Monterey Car Week Top Ten Overview
Monterey Car Week 2026 (August 13-15, plus preceding events) delivered the richest week in collector-car auction history. The five sanctioned auction houses – RM Sotheby’s, Gooding Christie’s, Mecum, Broad Arrow, and Bonhams – combined for a record $758.3 million in sales, according to Hagerty’s tally, up from $432.8 million in 2025.
A total of 854 of 1,124 lots found buyers for an overall sell-through rate of 76 percent. The average sale price climbed to $887,948, nearly 68 percent above last year’s average of $529,034.
RM Sotheby’s led all houses with roughly $380 million in sales at a 90 percent sell-through rate. Gooding Christie’s followed at $159 million (95 percent sell-through), then Mecum at $111.4 million (62 percent), Broad Arrow at $97.4 million (85 percent), and Bonhams at $11.9 million (77 percent).
The top 10 lots alone generated a combined $223.1 million, nearly 30 percent of total week sales. This underscores how concentrated value was at the very top of the market.
At least 140 cars sold for more than $1 million, and 32 sold for more than $4 million. Eleven crossed the eight-figure threshold – a new record for “eight-figure cars” in a single week.
Seven of the top 10 sales were Ferraris. The week set outright records for the most expensive American car, the most expensive British car, the most expensive new car, the most expensive electric car, and the most expensive charity automotive lot ever sold.
The Top 10 Sales
1. 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe - $42,905,000
Chassis CSX2300 became the most expensive American car ever sold at public auction, shattering its roughly $25 million pre-sale estimate at Gooding Christie’s.
The Daytona Coupe was designed by Peter Brock and built by Carroll Shelby’s team specifically to defeat Ferrari’s dominant 250 GTO in international GT racing. It used an aerodynamic aluminum fastback body over the Cobra roadster’s chassis and a 4.7L Ford V8.
Only six Daytona Coupes were ever built, between 1964 and 1965. The model gave Shelby American the 1965 FIA International Championship for GT Manufacturers – the first, and still only, world title won by an American constructor.
This particular chassis, the third built, raced across Europe and Japan before Carroll Shelby personally purchased it in 1975 and kept it until 1998. He later commissioned a full restoration to its period-correct 1965 racing specification, making it the only one of the six coupes to have been owned by Shelby himself.
2. 2026 Ferrari Luce "Tailor Made" - $40,000,000
Chassis 0, the first production example of Ferrari’s first fully electric production car, sold at RM Sotheby’s for $40 million. All proceeds benefit The Ferrari Foundation, making it both the most expensive charity automotive lot and the most expensive new/electric car ever sold at auction.
The Luce was unveiled in Rome in May 2026 as Ferrari’s inaugural EV. It was styled in collaboration with LoveFrom, the design studio founded by former Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive and longtime collaborator Marc Newson.
The production Luce packs four electric motors producing 1,113 horsepower, a 2.5-second 0-60 mph time, and roughly 330 miles of range. It is wrapped in a spacious five-seat cabin with a large glasshouse roof, reflecting Ferrari’s stated goal of achieving genuine design innovation for the electric era rather than simply electrifying existing combustion-era styling.
This charity sale of “Tailor Made” chassis 0 was sold to benefit the Ferrari Foundation.
3. 1996 McLaren F1 GTR - $34,655,000
Chassis 10R sold at RM Sotheby’s, becoming the most expensive McLaren F1 ever sold publicly and the most expensive British car ever sold at auction.
This car was the first F1 GTR built to 1996 specification. It is one of only two short-tail GTR prototypes made (the other, 01R, won Le Mans outright in 1995), and one of just nine examples built to that spec.
It wears McLaren’s factory “Pop Art” scarlet-and-yellow livery – the only F1 GTR to carry a livery designed by the factory itself rather than a customer team or sponsor. It was reportedly conceived by designer Gordon Murray over objections from Ron Dennis that the red scheme looked too much like Ferrari.
McLaren converted the car to road-legal use in 1999. It was purchased that year by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, who owned and regularly showed it for roughly 25 years before consigning it to Monterey 2026.
4. 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport - $18,705,000
This sale set a new all-time record for a Corvette at auction, achieved at RM Sotheby’s.
Chevrolet engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov developed the Grand Sport as an ultra-lightweight competition Corvette intended to beat Carroll Shelby’s Cobras. It was meant to satisfy a planned 125-unit racing homologation run, but General Motors’ internal anti-racing policy shut the program down after only five chassis (three coupes, two roadsters) were completed.
Despite the cancellation, the surviving Grand Sports found their way to privateer racers including Roger Penske, Jim Hall, A.J. Foyt, and Dick Thompson. They most famously dominated a group of Shelby Cobras at the 1963 Nassau Speed Week.
5. 1963 Ferrari 250 P - $18,705,000
Chassis 0810 sold at Gooding Christie’s, tying the Corvette Grand Sport for fourth place on the week’s leaderboard.
The 250 P was Ferrari’s first-ever mid-engine V12 sports-racing prototype. It introduced the engineering philosophy – engine amidships, ahead of the rear axle – that would define Ferrari competition and road cars for decades afterward.
Debuted at Monza in March 1963 with Pininfarina-designed Spyder bodywork, this specific chassis won the 12 Hours of Sebring on debut. It helped Ferrari sweep victory at Le Mans and the Nürburgring 1000km that season, contributing to Ferrari’s 1963 World Sportscar Championship title.
Only four examples of the 250 P were ever built. This car later raced across North America under Luigi Chinetti’s N.A.R.T. banner before residing in a major Ferrari collection since 1988.
6. 2023 Ferrari Daytona SP3 - $17,825,000
Sold at RM Sotheby’s, this modern hypercar is the third entry in Ferrari’s limited “Icona” series, following the Monza SP1 and SP2.
Only 599 examples were built between 2022 and 2025, each pre-sold by invitation to favored existing Ferrari clients for roughly $2.25 million. The retro-inspired bodywork pays homage to the Ferrari 330 P3/P4 prototypes that swept the podium at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona.
The car is powered by an 829-horsepower naturally aspirated 6.5L V12 derived from the LaFerrari and 812 Competizione. This makes it likely the final non-hybrid, mid-engine V12 Ferrari ever built as the brand pivots toward electrification.
Notably, a separate 600th Daytona SP3 example was sold for charity benefiting the Ferrari Foundation at Monterey in 2025.
7. 1996 Ferrari F50 - $14,575,000
This F50 sold at Mecum, ranking as the top result of that house’s Monterey sale.
Launched in 1995 to mark Ferrari’s 50th anniversary and succeed the F40, the F50 was conceived as a road-going Formula One car. It was built around a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis with a 4.7L, 60-valve V12 engine directly derived from the 3.5L unit used in Ferrari’s 1990 Formula One car.
Just 349 examples were produced from 1995 to 1997. Ferrari controlled distribution through a two-year lease arrangement with pre-screened buyers specifically to discourage speculation.
8. 1995 Ferrari F50 - $12,105,000
A second F50 example sold at RM Sotheby’s for a lower but still eight-figure sum. This reflects the strength of demand for this 349-unit-only 1990s halo car across both major Monterey sales.
Sharing the same F1-derived 4.7L naturally aspirated V12 producing roughly 513 horsepower and a carbon-fiber targa-top body, the F50 remains, per specialist appraisers, the last Ferrari road car built around a genuine Formula One-derived powertrain.
9. 2003 Ferrari Enzo - $12,100,000
Sold at Mecum, this Enzo was named for Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari. It represented the brand’s flagship hypercar of the early 2000s.
Designed by Ken Okuyama at Pininfarina and unveiled at the 2002 Paris Motor Show, the Enzo was originally planned as a 399-unit production run. It grew to 400 cars (later documented as 499 including prototypes) due to overwhelming customer demand, with a 6.0L V12 producing enough power for a 3.3-second 0-60 mph time and a 218 mph top speed.
10. 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO - $11,555,000
Rounding out the top 10 at RM Sotheby’s, the 288 GTO revived the storied GTO (“Gran Turismo Omologato”) nameplate for a homologation special built to meet the FIA’s Group B racing regulations.
Announced by Enzo Ferrari in September 1983 and powered by a twin-turbocharged 2.9L V8 good for a 189 mph top speed, the 288 GTO was intended to compete in Group B circuit and rally racing. The FIA banned the dangerously powerful Group B class at the end of 1986 before any competition version of the GTO ever saw action.
Ferrari ultimately built roughly 272 examples, more than the 200-unit homologation minimum, due to overwhelming customer demand. This cemented the 288 GTO’s status as a purely road-going collectible rather than the active competition car it was designed to be.
Market Context
The two standout storylines of the week were the record-breaking performance of pre-1970s American and British competition cars alongside surging demand for modern-era supercars. Together, these two trends accounted for more than half of all sales.
The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe’s result eclipsed the prior record for an American car, a Duesenberg SSJ that sold for $22 million in 2018 at the same Gooding sale. The McLaren F1 GTR result set a new benchmark for British cars at auction.
Younger buyers – a new generation of millennial and Gen Z collectors – were credited by Hagerty with helping drive intense competition for modern supercars. This trend was visible in strong results for the Ferrari Daytona SP3, LaFerrari, and F40 elsewhere in the week’s top 30.
The Ferrari Luce sale stands apart as a unique data point. Because it was a philanthropic lot for a brand-new production model rather than a scarce historic collectible, its $40 million result reflects charitable generosity and marketing prestige as much – or more than – pure collector-market valuation.