A 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa has sold at auction for a whopping 9.2 million Euros ($14.3M) making it the most expensive car ever sold. It went under the hammer at the third annual Ferrari 'Leggenda e Passione' event, held in Maranello in association with Sotheby's. The price is around $3.2M more than the previous world record, which was set at the last event by a 1961 Ferrari 250GT California Spider, once owned by actor James Coburn.

This car, one of only 22 now-legendary 'pontoon-fender', 250s ever made between 1957 and 1958, was raced regularly, notably in the '1000km Buenos Aires' in January 1958. The 250 TR competed in 19 championship races in total, winning ten of them. Ferrari has not revealed the identity of the purchaser, which is also referred to by its chassis designation '0714TR', but plenty is known about its history.


It was delivered to its first owner in December 1957, racing driver Piero Drogo, before being debuted at the aforementioned Buenos Aires race where it finished fourth. It then entered the Grand Prix of Cuba and Portugal before being sold to a wealthy Texan called Alan Connell, who used it to win a handful of races on the North American circuit. Its last race was in June 1963 at the Elkhart Lake 500.