1957 Ferrari sold at record £7.24 million

A 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa becomes the most expensive car ever to go under the hammer when it fetched a price of £7.24 million in Maranello, Italy.

The Testa Rossa beat the price set by another Ferrari, the 1961 250 GT SWB California Spider, which fetched £6.22 million last year.

The Testa Rossa, one of 22 cars produced from 1957 to 1958, wearing a chassis No. 0714TR, finished fourth at the Buenos Aires 1,000-kilometer race in 1958--its debut in competition. The car was then sold to an American collector, who raced it extensively in SCCA events.

The historical significance of the car attracted a bidding war as collectors from around the world - both in the room and on the telephone - competed to secure one of the most alluring Ferrari racing cars.

Despite the record-breaking sale there were signs of recession at the high-end auction, which saw eleven cars miss their reserves, including the 'star of the show', a Monaco Grand Prix-winning Maserati 250F. A 1967 Ferrari 330 P4 racing car failed to make its reserve, despite attracting a bid of £6.4m, and the 1956 Maserati 250F which Stirling Moss drove to victory at the Monaco Grand Prix listened in vain for a hammer fall even after bids of more than £1.3m were offered.