Azam Auctions

1956 Ferrari 410 Sport - £2.14m - Courtesy of RM Auctions
Sold at: RM Auctions at Monterey, California in August 2001. Ferrari created the 410 Sport to dominate the 1955 Carrera Panamericana. It was the ultimate high-speed machine — the biggest, baddest, meanest sports racer ever built. Only two were ever made, and they were among the most powerful sports racing cars built in the 1950s, with 4.9-liter engines of nearly 400 horsepower. During their heyday, the 410s were virtually unbeatable. The 410 Sport was a major departure from Ferrari’s earlier sports racers; it was a different and unique automobile that established the direction Ferrari would take until the front-engined sports racers were supplanted by mid-engined designs. The sister car to this one, sold to the American sportsman John Edgar, was later put in the quick hands of Carroll Shelby. He and the vehicle went on to dominate the 1956 SCCA races, winning virtually everywhere. The 410 Sport was unbeatable, and in Shelby’s words, “it was the brute of the brutes.” But Shelby also noted at the time, in the 1982 Ferrari Album No. 3, that the 410 Sport was “a car that didn’t have any bad vices.” RM Auctions proudly declared that this was the first time a 410 Sport had ever been offered at auction and was in all probability a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire it. Remember, money doesn’t buy happiness. What does bring some of us happiness are toys, and some of these toys cost a great deal.