$28 Million Lady

It was the most eagerly-awaited car of the evening at the RM Sotheby’s “Driven by Disruption” auction and it more than lived up to expectations. When the bidding stopped, Juan Manuel Fangio’s famous Ferrari 290 MM had sold for 28 million dollars (25.8 million euro). The car, which belonged to collector Pierre Bardino, is incredibly rare as there are just four examples of the model in existence.

During its racing career, this 290 MM (chassis no. 0626) earned itself the nickname “l’Indistruttibile” because despite spending an unusually long eight years at the top of its game, it never had a single accident even after being sold by the Scuderia Ferrari to the Scuderia Temple Buell which competed it in the toughest races in the Americas.

The list of famous names that fielded this particular 290 MM is quite incredible: Juan Manuel Fangio, of course, 1961 Formula 1 World Champion Phil Hill, the legendary Peter Collins, Wolfgang Von Trips, Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso, all the way to endurance race supremoes of the likes of Olivier Gendebien and Joakim Bonnier.

It was in the Scuderia Temple Buell colours, however, that the car delivered its single most important coup, victory in the Buenos Aires 1,000 Kilometres in the hands of Masten Gregory, Castellotti and Musso.