This 1957 Ferrari could fetch $34 million at auction — and it's worth every penny

Believe it or not, this 1957 Ferrari could be worth $34 million.

1950s Ferraris are worth a lot of money these days and, for the most part, the amount they fetch at auctions is quite puzzling. That's because, though undeniably beautiful, none is particularly enrapturing. They're cool, but not $30 million cool.

This one, however, might be. The 1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti you see here has more than just an brilliant red paint job and an enviable nameplate. It raced in the Sebring 12 Hours race in Florida, the Mille Miglia race in Italy, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, finished fourth in the Swedish Grand Prix, finished second in the Venezuela Grand Prix and won the Cuba Grand Prix — with now-infamous race car driver Sterling Moss at the wheel.

If the car had done just one of those things, it'd be worth the asking price. The fact that it accomplished all of those — between the spring of 1957 and summer 1958 — is truly remarkable.

Moreover, during that year, the factory 360-horsepower 3.8-liter V12 was upped to 4.1 liters and 400 horsepower. This, as you might imagine, was an unbelievable amount of power in the 1950s and still spine contorting these days.

When this beauty goes up for auction on Feb. 5 in Paris, France, it's expected to fetch somewhere between $28 million and $34 million.