The same auction that saw a rare 1954 World Championship winning Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow W196 sell for close to £20million also saw a Ferrari 330GT 2+2 Berlinetta go under the hammer. The special 1965 Ferrari wasn’t just auctioned because of it’s age and rarity, the status of its former owner also raised the price and generated a lot of interest.
Rather than taking to the road in his mother’s car or some beat-up old small car, after the ex-Beatle had passed his driving test he brought this Ferrari. The car was therefore the first one he owned and, although it’s an historic and important model, we were surprised to see it exceed the catalogue estimated value of between £180,000 and £220,000. According to rumour when word got out that John Lennon had passed his driving test luxury car dealerships turned up at his house uninvited with a range of exotic cars in the hope they could get the rock superstar to buy a car from them. He succumb to temptation when he saw this Berlinetta and spent £6,500 on it, choosing Azzuro blue and a matching interior.
For more than 20,000 miles this was Lennon’s car of choice, but he eventually sold it in 1967. When it went under the hammer at Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed auction on July 12th its sale helped to establish a new record for the highest grossing motor car auction in Europe when more than £36 million was raised. Lennon’s wasn’t one of the highest sellers. The 1954 Mercedes W196 fetched £19.6 million and a Maserati 300S Sports-Racing Spider from 1955 took a £4million.
More than 1,000 people were in attendance when the hammer fell and phone bidders from 32 countries were also involved in the historic auction.
from eurocarblog
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