The cherry-red 1955 Ferrari driven by racing legends fetched $22 million at auction

On Saturday in Monterey, California, RM Sotheby's auction house sold a cherry-red 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider that belonged to Carroll Shelby. There is only one 410 Sport equipped with a 24-spark plug 4.9-liter Ferrari V-12 engine in existence, and it was designed and built by Sergio Scaglietti - the man responsible for some of Italy's most famous cars - and it is one of the two models.

As the driver of the car during the 1956 and 1957 racing seasons, Shelby won eight races and finished on the podium ten times - the most of any other car in Shelby's career during that period. According to the auction house, the Ferrari Scuderia "Big Block" sports racing prototype developed by Ferrari in the 1950s is considered to be one of the most significant and successful of all well-numbered sports racing Ferraris.”

There is an inscription on the fuel tank of Shelby's car that reads, "Mr. Ferrari told me that this was the best Ferrari he ever built.". It is still equipped with its original engine, chassis, and body, all with matching numbers. The purchase also included Shelby's first and last racing trophies from 1957 and his original Nassau racing license plate.

There were nearly 40 races entered with this car between 1956 and 1958, and eleven were won by drivers. As well as Phil Hill, Eugenio Castellotti, Masten Gregory, Richie Ginther, Joakim Bonnier, Bruce Kessler, Jim Rathmann, and Chuck Daigh, the car was also piloted by Eugenio Castellotti and Masten Gregory.

In conjunction with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance competition on Sunday, Monterey Car Week sold the car. Sotheby's reports hundreds of the world's top collectors compete for the Best of Show title from 21 countries and 32 states.