Niki Lauda’s Ferrari Heads to Auction Block
Few cars can command silence from even the most seasoned racing legends, but this one can. A Ferrari with a story etched into its sheet metal is now searching for a new custodian.
In early December 1973, a fresh creation rolled out of Maranello’s gates, gleaming in Argento Metallizzato silver. It was a Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2, sharp, poised, and brimming with promise. Within weeks, its steering wheel was gripped by a man whose name resonates far beyond the paddock: Niki Lauda, the Austrian driver who would go on to claim three Formula 1 world titles.
Lauda’s Ferrari was no flamboyant racer but a refined gran turismo, styled by Leonardo Fioravanti of Pininfarina with quiet elegance in every line. Beneath its long bonnet sat a 4.4-litre V12 producing 340 horsepower, docile until the throttle was pinned, when it revealed the urgency befitting Maranello’s crest.
The car remained in Lauda’s possession for barely eighteen months. In 1975, he returned it to Austria and sold it on. Over the decades, it passed through multiple hands. By the 1980s, one owner decided the silver dignity should give way to rosso corsa, Ferrari’s trademark shade, forever altering its presence.
Today, the odometer shows 87,962 kilometres. The car wears its years honestly, with blemishes and patina visible inside and out. Yet this is not a machine sought for showroom perfection. It is a tangible slice of motorsport history, once belonging to Niki Lauda himself.
This October, the red gran turismo will cross the block at RM Sotheby’s Munich sale, carrying an estimate between €180,000 and €220,000.
