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Monterey Car Week 2026 did not just beat the record. It buried it.
Five auction houses moved $747.9 million in collector cars between August 13 and 15, according to Hagerty's running tally. That is up 73 percent from the $432.8 million posted over the same days in 2025, and it obliterates the previous Monterey record of roughly $471 million set in 2022. Hagerty's own pre-sale forecast topped out at $500 million. The week cleared that by nearly a quarter-billion dollars.
Here is what actually happened, house by house, number by number.
The Week in Numbers
- Total sales: $747.9 million (2025: $432.8 million)
- Lots sold: 844 of 1,124 offered
- Sell-through rate: 75 percent (2025: 76 percent)
- Average sale price: $866,107 (2025: $529,034), up 64 percent
- Eight-figure sales: 11, more than the previous five Monterey weeks combined
- $1 million-plus lots consigned: 180, up 24 percent
- $5 million-plus lots consigned: 29, up 71 percent
Read those together and the story is clear. Volume was flat. Sell-through was flat. The money came from the cars themselves getting more expensive, and from an unusually deep bench of seven- and eight-figure consignments. For the first time in Monterey history, the combined low estimate across all five sales cleared $600 million before a single lot crossed the block.
The Top 10 Sales of Monterey Week 2026
| # | Car | Price | House |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe | $42,905,000 | Gooding Christie's |
| 2 | 2026 Ferrari Luce "Tailor Made" | $40,000,000 | RM Sotheby's (charity) |
| 3 | 1996 McLaren F1 GTR | $34,655,000 | RM Sotheby's |
| 4 | 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport | $18,705,000 | RM Sotheby's |
| 5 | 1963 Ferrari 250 P | $18,705,000 | Gooding Christie's |
| 6 | 2023 Ferrari Daytona SP3 | $17,825,000 | RM Sotheby's |
| 7 | 1996 Ferrari F50 | $14,575,000 | Mecum |
| 8 | 1995 Ferrari F50 | $12,105,000 | RM Sotheby's |
| 9 | 2003 Ferrari Enzo | $12,100,000 | Mecum |
| 10 | 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO | $11,555,000 | RM Sotheby's |
Ferrari took seven of the ten.
RM Sotheby's: approximately $370 million, 87 percent sell-through
RM ran three days and finished with early results of roughly $370 million on an 87 percent sell-through, easily the largest sale of the week and one of the biggest single-house results in auction history.
The headline was the 2026 Ferrari Luce "Tailor Made," chassis 0, the first production example of Ferrari's first EV, sold as a charity lot for $40 million. That is a record for a new car, a record for an electric car, and a record multiple over sticker, roughly 60 times MSRP against a historical average of about 13 times for charity lots of new models.
Right behind it came Nick Mason's 1996 McLaren F1 GTR, chassis 10R, at $34,655,000. One of two short-tail GTR prototypes, wearing a one-off factory pop-art livery and road-converted by McLaren, it set records for both McLaren and for any British car sold at public auction.
Then the Corvette. RM's 1963 Chevrolet Grand Sport, one of five and the first offered publicly in 17 years, blew past its $13 million high estimate to bring $18,705,000, the most expensive Corvette ever sold at auction. For context, the last Grand Sport to appear at auction failed to sell at $4.9 million in 2009.
RM's modern Ferrari run was relentless: a 2023 Daytona SP3 at $17,825,000 against a $10 to $12 million estimate, a 1995 F50 at $12,105,000, a 1985 288 GTO at $11,555,000 (a model record, beating a mark set only months earlier), a 2003 Enzo at $9,410,000, and a 1991 F40 at $8,365,000, nearly $2 million clear of the previous base F40 record.
Prewar was not shut out. The 1935 Duesenberg Model JN Convertible Coupe built for Clark Gable brought $9,080,000, a model record and the third most expensive Duesenberg ever. A 1937 Delage D8-120 S prototype set a marque record at $5,780,000, and a 1934 Packard 1108 Twelve Sport Phaeton by LeBaron set another at $4,295,000.
Other RM records: a 1989 Porsche 959 Sport at $7,045,000, a 2024 Aston Martin Valkyrie Spider at $4,735,000 (a post-1970 Aston record), an 812 Competizione "Tailor Made" at $4,850,000, and a 2005 Ferrari Superamerica with a gated six-speed at $1,380,000.
Gooding Christie's: approximately $162 million, 96 percent sell-through
Gooding posted the best sell-through of the week by a wide margin, 96 percent, and about $162 million across two days at Pebble Beach.
The 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, CSX2300, was the car of the week and the car of the year. One of six built by Carroll Shelby and Peter Brock, personally owned by Shelby from 1975 to 1998, with a period race record that includes third overall at the 1965 Daytona Continental and third at the Nürburgring 1000K. It sold for $42,905,000, making it the most expensive American car ever sold at auction. The previous Daytona to come to market went for $7.25 million in 2009. David Gooding confirmed from the block that the car is staying in the United States.
Gooding's other giant was the 1963 Ferrari 250 P, the first Ferrari mid-engine prototype and a third-overall finisher at the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans, at $18,705,000. It last traded at Rick Cole's Monterey sale in 1988 for around $3 million.
Twenty-eight cars cleared $1 million. A Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage set a model record at $4,240,000, and a 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo reimagined by Singer set a record for that variant at $1.9 million.
Not everything flew. The 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, wrecked in period, without its original engine and without headline race history, brought $8,090,000, below the model's fair-condition value in the Hagerty Price Guide. A concours-winning Bentley R-Type Continental managed $1,215,000 in a segment that has been sliding hard for two quarters.
Mecum: approximately $104 million, 56 percent sell-through
Mecum's three days at Del Monte Golf Course produced around $104 million, with 23 cars over $1 million, but the lowest sell-through of the week at 56 percent. The gap between money moved and lots moved tells you a lot about where reserves sat this year.
The star was a 1996 Ferrari F50 in Giallo Modena, one of 31 so finished, at $14,575,000, a model record and 19 percent above the previous mark set in January. Worth noting: the F50 record at the start of 2025 was $5.5 million.
A 595-mile 2003 Ferrari Enzo brought $12,100,000, the third highest Enzo result ever and the most expensive Rosso Corsa example by 25 percent. Mecum also set records for the 2023 Ferrari 812 Competizione ($3,355,000), the 2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series ($1,815,000, up 93 percent on the old mark), the Ferrari 458 Speciale ($1,210,000), and the base 2006 Ford GT ($880,000).
The misses were loud. A 1994 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport Lightweight, the only Dauer-built example with an exposed carbon body, stalled at a $5.5 million high bid. The record-holding 1967 Corvette L88 went home again. So did a 2023 812 Competizione Aperta at a $3.4 million hammer that would have smashed the record had the seller taken it.
Broad Arrow: approximately $58 million, 72 percent sell-through
Broad Arrow's two-day Quail Lodge sale ran 189 lots and finished around $58 million on a 72 percent sell-through.
Top of the pile was a 2003 Ferrari Enzo in Nero over Rosso with Ferrari Classiche certification and single-family ownership at $10,675,000, the fourth highest Enzo sale of all time and about $1.3 million more than the comparable RM car. A 2025 Bugatti W16 Mistral hammered on low estimate for $8,805,000, second only to the Chiron Profilée among modern Bugattis.
Broad Arrow also delivered the week's most overdue record: a white 2011 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport at $3,305,000, finally beating a Veyron mark that had stood since 2008. Add records for the 2019 Ferrari 812 Superfast ($747,500) and a Toyota TRD 3000GT Supra at $582,500, the most expensive Supra ever, past the Fast and Furious hero car.
Bonhams: approximately $12 million, 79 percent sell-through
Bonhams moved its one-day sale from Quail Lodge to Laguna Seca this year, timed with the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, and posted roughly $12 million on a 78.6 percent sell-through.
A 2024 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport in Glacier paint took $4,570,000, the first seven-figure sale of the week, and a one-of-80 2000 Lamborghini Diablo GT set a model record at $2,425,000, 49 percent clear of the old mark. Ninety-one percent of Bonhams lots hammered below low estimate, but both seven-figure cars cleared reserve comfortably.
Records Broken, Abbreviated
Most expensive American car ever (Cobra Daytona). Most expensive British car ever (McLaren F1 GTR). Most expensive new car, EV and charity car ever (Ferrari Luce). Most expensive Corvette ever. Plus model or marque records for the Ferrari F50, 288 GTO, F40, 812 Competizione, 812 Superfast, 550 Barchetta, 458 Speciale and Superamerica; the Porsche 959 and Singer Turbo; the Lamborghini Diablo GT, Murciélago SV and Countach LP400 S; the Bugatti Veyron; the Mercedes SLS Black Series; the Aston Martin Valkyrie Spider; the Duesenberg Model JN; Delage; Packard; the Maserati Tipo 61; and the Toyota Supra.
Where the Market Cracked
Prewar took the hardest hit. On Thursday, only one of the first 17 prewar cars offered hammered above low estimate. A 1938 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Teardrop Coupe that set a marque record at $7,265,000 in 2022 drew a $6 million high bid on a reduced $7 to $8 million estimate and went unsold. A 1962 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato that made $14.3 million in 2015 failed at an $11,750,000 hammer. A 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster sold 54 percent below low estimate at $1,265,000.
The pattern held across the week. Once-in-a-generation cars with unimpeachable history drew ferocious bidding, and everything in the middle, good but not singular 1930s classics, tired competition cars, mid-tier postwar sports cars, sold soft or not at all.
And on Sunday
The 75th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance went to a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Special Speedster, one of two built, once owned by Clark Gable, shown by collector Harry Yeaggy. A fitting bookend to a week in which the Gable Duesenberg Model JN also brought more than $9 million across town.
Auction house totals are early figures reported during the sales and may be revised as post-sale transactions close. Week-level statistics via Hagerty.