Radio DJ sets new record for the price paid for a car at auction

Radio DJ and former TV presenter Chris Evans stunned the crowd at Sunday’s ‘Ferrari Leggenda e Passione’ auction in Maranello by paying just over €7 million (£5.6 million) for a black 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider.His winning bid set a new record for the price paid for a car at auction (on the current US dollar exchange rate), with the $10.9 million that Evans paid surpassing the $10.7 million that market the previous record $10.7 million that was paid for a Ferrari 250 GTO at Sotheby’s Monaco in 1990.The California Spider previously belonged to actor James Coburn, who died in 2002. It was estimated to sell for barely half the price that Evans ended up paying for it, proving that the slowing economy has yet to effect the buoyant classic Ferrari values. The purchase puts a substantial dent in Evan’s fortune, estimated at £45 million by the Sunday Times Rich List. He told Bloomberg news that he has no regrets, saying that “this is the best of the best. It seems like a lot of money now, but in five to 10 years time it’ll be out of my range.”Read Steve Cropley’s blog on Chris Evans’ record-breaking purchase.

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Hirsch Performance 21 May 2008

Re: Chris Evans buys £5m Ferrari

I believe that one word sums up this purchase.................................;

MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I may be wrong but was it not the 250 GTO that was notoriously unreliable due to an ill-aligned prop shaft???

That said it would be nice to have that kind of money.

krazyd 21 May 2008

Re: Chris Evans buys £5m Ferrari

What an idiot. Should have bought the 250GTO.

230SL 20 May 2008

Re: Chris Evans buys £5m Ferrari

Chris Evans pays £5m for a car! That is the story.