The biggest surprises of the $718million 2026 Monterey Car Week auctions

Monterey Car Week 2026 delivered a landmark $718.3 million in auction sales, up dramatically from $432.8 million in 2025 according to Hagerty’s figures. That total does not include the exceptional $40 million Ferrari Luce charity lot (more on that later), but even without it the week comfortably surpassed previous records. More tellingly, the overall sell-through rate remained unchanged at 76%, suggesting this was not a broad market explosion.

Instead, Monterey exposed an increasingly selective market, with modern supercars and low-production halo models the strongest performers, with cars from the 1980s onwards regularly exceeding even the healthiest of expectations. Add a Ferrari badge into the mix and there were some genuinely eye-watering results. At the same time, exceptional competition cars, including the top seller of the week – Gooding Christie’s $42.905 million Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe – performed exceptionally well. Some of the very best pre-war machinery remained stronger than expected, while more familiar 1950s and 1960s models often struggled, as expected. As did anything that could be described as ‘run of the mill’. The message was clear: rarity, provenance and condition mattered more than ever.

Top 10 Monterey auction sales

RM Sotheby’s

RM Sotheby’s produced one of the defining sales of Monterey Car Week 2026, announcing a total figure of $336.1 million in total sales, which compares to $163.8 million in 2025. The sell-through rate also edged up from 85% to 88%, while the average sale price almost doubled from $1.21 million to $1.98 million. Even without including the exceptional $40 million Ferrari Luce charity lot, the scale of the increase was considerable.

That Ferrari deserves some context…

On the face of it, the one-off Ferrari Luce ‘Tailor Made’ sold for $40 million, which technically makes it the most valuable new car ever sold at auction. However, it is very important to note that – as with any charity auction – the result must be treated as a one-off, standalone occurrence that actually bears very little impact on the market. Treat this as a $40m charitable donation with a car thrown in as a bonus, and you’d be closer to the truth. While charity lots in the past have thrown up some anomalous result, non have ever quite exceeded a pre-sale estimate by a factor of 40 before.

The defining result was in reality the 1996 McLaren F1 GTR at $34,655,000. It set a new auction record both for the McLaren F1 and for any British-built car, and confirmed just how strong the F1 market currently is. The 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport followed at $18,705,000, becoming the most valuable Corvette ever sold at auction.

Ferrari dominated much of the remaining top end, with a 2023 Daytona SP3 reaching $17,825,000 while a 1995 F50 made $12,105,000 and a 1985 288 GTO sold for $11,555,000. The latter established a new model record, as did the 1991 F40 at $8,365,000. A 2003 Enzo reached $9,410,000 and a 2015 LaFerrari $8,695,000. Modern low-production supercars were generally among the strongest performers of the week.

Yet pre-war machinery also delivered some important numbers, with Clark Gable’s 1935 Duesenberg Model JN Convertible Coupe by Rollston and Bohman & Schwartz (above) making $9,080,000, the third-highest price ever achieved for a Duesenberg. The Sam and Emily Mann Collection also supplied the 1937 Delage D8-120 S Aerodynamic Coupé by Pourtout at $5,780,000, another model record.

RM Sotheby’s reported 69 lots above $1 million, 14 above $5 million and six above $10 million across the three nights. The headline total was spectacular, but the more useful takeaway was the concentration of money around cars with exceptional rarity and provenance. The F1 GTR, Corvette Grand Sport, Duesenberg and modern Ferraris all fitted that description – and together they made RM one of the clearest demonstrations of just how selective, and how aggressive, the Monterey market has become.

Gooding Christie’s

Gooding Christie’s delivered the highest single auction result of Monterey Car Week with the 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, which sold for $42,905,000. The result makes it the most valuable American car ever sold at auction, eclipsing the $22 million achieved by the ex-Gary Cooper Duesenberg SSJ at the same venue in 2018, and also established a new house record for Gooding Christie’s.

The Daytona was the clear centrepiece of a notably strong two-day Pebble Beach sale. One of the six original competition Coupes built to take the fight to Ferrari in the GT category, its combination of Carroll Shelby provenance, rarity and competition significance proved enough to take it beyond $40 million.

The auction house finished Monterey with $159 million in sales, with 157 of 167 lots finding buyers for a 94% sell-through rate. That compared with $127.8 million and 84% in 2025, while the average sale price rose from $858,038 to just over $1 million.

A 1963 Ferrari 250 P reached $18,705,000, establishing a new auction record for the model, while a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione followed at $8,090,000. The 1952 Ferrari 225 Sport ‘Tuboscocca’ Spider made $4,295,000 and the 1959 Maserati Tipo 61 ‘Birdcage’ $4,240,000, both setting model records.

Not every significant racing car reached the levels anticipated before the sale, as the 1968 Porsche 907 Langheck – the Daytona-winning car that had been estimated at $4.5-5.5 million – sold for $3,305,000. Still one of Gooding Christie’s top 10 results.

There was strength elsewhere in the catalogue, with a 2020 Bugatti Chiron Sport ‘Edition Noire’ bringing $3,442,500, while a 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Lungo Spider from the Brian Brunkhorst Collection sold for $3,305,000. A 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing and 1966 Ferrari Dino 206 S Berlinetta each achieved $2,975,000.

Gooding Christie’s Senior Specialist David Brynan summed up the broader theme particularly neatly when he said that ‘the market rewards substance’. The results support that assessment. The sale was led not simply by expensive cars, but by those with exceptional provenance, racing history or scarcity – above all the Daytona Coupe.

Broad Arrow

Broad Arrow used its first year as the official auction partner of The Quail to make a sizeable step forward in Monterey, recording $97.4 million in sales according to Hagerty – up from $57.4 million in 2025. With 154 of 181 lots sold, the 85% sell-through rate also improved on the previous year’s 80%, while the average sale price climbed from $425,175 to $632,441.

The new sale at The Quail Golf Club was led by a 2003 Ferrari Enzo, one of only three finished in Nero D.S. with Rosso leather. Offered without reserve, it eventually reached $10,675,000, placing it comfortably at the top of Broad Arrow’s results and reinforcing one of the strongest themes running through Monterey 2026 – extraordinary demand for Ferrari’s modern halo cars.

That trend continued throughout the catalogue – a 2017 F12tdf sold for $3,635,000 and a 2015 458 Speciale A reached $2,425,000 – while some less exotic modern Ferraris produced striking results of their own. A 2001 550 Barchetta Pininfarina established a model record at $1,627,500, a 2020 488 Pista Spider made $1,545,000 and a low-mileage 2019 812 Superfast almost doubled its high estimate at $747,500. Even a 527-mile 1998 550 Maranello reached a record $648,500.

Bugatti provided the sale’s second-highest result, with a 2025 W16 Mistral – one of 99 produced – selling for $8,805,000 – a new auction record for the model – while a 2011 Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport (above) reached $3,305,000, also establishing a new benchmark. A 2023 Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Coupé made $2,837,500, setting another marque record.

The older machinery was led by a 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 S at $4,075,000. Finished in period-correct Azzurro Mexico Metallizzato, it was Broad Arrow’s third-highest sale and demonstrated that outstanding examples of established post-war classics could still compete for attention amid the rush towards modern supercars. A restored 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster also exceeded its $1.5-1.8 million estimate to reach $2,040,000.

An unmodified 1988 959 Komfort sold for $2,865,000, a record for that specification, while a 1990 911 reimagined by Singer brought $1.6 million.

Broad Arrow claimed nine new auction records across the two days, but the more significant result was arguably the scale of the sale itself. Its $97.4 million total was almost 70% higher than in 2025, placing the relatively young auction house firmly among Monterey’s major players. As elsewhere during the week, modern Ferrari and low-production supercars supplied much of the momentum, but the Miura and 300 SL results showed that exceptional examples from earlier generations remained capable of commanding serious money.

Bonhams

Bonhams had a considerably more difficult Monterey than its rivals, with its move to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca producing a much smaller sale than in 2025. Hagerty recorded $11.9 million in total sales, with 43 of 56 lots finding buyers for a 77% sell-through rate. That compares with $44.2 million and a 96% sell-through rate a year earlier, while the average transaction fell from $508,364 to $276,171.

Two modern supercars accounted for a large proportion of the total: The top seller was a 2024 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport, which reached $4,570,000, within its $4.3-4.8 million estimate. A rare 2000 Lamborghini Diablo GT followed at $2,425,000. Between them, the Bugatti and Lamborghini represented almost $7 million of a sale totalling just under $12 million.

Beyond those two cars, results became much more modest. One of the more significant historic competition cars to find a buyer was the 1967 Vollstedt-Ford 67 USAC single-seater, raced in period by Jim Clark. Offered without reserve against a $750,000-1.25 million estimate, it sold for $698,000. A 1934 Packard Twelve-Series 1108 Dietrich Convertible Sedan achieved $456,000, while a 1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GT brought $417,500.

There were opportunities further down the catalogue, as the experimental 1936 Cord 810 E-300 ‘Disappearing Top’ Cabriolet, estimated at $650,000-850,000 and offered without reserve, sold for just $324,000. A 1995 Mercedes-Benz E60 AMG reached $313,000, while the 2019 Toro Rosso-Honda STR14 Formula 1 car made $224,000. A 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300 Coupé sold for $201,600 and a 1968 Maserati Ghibli for $190,400.

Several notable cars failed to sell, including the Dan Gurney Lola T70 Can-Am car and an Alfa Romeo GTA. That was indicative of the selective market seen elsewhere around Monterey, although at Bonhams the effect was more pronounced. The new Laguna Seca setting also represented a substantial change from Bonhams’ traditional Monterey presence.

Mecum

Mecum produced one of Monterey’s more revealing sets of results, with Hagerty recording $114.2 million in sales, almost three times the $39.5 million achieved in 2025. The average sale price rose even more dramatically, from $126,546 to $347,069, despite the sell-through rate actually slipping slightly from 65% to 63%. More than any other auction, those figures demonstrate the greater calibre – and value – of machinery Mecum brought to Monterey this year.

Ferrari again provided the fireworks. A 1996 F50 sold for $14,575,000, the highest F50 result of the week and a new model record. The Giallo Modena car was one of just 31 F50s finished in yellow and number 239 of the 349-car production run. It comfortably eclipsed the $12,105,000 achieved by RM Sotheby’s for another F50 during the same weekend.

Close behind was a 2003 Ferrari Enzo at $12,100,000. Showing just 589 miles and accompanied by Ferrari Classiche certification, it was another emphatic demonstration of the demand for low-mileage examples of Ferrari’s modern halo cars. An F12tdf reached $3,657,500, an 812 Competizione $3,355,000, a 599 GTO $3,300,000 and a 458 Speciale Aperta $2,750,000.

Perhaps the more interesting result, however, was the $3,960,000 paid for a 2004 Gemballa Mirage GT. Number 24 of the 25 Carrera GT-based cars produced, it represented the increasingly strong appetite for extreme period tuner machinery. A more conventional 2005 Porsche Carrera GT followed at $3,575,000; notably, a second example with just 372 miles failed to sell despite reaching a $4 million bid.

A 2014 McLaren P1 HDK also made $3,575,000, one of nine P1s upgraded by Lanzante with its High Downforce Kit. It established a new benchmark for the model. There was still room for traditional American machinery. A 1933 Duesenberg Model J Disappearing-Top Convertible Coupe sold for $3,410,000, providing the only pre-war car among Mecum’s top 10, while a 1966 Shelby 427 Cobra brought $1,980,000.

Monterey 2026 auction totals