500th LaFerrari sets auction record

The 500th LaFerrari fetched £5.5 million (approximately Rs 47 crore) at an auction, with all the proceeds going to aid recovery efforts in Italy. The sale price makes it the most expensive 21st century car to be sold in an auction.

The 963hp LaFerrari finished its 499-unit production run in 2015, but one extra model was subsequently produced. Used examples currently sell in between £2.5 million (approx Rs 21 crore) and £3 million (approx Rs 26 crore), and it was predicted that the value of the 500th LaFerrari would exceed this considerably. A source at Ferrari said the original demand for LaFerrari was more than double the supply, and that this would be the final opportunity for a buyer to own a new LaFerrari.

The drop-top LaFerrari, named Aperta, was revealed at the Paris motor show earlier this year, but the 500th LaFerrari was the very last coupé version built. The car was sold to raise money for victims of the earthquake in central Italy which struck on August 24this year,. Auctioneer Sotheby’s also waived its fee in order to help the cause.

Each standard LaFerrari carries a plaque bearing the words ‘Limited edition [car number]/499’, or the car’s number in the production run. The 500th LaFerrari carries a plaque denoting its special status as the final example.

Ferrari previously auctioned an Enzo, following the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004. That car carried a similar plaque and was finished in red with a white stripe and an Italian flag on the nose.