A 1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti was sold for €32.1 million in Paris, with the former owner Alessandro Proto hinting in a press release that the adequately remunerated footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were 'involved in the bidding.'
It seems that Argentina's Messi may have achieved a solid win over Portugal’s Ronaldo with the purchase of the most iconic Ferrari in the world, certainly the most expensive.
The 1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti was owned by the Italian squillionaire, Alessandro Proto, and was up for auction at the Artcurial Motorcars Retromobile 2016 in Paris.
Since 1970, the Ferrari has been in the hands of the collector Pierre Bardinon, who died in 2012.
The identity of the buyer has been kept anonymous for the moment but a press release from Proto's company has suggested Messi won the auction with Ronaldo a keen but disappointed bidder.
The opening bid was pitched at €20 million and there was no hesitation as the price rose effortlessly to the highest ever paid for a Ferrari, in fact this was the highest price paid for a car, ever.
The red beast was driven to victory by F1 driver Stirling Moss in the 1958 Cuban Grand Prix.
Proto and Ronaldo have long been linked, with the Real Madrid star buying the Italian billionaire's apartment in Trump Tower, New York.
The buyer, should he ever venture out in his new toy, will be revealed soon enough but in the meantime the auction house can relax and bank its whopping commission while Ronaldo decides if there is anything left to buy in the automobile world that could possibly interest him.
