World’s Oldest Porsche Sold For Less Than $20M Due to Auction Mistake

• The world’s oldest Porsche has been sold for less than expected due to a misunderstanding.
• The rare 1939 Porsche Type 64 was initially expected to sell for more than $20 million.
• However, the price at the auction was misheard, revealing that the bids were much lower than expected.

How’s this for a minor error that led to a major disaster? A vehicle that is being hailed the world’s oldest Porsche was expected to sell for more than $20 million at an auction. Unfortunately, the bidding got bungled so badly that the rare item ended up being sold for less than the original amount.

The 1939 Porsche Type 64 was auctioned at the RM Sotheby’s auction in Monterey, California. At first, things seemed to be going well when Dutch-accented auctioneer opened the bidding at $30 million. It didn’t take long before the bid went from $40 million to $70 million, something that truly excited the crowd. However, the auctioneer then revealed that there had been a huge mistake right from the start.

Watch the surprising video below:

The Dutch auctioneer took a pause to explain that the bidding had actually started at $13 million and was now set at $17 million. He then pointed out that the error had a lot to do with his accent but people were not impressed. Some decided to walk out of the auction and the car was later sold for less than initially expected.

The 1939 Porsche Type 64 was built by Ferdinand Porsche and his son, Ferry, several years before they registered their company in 1946. Although the car was built in preparation for a major race, it never served its purpose due to the outbreak of World War II. It was later purchased by a racecar driver in 1949 before it ended up with an Austrian Porsche collector several decades later.

RM Sotheby’s has since released a statement about the incident at the auction explaining that it was a misunderstanding and “was in no way a joke or prank.” Unfortunately, this meant that the world’s oldest Porsche was sold for less than what it could have been worth.