Ferrari 312T: Niki Lauda’s $6m title-winning masterpiece

Classic Ferrari grand prix cars are rare at public sale. Mostly because Enzo had a penchant for breaking them up and burying them; partly as he had little interest in their ageing technology as times changed rapidly, but mostly as he was paranoid about anybody else buying them and copying them.

So, while the vast majority of pre-1970s Ferrari grand prix cars prep up the foundations of Maranello, Gooding & Co enjoyed a statement sale at Pebble Beach in 2019 by being the very first to offer a 1975 Ferrari 312T.

Chassis 022 was used by both Niki Lauda and team-mate Clay Regazzoni and played both a big part in helping Lauda to his breakthrough world title, and also getting Ferrari back on course after a series of wayward seasons. Having failed to lift a world title for a decade (Josh Surtees was Ferrari’s last world-beater, in 1964), Lauda and Mauro Forghieri combined to great effect with the 312T, which featured innovative ‘transversale’ gearbox mounting ahead of the rear axle rather than behind it for improved weight distribution and handling.

Lauda piloted the flat-12-powered beauty for five races, qualifying on pole for all of them and taking victory in the French GP, second in the Dutch and third in the German. Regazzoni also drove it for a handful of grands prix early in 1976.

One of just five chassis built, and one of just two Lauda actually drove in anger, this is one of the few historic grand prix cars Ferrari actually kept, along with the sister chassis 023 (more on that later…). Originally it was sold to a UK collector, and then changed hands in France and Holland before being bought by an American owner. The car was fully restored and made public appearances at Amelia Island in 2015 and finished third in the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Its eventual sale price of $6m, to a certain Tom Hartley Jr (also more on him later…), actually came at the lower end of its estimate.