Sotheby’s Sealed announced the arrival of a rare 1958 Ferrari 250 “Pontoon Fendered” Testa Rossa with a racing history to its private auction lineup. The Ferrari, chassis no. 0738 TR, is one of only 19 special examples bodied by the renowned Italian coachbuilder Sergio Scaglietti. One might say that it is the most beautiful sports car body designs ever created, and it’s certainly one of the greatest cars to roll out of Maranello.
It’s also the rarest, with only 33 total examples made during five years of production. Chassis no. 0738 TR was completed in early-1958 alongside the 18 other Scaglietti-built pontoon fender examples.
Ferrari’s Testa Rossa was the most successful race car for the prancing horse brand. The model won four World Championships and four overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1958 to 1962. Chassis no. 0738 TR competed for over a decade, which took the race car to nearly 20 period races where it earned four overall victories.
More recently, in 2013, the historic sports car received a full restoration at Ferrari Classiche. It is one of the few remaining TR models to retain its numbers-matching engine and four-speed transmission. Actual performance figures of the restored Testa Rossa Ferrari are unknown, but factory numbers suggest that its 3.0-litre ‘Colombo’ V12 should send around 296-horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels. What’s even more impressive is its low weight at just 794 kilograms (1750 pounds).
This Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa reportedly comes from a prominent American Ferrari collection and has a pre-auction estimate of between £26 and £30 million ($33,027,800-$38,109,000). It will cross the auction block this February 21-23 via Sotheby’s Sealed.
“I have always believed that the 250 Testa Rossa should be the most desirable automobile in the world, especially in the context of Ferrari,” Shelby Myers, global head of private sales at RM Sotheby’s said. “When compared to the most revered prancing horse model, the 250 GTO, the TR far outpaces the GTO’s competition record.”