, MacNeil's $100 million plus collection is beginning to look like "Ferrari's Greatest Hits", joining a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, a Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB, a 488 Challenge, an F50, an F40, an Enzo, a 330 GTS, a 275 GTB/4 and a 365 GTB/4 Daytona in the shed. He also owns an Aston Martin DB5, a Mercedes AMG GT3 and a Porsche 911 GT3.
MacNeil's 40m (130') motor yacht W is the height of luxury, but remarkably, it cost less than half the price of his most valuable car. You can get a good look at what $30 million buys you and put the $70 million plus GTO in perspective with a visit to the yacht's web site, where it is available for charter.
His Ferrari 250 GTO (#4153GT) is reportedly pristine, with a provenance that includes winning the 2,200-km 1964 Tour de France Automobile.
David MacNeil and his 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta won the GT Class at 2018 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. That's MacNeil collecting his prize above. He purchased Ferrari 250 GTO #4153GT a week or two before this event. Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.
Brandon Wang | Ferrari 250 GTO #4219GT
Brandon Wang has owned GTO #4219GT since January 1993 when he paid $3.5 million for the privilege. He has though, perhaps the most interesting and storied GTO of them all. Read the story for the juicy bits.
It was purchased in 1963 by Mamie Spears Reynolds (1942–2014) of Asheville, NC, from the American Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti. Mamie Spears Reynolds is the daughter of former US Senator Robert Reynolds (from the R. J. Reynolds tobacco family) and Evalyn McLean Roberts of the McLean mining fortune. Mamie's grandmother, Evalyn Walsh McLean, was the last private owner of the Hope Diamond (previously owned by Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire) and she also owned another of the world's most famous gemstones, the Star of India. Mamie's grandfather was the publisher of the Washington Post.
Mamie had a life of untold wealth and privilege, having inherited $10 million at age four. Her godfathers were J. Edgar Hoover and Federal Justice Frank Murphy. Mamie and her second husband Joseph were the first owners of the ABA Kentucky Colonels basketball team, she bred pygmy goats and dogs, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and she raced cars, being the first woman to qualify for the Daytona 500 (though we cannot confirm that).
Mamie met Luigi Chinetti Jr. when she bought GTO #4219GT for her Reynolds Racing Team from Luigi Chinetti Senior in early 1963. Mamie and Coco (the nickname of Luigi Chinetti Jr.) were married on July 28, 1963 and they were divorced on September 28, 1965.
Mamie was busy during this period, as after just two starts (for a win in the Daytona Continental 3 Hour race driven by the legendary Pedro Rodriguez and 13th outright and fourth in class at the 12 hours of Sebring driven by Joakim Bonnier and John Cannon), GTO #4219GT was sold onwards in May of that year and replaced with Ferrari 330 LMB #4453SA (see later in this article).
Sir Paul Vestey | Ferrari 250 GTO #4115GT
An extensive article in Classic Driver on Sir Paul Vestey, the custodian of Ferrari 250 GTO #4115GT. Paul has owned the car since 1981 and has driven it in the 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th and 50th anniversary GTO tours, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Goodwood Revival, Prada Italia Classica, Christie's International Historic Festival at Silverstone, Tour de France Auto, Louis Vuitton Classic Boheme Run and attended Brandon Wang's GTO Garden party. Classic Driver.
"Chip" Connor | Ferrari 250 GTO #4293GT
William Edwin "Chip" Connor II (owner of Ferrari 250 GTO #4293GT) is an American businessman, born and raised in Japan, now Hong Kong-based. Ferrari Classiche.
Connor took over the family business in Tokyo in the mid-1980s, moved it to Hong Kong and expanded it to create one of the world's largest global sourcing firms. He is chairman of Omega Compliance and has a net worth in excess of $1 billion and he has the pick of the GTO litter in this car.
#4293GT was originally intended for Scuderia San Ambreous, but for unknown reasons was never delivered. Instead, it went to Belgian Jacques Swaters for his renowned Ecurie Francorchamps team in April, 1963 and Willy Mairesse delivered a first-up outright win at the 500-km de Spa on May 12.
A month later, #4293GT finished second outright in the 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by Jean Blaton and Gerard Langlois van Ophem, with Ferrari filling the first six places and the GTO finishing second, fourth and sixth.
The month of June 1963 proved to be a purple patch for #4293GT as Jean Blaton drove it to another outright win in a sportscar race at Zolder the following weekend, then Lucien Bianchi won the class and finished third outright at the 12h Trophée de Reims the week after.
Within a week the car had been onsold, and it went through a string of American owners before spending 14 years in Japan under the custodianship of Tohru Horinouchi of Yokohama, then six years with Patrick Ma of Hong Kong.
Ma put it up for auction at a Brooks' Gstaad auction in 2000, but a high bid of CHF 13 million (US$7.67 million) failed to meet Ma's reserve.
Ma continued to show the car and drove it in conjunction with Brandon Wang in the 2002 Tour Auto from Paris to Biarritz before selling the car to Connor for an undisclosed amount.
Giuseppe Lucchini | Ferrari 250 GTO #4491GT
One of the privileges of owning a 250 GTO. Ferrari Classiche.
Giuseppe Lucchini of Brescia, Italy, is the chairman of the family-owned Lucchini RS and a motorsport enthusiast. In 1983 he set up BMS (Brixia Motor Sport) Scuderia Italia, entering the World Touring Car Championship and subsequently Formula One from 1988 to 1993.
#4491GT was owned and campaigned from 1962 to 1964 by British driver David Piper before being onsold to another British driver, Peter Sutcliffe, who raced it in 1965 and kept it until 1971 when Piper repurchased it.
Both Piper and Sutcliffe experienced many wins in #4491GT, with the car's best performances being second outright in the 1963 British GP GT race, fourth outright and second in class at the 1963 Coppa Intereuropa at Monza, second outright and second in class at the 1964 2,000-km Daytona Continental, fourth outright and fourth in class at the 1964 500-km de Spa, third in class at the 19641,000-km Nurburgring, fourth outright and second in class at the 1964 Reims 12 Hour, fourth outright and second in class at the 1964 1,000-km Paris at Monthléry, second outright at the 1964Rand 9 Hour race at Kyalami, fifth outright and second in class at the 1965 Tourist Trophy at Oulton Park, fourth outright and first in class at the 1965 Spa 500-km race and first in class at the 1965 1,000-km Nurburgring.
Giuseppe Lucchini bought the car in 1981, restored it to the original bodywork which had been reprofiled during its racing days and drove it in the 30th GTO Anniversary tour in 1992. In 2013, the car was sent home to Ferrari Classiche where the body was restored and it was re-painted its original red.
Carlo Vogele | Ferrari 330 GTO #4561GT
This car, Ferrari 330 GTO #4561GT, is owned by Carlo Vögele and is quite unique as it is one of just three genuine 330 GTO prototypes built, with the other two used by Scuderia Ferrari in racing, while this car was only ever intended for road use. #4561GT was built due to a personal request from French industrialist and Ferrari financier Michel Paul-Cavalier to Enzo Ferrari, to his own specification. The original road car was built on a Tipo 539/566 chassis, but included a brake booster, covered headlights, blue interior trim, synchromesh transmission and a four liter Tipo 163/566 competition engine. Somer Hooker.
Michel Paul-Cavallier was unquestionably Enzo Ferrari's most favored client and, over the years, he was the recipient of several very special one-off road cars based on Ferrari's racing cars of the day, including a 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Berlinetta (#0594CM, one of four 410S cars built but with a one-off Scaglietti Berlinetta body).
Paul-Cavallier's home was the world famous Chateau de Gentilly, now the venue for one of the world's great automotive Concours d'elegance events, Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille.
Like his father, Paul-Cavallier was on the board of many large companies, including the Pont-à-Mousson Foundry and was involved in the restructuring of Ferrari in 1960 under the name SEFAC S.p.A. (Società Esercizio Fabbriche Automobili e Corse), serving on the board. SEFAC often acted as the entrant of the Ferrari racing team in the early 1960s.
Paul-Cavellier kept the car for just 12 months, selling it to Colonel Ronnie Hoare, the owner of the British Maranello Concessionaires race team, then onwards through a chain of owners, selling at a Christies Monaco auction in May, 1987 for $1,545,376 and being purchased by Swiss collector Engelbert Stieger in 1990 for SFR 17 million (US$11,295,681), who sold it to the current owner, Carlo Vögele, in 1998.
Swiss collector and historic race car driver Carlo Vögele is the former chairman of Swiss Fashion empire Charles Vögele Holdings, founded by his father Charles Vögele, a leading Swiss motor racer of the 1950s and 1960s and the owner of an eponymous Formula One team.
Carlo Vögele's former cars include a Ferrari 250 GT LWB TdF and a 1959 Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage.
Lee Kun-hee | Ferrari 330 LMB #4619SA
Kun-hee Lee is the Chairman of Samsung Electronics and highly revered for his business acumen and success, regarded by many as perhaps the best known figure in South Korea. With a net worth estimated at $17.4 billion, he's also a tragic car enthusiast, owned a Ferrari 250 GTO (#5095GT) previously and is believed to be the current custodian of this car (Ferrari 330 LMB #4619SA). Jalopnik.
In 2008, Jalopnik published an article entitled Does The Billionaire Chairman Of Samsung Own A Stolen $15 Million Ferrari?, questioning the ownership of Ferrari 330 LMB #4619SA as the records showed the car was stolen in 1977 and there was a court order in the U.S. demanding that the car be returned. Not surprisingly, that article went viral.
The car was kept in America for a considerable time after Lee purchased it and was on display in the Blackhawk Museum, in Danville, California in 2003. Since then, its whereabouts are unknown. In 2014, Kun-hee Lee suffered a heart attack and his son took over the company.
Lulu Chow Wang | Ferrari 250 GTO #4713GT
Lulu Wang is Anthony Wang's wife and although Anthony purchased Ferrari 250 GTO #3769GT in 1995 and Ferrari 330 LMB #4453SA in 1989, his investment analyst wife's interest in GTOs preceded Anthony's subsequent fascination. Lulu purchased Ferrari 250 GTO #4713GT in 1986.
Lulu Chow Wang has had a stellar career and a quick search will yield testament to her achievements. When her engagement to Anthony Wang was announced in 1964, it rated an article the New York Times.
Lulu's car, #4713GT was born with a Series II, LM-style body and was first owned by Luigi Chinetti's NART (North American Racing Team) on June 5, 1963, being baptized by fire 10 days later when it started the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans in the hands of David Piper and Masten Gregory. Officially recognized as a 250 GTO/LMB, the car finished sixth outright behind five other Ferraris and third in the GT class, behind two GTOs.
#4713GT then competed in the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood (fourth in the GT class and eighth outright driven by Roger Penske) and the Tour de France, where it failed to finish, before being sold on to Bob Grossman in late 1963.
Grossman campaigned it successfully across 1964 before it passed through the hands of several owners, being driven in the 20th anniversary GTO tour by Carle Conway in 1982 and finding its way into Lulu's custodianship in 1986.
Top left: the cover illustration from an article by the Columbia Business School entitled "The Game Changers" detailing how female Columbia Business School alumnae are striving for and reaching the top of the finance world. That's Lulu Chow Wang front and center, not to mention top right. Bottom left: Lulu and Anthony Wang at the opening of the Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center at Wellesley College, which they financed with a $25 million gift. Bottom right: the first day of Lulu's fledgling business which became the fastest growing business on Wall Street. From little acorns ... Wellesley College.
Tom Price | Ferrari 250 GTO #4757GT
250 GTO, chassis #4757GT (Fernand Tavano / Carlo Maria Abate); 24h Le Mans. Classic Car Catalogue.
These days Tom Price is best known as one of the principals of the Price Simms Group but he's been in the automotive retail and wholesale business since he began work for Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, bought his first car dealership in 1976 and has been building automotive dealership groups ever since. In the car collecting fraternity, Tom is exceptionally well known as he's been racing vintage Ferraris for 25 years and in that time he has started more than 600 races and picked up four major historic championships.
Tom has owned Ferrari 250 GTO #4757GT since January, 2010, but he owned Ferrari 250 GTO #3943GT from 1983 to 2009 and sold it for $26 million, picking up #4757GT in January 2010 for roughly half that amount.
The history of GTO #4757 is fascinating. In 1982 it was purchased for $345,000 by Robert "Chris" Murray of Middletown, Rhode Island. Murray drove it in the 20th anniversary GTO tour that year but was indicted by the FBI of drug smuggling in 1984 and fled to Spain. He was found "executed" by multiple gunshots to the head in the Spanish "party town" of Torremolinos in June 1987. His GTO was confiscated by the FBI and auctioned by sealed bid on October 22, 1987 where it fetched $1.6 million.
The car was then acquired by Belgian driver and race team owner Jacques Swaters, then by Dutch Ferrari importer Fritz Kroymans who raced it in vintage events across Europe for the next two decades before his business empire foundered and he sold his extensive collection.
Carlos Hank Rhon | Ferrari 250 GTO #5095
Talacrest Chairman, John Collins, with one of the many Ferrari 250 GTOs his company has sold. Talacrest specialises in selling the rarest and most valuable classic cars internationally and Collins sold this car, Ferrari 250 GTO #5095GT to Samsung Chairman Kun-he Lee, in 1996. Collins' book, Dealing in Dreams, is worth reading, detailing his rise from starting Talacrest with borrowed capital from mates in the local pub, to becoming the first Classic Car dealer to win a Queen's Award for Export. Talacrest
Carlos Hank Rhon is the son of Carlos Hank González, the powerful Mexican billionaire nicknamed El Profesor and the brother of Jorge Hank Rhon, another powerful businessman who has many business interests, including owning Mexico's largest gaming and sports betting company, Grupo Caliente.
The "Hank Rhon" surname is comprised of two parts: the paternal family name is Hank and the maternal family name is Rhon. Carlos' wife is the daughter of Roberto Gonzalez Barrera, the founder of Grupo Finaciero Banorte. Carlos Hank Rohn's estimated $2 billion net worth includes his Grupo Financiero Interacciones and the Grupo Hermes industrial conglomerate which has interests in construction, infrastructure, energy, tourism and auto dealerships. It's a fascinating family of high achievers that has been documented and examined from every angle, from PBS Frontline through to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Six years ago we reported the private sale of this car for a price of more than £20 million (approximately US$31.7 million at the time), concluding the article with the words, "the latest £20 million-plus purchase price could well be a wise investment." Though unknown at that time, the buyer ultimately turned out to be Carlos Hank Rhon and given the escalation of GTO prices since then, the conclusion was very accurate.
Ferrari 250 GTO #5095 was once owned by Pierre Bardinon and was sold by Talacrest in January, 1996 for $3,500,000 to Kun-he Lee, the chairman of Samsung and was sold again in January, 2012 for a reported $32 million.
Bernard Carl | Ferrari 250 GTO #3387GT
Investor Bernard Carl began as a real estate attorney, but has leveraged his expertise into an international investment platform known as Brazos Europe Inc. Carl purchased Ferrari 250 GTO #3387GT in September 1997 for a price in the vicinity of $4 million. The car was offered by Talacrest in November, 2016 for $56 million. Talacrest
Bernard Carl began as a real estate attorney, joined Solomon Brothers Investment Bank, worked with Robert M. Bass and eventually founded his own investment company, Brazos Europe Inc, which initially invested in distressed real estate in Canada, then oil and natural gas in Chile. In recent years Brazos has concentrated on opportunities in Europe, with one of its most rewarding achievements being the successful rescue of French luxury linen house D. Porthault.
Ferrari 250 GTO #3387GT had its first start in the 1962 12 Hours of Sebring, entered by the Ferrari agent, Luigi Chinetti Motors and driven by the pairing of Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien. The car finished second outright and first in the 3.0 liter GT class.
It was then sold to Robert M. Grossman of Nyack, New York, who immediately entered it in the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans. Grossman and George Roberts Jr. piloted the car to sixth outright and third in class, following that result with second outright and first in class at Bridgehampton in the FIA 400-km race in September that year in the hands of Grossman. Grossman campaigned the car for the remainder of the season with very competitive results, before selling it to Geraldi & Mike Gammino III who drove it for the next three seasons with several class wins in major events.
The low point for Ferrari 250 GTO #3387GT came in February, 1969 when it was sold for $5,400. The car changed hands several times over the next few years with a sale in 1975 reported at $13,000 and another in 1978 at $125,000. The next reported sale with a price was when Bernard Carl purchased the car in 1997 for a price near $4 million and picked up somewhat of a bargain given its remarkable competition history.
This car may have been sold in the last two years as it was offered by Talacrest in November, 2016 for $56 million.
???? | Ferrari 250 GTO #5111GT
Sergio Scaglietti of Carrozzeria Scaglietti and his best known creation. Ferrari Classiche.
Connecticut-based collector Paul Pappalardo owned this GTO for just shy of four decades (1974 - 2013), driving it in the 25th, 30th, 35th and 40th anniversary GTO tours, the Ferrari 50th birthday celebrations and shipping it all over the world to race and show his beloved GTO: Le Mans, Mugello, Bagatelle, Modena, Spa, Paris, Goodwood, Silverstone, Vallelunga, Imola, numerous Tour de France Auto events ... plus untold events in his homeland.
Pappalardo has been collecting top tier Ferraris for more than four decades, owning a string of million-dollar plus cars, including a 250 GT Lusso, a 250 TR59/60 Fantuzzi Spyder, a 250 GT Interim, a 250 GT SWB California Spyder, Ferrari 275 GTB/C Competizione, 312 P, 412 P, 410 Superfast, 250 LM and a 275/330P, amongst many others going back to at least 1976.
Everyone has their price though and when he received an offer of $52 million in 2013, he sold. The current owner of Ferrari 250 GTO #5111GT is often claimed to be very private Venezuelan Miguel Gonzalez, but we have reason to believe that may not the case.
Gonzalez' collection is sometimes known as the Torrota Collection and is believed to include at least two of the world's most celebrated automobiles in the form of the Bugatti Royale Kellner (once the world's most expensive cars at auction) and a one-of-three Bugatti Type 57 S Atlantic. It is unlikely that the Torrota Collection has just two cars and, given the ones we can trace, the collection almost certainly contains more cars of significant gravitas, but we've been unable to confirm that Ferrari 250 GTO #5111GT is one of them. Quite clearly, the new owner of #5111GT, whomever that might be, doesn't want their investment known at this point. We believe the car will not be seen on the market for some time, so ... stay tuned, but don't hold your breath.
Ferrari 250 GTO #5571 GT | Bruce & John McCaw
Ferrari 250 GTO #5571 GT is owned by Bruce & John McCaw, two of the four McCaw brothers who inherited McCaw Communications and turned their late father's failed cable TV and radio company into a cellular phone pioneer. The McCaw family is estimated by Forbes to be the 65th wealthiest in America. Ferrari Classiche.
This car had a spectacular racing history in period, being owned by American Ferrari distributor Luigi Chinetti and in its first two starts it won the 1964 2,000-km Daytona Continental event outright (driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Phil Hill), then finished seventh outright and first in class at the 1964 12-hour SebringPedro (driven by Pedro Rodriguez, David Piper and Mike Gamino III).
The car on offer in Monterey ...
Currently owner by Dr. Greg Whitten, Chairman of Numerix and former chief software architect at Microsoft, this 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO may reunite the world private and auction heavyweight championship of the world when it goes to auction on August 25, 2018. The highest price ever paid for a car is believed to be $70 million for a Ferrari 250 GTO in May/June of this year and the world auction record for a car was set by another Ferrari 250 GTO at Bonhams Quail Lodge sale in August, 2014. Patrick Ernzen ©2018 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's.
Ferrari 250 GTOs are so closely held that even those with a lazy $50 million rarely get close to owning one, which is why the car to be offered by RM-Sothebys at the Monterey Conference Center on August 25, 2018, will attract tidal waves of interest.
The collectible marketplace for petrolheads began with a bang in 2018 when a Vincent Black Lightning fetched $929,000 to become the most valuable motorcycle ever sold at auction and the sale at auction of Ferrari 250 GTO #3413 suggests it could be a marquee year for the industry all around.
This car (Ferrari 250 GTO #3413GT – to be auctioned August 25, 2018) has been owned since a few days after the turn of the millennium by Dr. Greg Whitten, of Medina, WA. Greg paid $7 million 18 years ago for Ferrari 250 GTO #3413GT and may well increase his investment by an order of magnitude when the car goes to auction at Monterey in late August (2018).
Depending on what you do, Greg is known for different things. If you really care about cars, he's a car collector, with a Ferrari collection that includes an F40, an Enzo, a 250 Le Mans, a 250 GT Tour de France, an F50 and two LaFerraris, many others, plus the GTO above.
If you're an investor, you'll know him as Chairman, chief cook and bottle-washer for Numerix, which provides trading, risk management and real-time intelligence software and services for Innovative Capital Markets.
If you're a programmer, you'll no doubt recognize the GW-BASIC dialect of the BASIC programming language developed by Microsoft. There's only one person who knows the true origins of the GW in that globally-recognized acronym because it was named by Bill Gates. The two most commonly recognized origins are "Gee Whiz" and "Greg Whitten" as Greg had been Chief Software Architect for Microsoft for four years prior to the 1983 release of GW-BASIC, seven years prior to the initial Microsoft IPO in 1987 and he held that role until 1998 when he left the world's largest software company to join Numerix.
Whitten built the foundations upon which the Microsoft Office suite of applications were constructed. Almost everyone in the modern world has used Microsoft Word, Excel or Powerpoint, so you and everyone you know has most likely been touched by Greg's work.
This is the Ferrari 250 GTO that is for sale in Monterey, pictured in period. The Klemantaski Collection via RM-Sotheby's.
#3413GT was the third GTO to leave Maranello, with its first outing in May, 1962 being in the hands of Ferrari Scuderia driver Phil Hill who drove it around the Targa Florio course with young engineer Mauro Forghieri beside him. Forghieri would go on to head Ferrari's F1 design team, being ultimately responsible for title-winning cars driven by John Surtees (1964), Niki Lauda (1975 and 1977) and Jody Scheckter (1979).
Subsequent custodians included Edoardo Lualdi (who used it to win his class in the 1962 Italian Hillclimb championship), Gianni Bulgari (then head of the Bulgari jewellery company) who drove it to a class win in the 1963 Targa Florio and won the 1963 Copa FISA at Monza outright, then entrepreneur Corrado Ferlaino, who rebodied the car with a series 2 body and also won his class in the 1964 Targa Florio.
Other owners along the way included British driver David Piper and a series of prominent collectors including Neil Corner, Sir Anthony Bamford and Yoshijuki Hayashi.
At its lowest point, #3413GT changed hands in 1967 for £6,000 (US$16,560).
Aston Martin: “we want to become the British Ferrari”.
Another billionaire buys into Aston Martin. Apr 19, 2020. By Jay Traugott.
Anyone else with a few extra million laying around?
Aston Martin has certainly had its fair share of financial troubles over the past several months, but it appears things are finally getting back into shape. As we already know, Canadian billionaire investor Lawrence Stroll led a group of investors to buy a significant stake in the automaker with a total investment of $657 million. Part of the deal involved making Stroll the firm's executive chairman and he has since hit the brakes on the push into electric vehicles.
At the same time, Aston Martin's entry into Formula 1 has been confirmed. But now there appears to be yet another investor joining the club and he happens to be Switzerland's richest man.
Bloomberg reports that Ernesto Bertarelli has acquired a 3.4 percent voting stake in the carmaker. Bertarelli's wealth comes from his family's pharmaceutical business but has since reinvested a bulk of that into commercial real estate assets in Europe and a technology-focused venture capital fund.
Aston Martin hasn't issued an official statement regarding the matter as sources learned this information from a regulatory filing last Friday. What does this mean for Stroll's future plans? More than likely, nothing will change. This is likely the case of another wealthy private individual who found a good business opportunity.
"It is time for us to try to become the British Ferrari," Aston CEO Andy Palmer said.
New models such as the Aston Martin Valhalla and Valkyrie are still on schedule, though the coronavirus pandemic could potentially alter those plans. Just last week, it was revealed the firm will soon begin phasing out its Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine in favor of its own in-house-developed twin-turbo hybrid V6.
Palmer promises this engine, the company's first-ever V6, will deliver V12-levels of power and be even more fuel-efficient. Following the Valhall, it will power new Aston Martin DBX SUV and Vantage. Its production is also set to take place in the UK. At the same time, Aston's 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 will see continued life despite the V8's departure. However, the V12 will be receiving an update with hybrid tech taken directly from the V6.
These plans, along with the foray into F1, it's no wonder Aston Martin has become an appealing investment, for those who can afford to, of course.
Ernesto Bertarelli (born 22 September 1965) is an Italian-born Swiss billionaire businessman and philanthropist.
The 2017 edition of the Sunday Times Rich List estimated the family's wealth at £11.5 billion, an increase of £1.72 billion since the previous year. Swiss magazine Bilanz estimated the family fortune at CHF13.5 billion. According to Forbes, Bertarelli has an estimated net worth of $8.2 billion, as of October 2020.
Ernesto and his wife Kirsty.
Born in Rome, his family moved to Switzerland in 1977. He graduated from Babson College in 1989 and earned an MBA at Harvard Business School in 1993.
His grandfather, Pietro, joined Serono, a pharmaceutical company founded in 1906. In 1935 Pietro became the company's managing director, a position he was succeeded in by his son, Fabio Bertarelli, in 1965. Bertarelli became CEO in 1996 and, along with his sister Dona, inherited ownership in 1998 on the death of his father. Changing the company's focus from pharmaceuticals to biotechnology, revenues increased from $809 million in 1996 to $2.8 billion in 2006. The company gained fame from its discovery of a natural hormone used in the treatment of female infertility and its treatments for multiple sclerosis and growth hormone deficiency.
Bertarelli and his family sold the company to Merck KGaA of Germany in January 2007 for US$13.3 billion, forming the new company Merck-Serono. His family split an estimated $9 billion stake at that time, which added to previous share sales when the company floated on the NY stock market in 2000, which is now invested mainly through his Waypoint Capital investment vehicle. Bertarelli currently co-chairs – with his sister Dona – the Bertarelli Foundation which focuses on marine conservation and neuroscience research.
In 2000, Bertarelli founded the yachting syndicate Team Alinghi, which in 2003, representing the Société Nautique de Genève, won the Louis Vuitton Cup before beating Team New Zealand in Auckland to win the America's Cup. It was the first time a team had ever won the coveted sailing trophy on its first attempt, with the victory bringing the Cup to Europe for the first time. Team Alinghi hired sailors from many different nationalities, including Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth, respectively skipper and tactician of Team New Zealand's 2000 crew. Bertarelli was Team Alinghi's only Swiss national serving as navigator in 2003 and subsequently as an afterguard runner and grinder in 2007, when Team Alinghi defended the America's Cup in Valencia. On July 3, 2007, Alinghi beat Team New Zealand in race 7 by 1 second to retain the America's Cup, winning the series 5-2.
In recognition of his success, in 2003 Bertarelli was named Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by French President Jacques Chirac and was given the Cavaliere di Gran Croce by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of the Italian Republic.
Société Nautique de Genève and Bertarelli's efforts to organize the 33rd America's Cup following their 2007 victory in Alinghi were subject to numerous legal challenges by the Golden Gate Yacht Club. The race finally took place in February 2010, in Valencia, Spain. Bertarelli was the primary helmsman of his boat Alinghi 5, which lost both races against the challenger USA 17 by a considerable margin.
Alinghi snatch first win of 2016 in sensational climax to Act 2 Qingdao.
Alinghi now competes in the Extreme Sailing Series, which it most recently won in 2016 and in the summer-long, one-class D35 championship on Lake Geneva.
In December 2008, Appledore Shipbuilders launched the hull of Project55, Bertarelli's new yacht, which was completed as Vava II by Devonport Engineering Consortium Ltd at Plymouth in February 2012.
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