Peter Lyon
May 27, 2025
On the banks of the world-renowned Lake Como in Italy, a Ferrari 166 from 1948 has just sold for a record price of €7,543,750. Broad Arrow Auctions, a Hagerty company, is celebrating the success of its first European sale as the official auction partner of BMW AG after presenting over 70 of the world’s finest cars at the prestigious Concorso d’Eleganza Villa D’Este.
Two sales, held on May 24 and 25 in the Rotunda at Villa Erba, saw packed sales rooms with an online audience of over 8,000 viewers on the Broad Arrow YouTube channel. Altogether the auction achieved €31,172,625 in total sales, with 78 percent of all lots sold.
“Our Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este auction has been a resounding success,” says Joe Twyman, VP of Sales for Broad Arrow’s EMEA Region. “The opportunity to present such a spectacular collection of the world’s most desirable cars at the world famous Concorso was a great way to launch our first European sale.”
The Ferrari 166 fetches a record €7,543,750
Star of the Sunday sale was a 1948 Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa, quite possibly the most original early Ferrari model, which sold for an auction record price of €7,543,750. Never before offered publicly for sale, it is one of two 166 Spyder Corsa models commissioned by one of Ferrari’s earliest customers. It has received awards at multiple prestigious shows and has competed in some of the greatest rallying events, including the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio. The room was captivated by fast and competitive telephone bidding as two potential buyers fought for the chance to own this very special piece of Ferrari history.
Other modern classic highlights saw an outstanding 1989 Ferrari F40 Competizione attract a winning bid of €2,312,500 and a a 2023 Ford GT sell for €613,750.
Broad Arrow also presented a number of very special modern classic cars, including a spectacular 2003 Honda NSX-R. With just 15,800 kilometres, the Championship White, lightweight supercar attracted attention from around the world with bidders from the UK, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, and the US competing to own this rare supercar. Another electrifying sale saw a final bid duel lead to a world auction record-winning bid of €934,375.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
In the world of classic car auctions, prices exceeding €7,500,000 for a 1948 Ferrari 166, or €2,000,000 for a Ferrari F40 seem par for the course. But to see Japanese ‘modern classics’ like a 2003 Honda NSX-R sell for over €900,000 is phenomenal. But then again, is it? After all, a 25-year-old Nissan Skyline GT-R driven by Paul Walker from Fast & Furious 4, sold recently for $1,357,000. Ah yes, and even Japanese Yamazaki and Suntory whiskeys are fetching huge amounts like the Yamazaki-55 Year which fetched a price US$795,000.
