Made for race car driver Stirling Moss, thehistoric 250 GTO is now in the hands of Craig McCaw, a U.S.-based classic car collector. The car was sold by Eric Heerema, owner of the Nyetimber vineyard in Sussex, England for $35 million.

So what makes the apple-green GTO so ridiculously expensive? For starters, the example is just one of 39 GTOs produced from 1962 to 1964, and the fact that it was produced for pro driver Moss to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other Grand-Touring races makes it an even more prized possession. The GTO's chassis is numbered 3505, and Moss's name is etched on the back of the right-hand driver's seat, while the green livery represents Moss's UDT-Laystall race team. We also named the car one the greatest Ferraris of all time.

Before selling it to McCaw, Heerema bought the green machine about 10 years ago for about $8.5 million from a Japanese collector who bought the racer in 1999 from a UK dealership which bought the car for $3.5 million in 1996. The record for the world's most expensive car was previously held by a 1936 Type 57SC Bugatti Atlantic, which was bought between $30-34 million.

In 2009, we listed the 1962-1964 Ferrari 250 GTO as one of the 60 coolest cars of the last 60 yearsand, before that, the Ferrari placed first in our Motor Trend Classic list of the top 10 greatest Ferraris of all time.

"Slip into the driver's seat of a 250 GTO," we wrote in the Motor Trend Classic article, "and the view ahead defines sensuousness -- hood and fender curves are voluptuous but taut; not a stray millimeter of metal anywhere. Nothing compares with this Ferrari on the move -- especially that engine. The V-12 goes through three character changes, the most spine-tingling happening above 7000 rpm when it shoots forward with urgency unlike much else. Yes, other Ferraris are quicker and faster, but they all lack the GTO's absolute synchronization of mechanical components. Using the engine to the fullest is like shooting down a steep water slide."

Sources: Bloomberg, Motor Trend Classic

Green Ferrari photo courtesy ofedvvc.

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