California

The US auction market is driving the classic car market

This week, the four specialist auction houses have recorded half a billion dollars’ worth of transactions: supercars from recent decades are in high demand

by Giovanni Gasparini

28 August 2026

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1996 McLaren F1 GTR aggiudicata per 34.655.000 $ Courtesy RM Sotheby’s

7' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The Ferrari Luce anomaly
The rivalry between Specializzate’s and Gooding & Christie’s
Broad Arrow ‘clears out’ Bonhams
The triumph of today’s supercars
The 1930s are still roaring

7' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The traditional week of Californian auctions in August, coinciding with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, has, for the first time, exceeded half a billion dollars in sales, with over 600 million dollars shared between the four international auction houses involved. The total comes to just under $650 million if one includes a lot sold for charity and the immediate post-auction sales that some auction houses include in their reported figures. This represents a significant increase compared with the previous peak of around $420 million in 2022. The increase is due to the strengthening of the over-one-million-dollar segment, with as many as 116 lots out of 600 offered, compared with 83 last year out of 533 lots auctioned at the time. Of these, the top ten sales accounted for around a third of the total – over $200 million – reflecting an unusually high level of concentration.

On the other hand, almost half of the lots were offered without reserve, a key factor in reducing the number of unsold cars to just one in ten. The market is increasingly divided into three different age segments, all of which are performing well but with shifting relative values amongst the classic cars of the 1930s, the racing cars of the 1950s and 1960s, and the supercars of recent decades.

1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, venduta per 42.905.000 $

The Ferrari Luce anomaly

Only a racing car of great historical value, sold for 43 million dollars, has spared us the embarrassment of having to list the Ferrari Luce as the week’s top sale. The $40 million paid by an elderly and eccentric American philanthropist for the first ‘Tailor Made’ model of the much-discussed electric car bearing the Prancing Horse is an anomaly linked to the tax regime governing donations – which are largely tax-deductible in the US – and the social prestige associated with them, as well as the ‘free’ publicity, and very little to do with the car model’s intrinsic value. The proceeds from the auction will, in fact, go to the American Ferrari Foundation dedicated to education. In any case, this remains a successful marketing coup for Ferrari, following the recent debacle surrounding the model’s launch, whose clumsy and ungainly appearance seems all the more jarring when compared with the icons of the past, born from the pens of great car designers rather than those of household appliance designers.

In any case, this is a one-off result, and the ‘Luce’ models are bound to lose value just like the rest of the ‘mass-produced’ models, and perhaps even more so when the issue of battery replacement comes to a head.

The rivalry between RMSotheby’s and Gooding & Christie’s

The ‘Luce’ is the most expensive lot sold by RMSotheby’s, which accounted for no fewer than 380 of the 650 million dollars sold, and even surpasses the far more deserving 1996 McLaren F1 GTR previously owned by Pink Floyd star Nick Manson, which – despite its provenance and unique red livery featuring ‘Pop Art’ elements – fell just short of the $35 million estimate, selling for $34.6 million including commissions.
Despite a small number of cars being offered without reserve, the Canadians sold almost all of the 199 lots on offer, including numerous Ferraris from recent years, such as a yellow 2023 Daytona SP3 for $17.8 million, just one million less than the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, a competition car that sold for $18.7 million.
The five limited-edition Ferraris, whose value seems to be rising unstoppably, confirm their strong appeal to the speculative market: to date, it would take $50 million to take them all home, starting with the new record for the rarest and oldest, a 1985 288 GTO at $11.5 million; a record price was also set for a 1991 F40, which is close to $8.4 million, whilst the less sought-after 1995 F50 commands a whopping 12.1 million, and the 2003 Enzo 9.4 million, culminating in a new record for the 2015 La Ferrari at 8.7 million dollars. All cars feature the classic red livery and have very few miles on the clock.

Its rival Gooding, now under the wing of Christie’s, achieved similar sale rates but with fewer lots, around 170, though thanks to more than half of the cars being sold without reserve, for a total of nearly 160 million dollars, of which a full 43 million went to the week’s most expensive lot, a famous and extremely rare 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe; a true legend of overseas motor racing, linked to its builder and owner (until 1998) Carroll Shelby.

1935 Duesenberg Model JN Convertible Coupe aggiudicato per 9.080.000 $

This American rival to Ferrari far surpasses the contemporary 250 P bearing the Prancing Horse, a racing car bodied by Fantuzzi in 1963 which, despite its sporting honours, fetched 18.7 million against an estimate of 15–20 million guaranteed by the auction house.
A 1959 Maserati Type 61 ‘Birdcage’ racing car also fetched a figure in the millions, selling for 4.2 million dollars, exceeding – including fees – the third-party guaranteed estimate of 3–4 million; a similar price was achieved for another car guaranteed by a third party, a 1952 Ferrari 225 Sport Spider, which reached nearly 4.3 million against an estimate of 2–3 million dollars.
Note the use of direct and third-party guarantees, a practice already established in art auctions but hitherto far more limited in car auctions.

Broad Arrow ‘clears out’ Bonhams

The ‘newcomer’ Broad Arrow Auctions, owned by the insurer Hagerty, has now taken the place of the historic British auction house Bonhams.
The former achieved a total of just under 100 million, with over 180 lots on offer, half of which were without reserve, whilst the latter totalled 12 million dollars with fewer than 60 cars.7
Unfortunately, Bonhams is shrinking to a purely British scale, partly due to Brexit and the ongoing corporate changes that have led to a significant exodus of staff to other auction houses.

Leading Broad Arrow’s sales was a 2003 Ferrari Enzo, which sold for 10.7 million dollars (estimated at 9–11 million), thanks in part to its unusual black livery, and the even more recent 2025 Bugatti W16 Mistral, which sold for $8.8 million – clearly the result of speculation.
Broad Arrow focused heavily on recent cars, such as the aggressive Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Coupé, which sold for $2.8 million, but also sold a 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400S for $4 million, and a 1954 Maserati A6GCS for $2 million, whilst a couple of classic Ferraris failed to find buyers: a hazelnut-coloured 275 GTB/4 and a Dino GTS.

2023 Ferrari Daytona SP3 aggiudicata per 17.825.000 $

The Triumph of Today’s Supercars

The auction round confirms the dominance of cars from the new millennium, as evidenced by the success of a collection of 17 supercars at RMSotheby’s, which raised a total of over 53 million dollars, thanks to the Ferrari SP3, several McLarens, and the only Pagani on offer that week.

The overall list is long: seven Bugattis, all worth over a million dollars, totalling over 34 million dollars; 30 Ferraris, including, in addition to those already described, several from the last decade such as the 458 and 488 models in ‘special’ versions that fetch prices in the millions; sports cars from smaller manufacturers such as Hennessey and Koenigsegg, four Lamborghinis, three of which sold for over a million, no fewer than 11 McLarens, only one of which remained unsold, the 2024 Pagani Huayra Roadster ‘Executor’ at $8 million and, finally, 14 recent Porsches.

They are a symbol of the demographic shift – particularly in terms of age – that is currently taking place, but also a speculative response to the system of ‘waiting lists’ and ‘limited editions’ imposed by manufacturers such as Ferrari over the last few decades. In many cases, however, these prices incorporate expectations of future growth that do not appear to be based on solid foundations, but are driven by current trends. This produces distorted and unexpected relative values, particularly when compared with cars from the 1960s, which are characterised by genuinely low production figures (not artificially inflated through ‘special numbering’), established historical value, and designs built to stand the test of time, rather than being dictated by the ‘fashions’ of the moment.

This trend has already taken hold in the art world with the explosion in the prices of contemporary art, but in the motoring world there are no independent museum institutions similar to those in the art world that can ‘preserve’ today’s cars in the same way as works of art. With the 50 million needed for the five limited-edition Ferraris, one could buy the rest of the Prancing Horse’s entire production of road-going cars. The values of new Bugattis dwarf those of the historic models from the 1930s, rivalling or even surpassing ‘legends’ such as the Type 57SC Atalante.

Ferrari Luce “Tailor Made”, 2026 aggiudicata per 40.000.000 $

The 1930s are still roaring

The long list of million-dollar cars is rounded off by the success enjoyed by the uniquely designed cars of the 1930s, which continue to appeal to a refined and cultured group of collectors – who, unfortunately, are now well advanced in years. Some consolation comes from the nearly 35 million dollars raised by the collection of Mr and Mrs Mann at RMSotheby’s, spearheaded by the 1935 Duesenberg Model JN with a bespoke body built for the cinema legend Clark Gable, winner of numerous concours d’élégance, which sold for $9 million. The collection also included two spectacular ‘queens’ from the golden age of French coachbuilding: a 1937 Delage D8-120 S Aerodynamic Coupé with spectacular Pourtout bodywork, a veritable sculpture on wheels that went under the hammer for just $5.8 million, and a Delahaye 145 Cabriolet from the same year, a winner at concours d’élégance, which changed hands for $3.4 million. Also from 1937, a Bugatti 57SC Atalante with its unmistakable bodywork was a must-have, sold for $5 million from Jim Patterson’s renowned collection. Gooding’s auction saw a 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Lungo Spider sports car sell for $3.3 million, alongside several Bugattis from the 1920s and 1930s.

Among the unsold lots was an elegant 1938 Talbot-Lago T150 Teardrop Coupé from RMSotheby’s, whilst a post-war T26 Record Cabriolet, also bodied by Figoni & Falaschi, fetched 4 million dollars.

2026 therefore looks set to be the strongest year yet for the classic car market, driven by US demand in general, and for modern supercars in particular – a sector where short-term speculation is concentrated.
These figures will be confirmed at the annual October event in Bologna, featuring the trade fair and the annual report on the auction market presented by Adolfo Orsi, whilst we await the US market’s first resumption in November in New York, thanks to the overseas launch of the Retromobile show, which will also host the Gooding & Christie’s auction.