It was a ‘hard day’s night’ at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend when John Lennon’s sky blue 1965 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 Coupé was sold to an unidentified buyer for $543,000. The expected price for the car was between $233,000 and $285,000.
After obtaining his driver’s license, Lennon purchased this new 330 GT in 1965 for roughly $10,000, which is equivalent to $168,000 today. And during the same month that he got his license, he and The Beatles recorded “Ticket to Ride” – a song that would be one of their biggest hits.
This four-seater Ferrari has a V12 engine with gorgeous blue interior. It was one of 500 that were produced. After Lennon sold the blue Ferrari in 1967, the buyer had the 330 GT painted red, and it soon ended up at the Modena Ferrari dealership in the late eighties. The previous owner had the Ferrari restored back to its original blue color and reunited it with its 1965-issue DUL 4C registration number.
The Bonham’s auction also included the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R, which won several Grand Prix events by the driver Juan Manuel Fangio. The car sold for $29.6 million including buyer’s premium, an enormous sum that makes the W196R the most valuable car ever sold at an auction.
