Holy moly, this one-off Ferrari Daytona SP3 just sold for $26m

To butcher Ali’s famous aphorism, here’s a Ferrari that floats like a V12-engined butterfly and whose price must have stung like a bee. It’s a one-off, entirely delectable Daytona SP3 that just sold at auction for $26m.

Twenty six million American dollars. That’s 19.1 million of His Majesty’s finest pounds. Yeesh. RM Sotheby’s sold the bumblebee-liveried V12 over the weekend as Monterey’s entirely posh Car Week came to an end, saying it’s the “highest-priced new Ferrari ever sold at auction”.

A bit of a climb up from the Daytona’s ‘base’ price of £2m, but then this is a very special Daytona. Ferrari only made 599 for its most treasured clientele, and as you’d expect, all were sold out before it was even built. This one’s number 599+1.

Designed by Ferrari’s ‘Tailor Made’ customisation squad, Daytona #600 is the first Ferrari road car to get a full-length logo plastered across its entire body, in case anyone living under a rock for the past few years had no idea where it came from.

That entirely delectable black and yellow livery is complemented by an interior featuring yellow accents, a checkered flag because Ferrari = Formula One, a silver plaque, and ‘Q-Cycle’ fabric upholstery made from recycled tyres.

Guessing there’s plenty of those going spare, because the Daytona SP3 – a nod to Ferrari’s 1-2-3 sweep at 1967’s Daytona 24hrs in the unfathomably gorgeous 330 P3/4 – features a 6.5-litre V12 delivering 829 angry Italian horses to the rear wheels.

Naturally aspirated, non-hybridised horses, don’t forget, angry enough to send the SP3 from 0-62mph in 2.85s.

RM Sotheby’s said the proceeds from the sale of 599+1 will go to The Ferrari Foundation, a public charity set up to fund “future educational initiatives”.