OK, wow! Ferrari just raised a very, very, very large amount of money for the Ferrari Foundation. In July, Maranello announced that it would put a special 2025 Daytona SP3 on the block, with RM Sotheby's handling the gavel. This mid-engine V12 hypercar was built specifically for this charity auction, and it received plenty of extra goodies thanks to Ferrari's Tailor Made treatment. When the dust cleared, following what was described as a pretty lusty bidding process, the price had risen to a whopping
$26 million. That's quite a big higher than the Daytona SP3's original sticker price of $2.2 million.
That's the highest hammer price ever for a modern car at auction, and it's the 13th most expensive car ever sold at auction period — it was about $700,000 above than the next-highest sale at this year's Pebble Beach auctions, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder that Gooding sold. Ferrari played this one quite well: the Daytona SP3 originally had a limited run of 599 examples, but this Tailor Made car, while technically number 600, was designated "599+1," with a plaque to prove it. The result amplifies the success of Ferrari's Icona lineup, which debuted in 2018 with the Monza SP1 and SP2, a pair of rather glorious and exceptionally expensive barchettas.
Read more: These Cars Have The Best Wings Ever
$26 Million Buys You A Unique Look
As we reported when the Daytona SP3 auction car was revealed, this one-off car is distinctive. The Giallo Modena "Ferrari" lettering stretches across the car's top surface, making a statement that one could call garish, but that one shouldn't as the many dollars this transaction raised will be used to do things like rebuild schools destroyed by the horrific wildfires that struck Southern California earlier this year.
The SP3 is a throwback to Ferrari's racing lineage of the 1960s. This includes the marque's famous 1-2-3 victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1967 with the 330 P/4, getting some payback after Ford's sweep of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 (Ford still scored the win at Le Mans in 1967, with Ferrari grabbing second place). The Daytona SP3 carries a 6.5-liter V12 amidships, making 829 naturally aspirated ponies and boasting a 0-to-60-mph time of 2.85 seconds, according to Ferrari. The power is piped through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission to the rear wheels.
Interior fabrics come from recycled tires and are adorned with Ferrari's prancing horse motif, while the steering column and dashboard get a carbon-fiber treatment borrowed, of course, from Ferrari's F1 program.
Utterly Rad, But Will It Ever See A Street?
The auction-winning car is utterly rad, but 599+1 is, I'd wager, unlikely to be spotted taking a spin around the block. That's for the mere $2-million-plus SP3's that had all previously been sold. It will certainly be interesting to see where the car turns up, and what its history might be from here on out.
Ferrari continues to leverage these exotic, invitation-only models to bolster its bottom line, the desirability of the SP3 Tailor Made example vindicating that strategy at a level maybe even Maranello couldn't have anticipated. The auto industry is going through a fairly chaotic episode at the moment, so it's exciting that what many consider to be the greatest car brand of all time can still bring home the thrills. I was personally a tad cynical about the Icona cars when I initially heard about them, but a little stationary seat time was all it took to abandon that crankiness.
All eyes are on how Ferrari will negotiate the transition from the combustion era to the electric age, but for now, let's take a pause to appreciate how bonkers a gas-burning V12 the prancing horse can still create. And how many dollars such a machine can snare from deep-pocketed collectors.
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