The current US owner purchased it from a German collector for less than $20 million and promptly put it into a Rick Cole auction where it was offered at a kind of Tender but didn't sell at the $30 million + ask. Since then it has been on offer for around that mark, still cheaper than a GTO and eligible for many of the same events but its still on offer 20 months after its "auction" appearance which speaks volumes.
Beautiful car. Love the patina and the fact that it hasn't been over-restored. The "ostrich skin" valve covers are a bit odd though . I always wondered what his middle name was
a lot of ignorance and faulty perception... of 4 that were produced each is unique by itself... based on relative performance the LMB outperform the GTO... unfortunately come up short in the bragging rights dept, the result of being at the end of design and racing cycle which limited participation, to be replaced by more current designs ... the LMB are a bargain...
This LMB has been for sale since at least January 2016. The owner is a L.A. based TV and movie producer. Every broker on this planet has since tried to sell the car. Marcel Massini
Too much, or the wrong type of exposure can turn away many buyers at this level. The perception of scarcity - even if it's 1 of 4 - and the thrill of the hunt are powerful motivators, but both are limited when there's no limitation to the purchase other than being able to stroke the check.
I never understood the buyers who are only interested in a car only if it's available privately. If the car checks out, why do some buyers turn them down bc the car is listed on the internet?
Without going deep down the psychology rabbit hole, I think a lot of it boils down to the competitive nature of these buyers and, even more simply, ego. Guys buying $20mm cars are used to winning and frankly, it seems like less of a 'win' if just anyone (with the means) could buy something. I think this is why the two most successful formats for selling cars of this calibre are either auction, or discrete private treaty. With auctions, the buyer gets to "win" publicly by beating the other bidders (though the public nature can come with its own downsides and pitfalls). Through private treaty sales, the buyer gets to "win" by tracking down something very few others had the opportunity to buy and he gets to control who knows about his "win"... Public sales are less successful because they make the supposed-to-be scarce item available to anyone.
+ 1 Besides, while I'm not anywhere near to consider or speculate personal reasons at these $$$ levels, I do believe there are plenty of individuals who prefer discretion/privacy, both their own and their possessions, and do not care to publicize either for the mere amusement/entertainment of general public and/or peanut gallery of interweb forums and I imagine this applies to not only their art/car/etc collections, but most other aspects of their lives. Again, while nowhere near these $$$ levels, over the past few decades I've owned several rare or otherwise unusual vintage cars that I never took to any shows or other public exhibitions merely because I've always bought/owned the car(s) for myself to enjoy, not to entertain others. In fact, I've never cared whether or not others approve or like my cars. Most of my personal (& long term) cars I've managed to sell discreetly/quietly to likeminded individuals, many whom also became long term owners and have or had no interest exhibiting/showing them. And yes, I've also met individuals whom, for variety of reasons, have specifically expressed having interest only in cars not publicly advertised/available and I can respect that.
To me it's simpler: no one out there with the purchasing power REALLY wants this car. When that person shows up it'll get sold. Maybe that'l take a few million dollars less than the current asking price. Everything else is just an excuse. The 330 LMB is a lot of things, but it will always be known for what it is not. Shame.
There is a difference between a car being offered publicly and being private. You can call FOBH if they still had the LMB and wire the money and very few people would know where it ended. And then just hide the car in your garage and no one would ever know you bought other than the salesman, if that. Buy the car through an LLC and not even the salesman will know who the new owner is. I think Prancing_12's point makes more sense that some owners like to hunt and like to get hard to get things.
As mentioned earlier already: In 2011 4381 SA sold to a German who paid $ 10 M. In 2016 said German sold the car to the current owner who paid $ 18 M. Good for the German. A profit of $ 8 M in just six years is excellent. The new L.A. based owner then immediately put the car onto the market again, now asking between $ 23 M and $ 27 M. He too wanted to quickly earn a couple million $. That doesn't work. The timing is wrong because the peak was late 2015 and the guy overpaid and is greedy. The Ferrari classic car world is very small, especially at this level. Everybody knows each other and people are extremely well informed. To really sell the car the price would have to be reduced significantly. People are not stupid. Especially (most of) those that are able to quickly fork out 15 to 20 M $. But hey, it's all about finding a victim....... Marcel Massini
There's also a perception that gets built around stale listings. As Marcel noted, the car's basically been for sale since the owner acquired it in 2016... At some point, buyers just start to assume there's something wrong with it, whether pedigree or price, and don't even inquire. It becomes self-perpetuating. I remember a post I made back when the car first came to market (in 2016!) for ~$30mm. My thinking at the time was the pool of buyers for such a car was relatively small and the chances were high that most candidates would have known the car when it was previously for sale. That the new owner almost immediately tried to flip the car for roughly double the supposed acquisition price would have been pretty off-putting to any of those buyers that already knew about it, which in turn greatly reduced the number of buyers... All-in-all, it seems this could be used as a bit of a guide on how not to sell a blue chip car. Edit - Marcel beat me to it... I'll defer to him on the figures involved, but the gist of my point remains.