A severely damaged Ferrari, which caught fire during a race in the 1960s, has been sold for a whopping $1.8 million, CNN reported. Though it looks like the car has been pulled directly from a scrapyard, the 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Series I managed to fetch $1,875,000 at RM Sotheby's Monterey auction.
The 500 Mondial was created by Ferrari to commemorate Italian racing driver Alberto Ascari's back-to-back FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championships in 1952 and 1953. The 500 denotes the displacement of a single cylinder, in this case, 500cc. It was run as one of Ferrari's rare customer four-cylinder race cars in Italy throughout the 1950s before making its way to the United States in 1958. c.
Known by its chassis number, 0406 MD, it was originally built with a body by the famed Italian design firm Pinin Farina. The vehicle was once the property of Franco Cortese, a former Ferrari factory driver who purchased the car in 1954 for the purpose of hitting the racetrack and the first driver to ever pilot a Ferrari to victory.
However, the car caught on fire during a race in the 1960s. The final recorded transfer of ownership happened in 1978 and was then preserved in its race-damaged condition for 45 years.
There are no wheels or internals, and the body has been subjected to horrific fire damage. However, the Ferrari still possesses its original chassis plate, gearbox, rear axle corners, and its 3.0-liter Tipo 119 Lampredi inline-four engine.
The buyer of the wrecked Ferrari intends to restore it to its former glory so that it can once again take part in races.
The most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction was the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, which was also on the block at RM Sotheby's. It sold there in 2018 for $48.4 million.
