A 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO has been sold to Ferrari collector and WeatherTech CEO David MacNeil for a rumoured $70 million – a new world record for a classic car.

The Ferrari in question, serial number 4153 GT, is one of the most celebrated of the 39 250 GTOs produced, due to its competition history and its originality – unusually for a race car, it's never been crashed.

It’s also highly distinctive in its silver and yellow livery rather than the more usual red, and was the subject of a dedicated high-quality book published last year by Porter Press.

It typifies the famous versatility of the 250 GTO by having competed in circuit races, road races and rallies, endurance racing and hillclimbs. In its first two years it was raced by the famous Belgian teams Ecurie Francorchamps and Equipe National Belge – hence the yellow stripes on its silver bodywork.

This 250 GTO also finished fourth in the 1963 Le Mans 24-hours, driven by Pierre Dumay and Léon Dernier, and won the prestigious but tough ten-day Tour de France road race in the hands of Lucien Bianchi and Georges Berger in 1964. In 1964–’65 alone it competed in 14 events, including the Angolan Grand Prix in Africa.

It went on to be raced in Spain from 1966 to ’69 by owner/driver Eugenio Baturone. Things went quiet for the GTO after that until the late 1980s, when it was bought by Frenchman Henri Chambon, who drove it in a number of competitive historic events and rallies, before selling it in 1997 to the Swiss Nicolaus Springer.

Gallery: 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO sells for world record $52 million

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