The Most Valuable Car in the World?
Could this be the most valuable car in the world?
Atlanta multi-millionaire Preston Henn died this week at the age of 86 leaving what is possibly the most expensive car in the world. The vintage Ferrari could be worth in the region of $100 million.
The Atlanta millionaire who was a flea-market magnate and racing aficionado was the owner of one of the most coveted cars in the world.
The sports car in question is a 1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale, the one of the rarest cars of its kind.
It also looks like it will be the world’s first car to break the $100 million mark, provided it finds its way to the auction block.
The Ferrari 275 GTB was designed by Pininfarina, the Italian firm who built the bodywork on some of the most coveted Ferraris and Alfa Romeos.
In the early days a few of these cars were built for racing and stamped with a “C”—for “Competizione” and "Speciale".
The Ferrari "special" 275 GTBs had thinner body panels and a more spindly infrastructure that cut the weight down by 300 pounds in all.
The car was more closer in lineage to the GTO Ferrari's that took Europe's racetracks by storm in the early 1960s.
The engine has six carburetors and 12 cylinders and is mounted lower in the body for better handling.
In 1965 it won its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the World Series of motoring.
Henn didn’t consider selling the car and had it for decades displaying it proudly at his Swap Shop which is a giant flea market and drive-in movie theater complex in Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
In addition to being the owner of one of the most expensive and rarest cars in the world, the multi millionaire collector and flea-market magnate ran a racing team and was a respected driver in his own right.
About 10 years ago Henn got an offer from a big Japanese collector to buy his car for 35 to 40 million euros but he responded to the offer to the Japanese collector, "Stop talking to me".
Ferrari said of Preston Henn that he was both a devoted customer and a provocateur although he repeatedly rejected Ferrari's offers to show the vehicle at its own museum.
The vice president of valuation for the Hagerty Group, Brian Rabold, commented on the value of the car and said it doesn't have the historical racing significance of Ferrari's early GTOs but it's a better car and more rare being only one of only three in the world.
At auction in 2014, one of its siblings fetched $29.4 million and Rabold said the Ferrari 275 GTB Speciale would fetch between $50 million and $75 million.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I'm certain there are people who have long been interested in this car."Whether the vehicle finds its way to the market, meanwhile, remains to be seen as before passing away, he told Autoweek that he made sure the Ferrari will stay on display at the Swap Shop long after he is gone.
"That was his crown jewel," Vogel said.
"At one point he said he wanted to be buried in it."
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Justin Kavanagh
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