Monterey Auction Week 2025: Many Ferraris in the Top 10

At the auctions during Monterey Car Week on California's coast, major auction houses sold cars valued at $411.2 million (€351.27 million). The most expensive car was a Ferrari Daytona SP3 in a charity auction, and the oldest among the top 10 auctioned cars was a Mercedes-Benz 500K with a Sindelfingen body.

Among the many Ferraris in the top 10, the pre-war Mercedes and a 2020 Bugatti Divo are the only exceptions. The Divo and various Ferrari hypercars, from the F40 to the LaFerrari, represent a trend toward younger collector cars: "World records, led by modern supercars, were the focus of the Monterey auctions," Hagerty writes about the weekend's auctions. Frank Wilke, head of market observer Classic-Analytics, confirms Hagerty's analysis: "Current supercars from Bugatti, Koenigsegg, and Ferrari have replaced decades-old classics like the Alfa Romeo 8C, the Kompressor Bentley, or the Bugatti T34 in terms of both buyer appeal and market value."

A Bugatti Divo, just five years old, fetched $8.56 million (€7.27 million) at Bonhams. The hypercar, from a limited edition of 40 units, is thus more expensive than new – even though, with two previous owners and just under 1,300 km on the odometer, it's no longer a new car.

Five of the ten most expensive cars auctioned are from the 1990s or later. A 1993 Ferrari F40 LM GTC Coupé fetched $11 million (€9.35 million) at RM Sotheby's.

This year's top 10 includes a striking number of Ferrari supercars: a 1995 F50 fetched $9.25 million (€7.86 million) at RM Sotheby's, while a 2017 LaFerrari Aperta Spider fetched $6.72 million (€5.71 million), also at RM Sotheby's.

But classics were also very popular: The oldest car in this year's auction top 10 is a Mercedes-Benz 500 K Sindelfingen Special Roadster, built in 1935, which RM Sotheby's auctioned for 5.34 million US dollars (4.54 million euros).

A 2025 Ferrari Daytona SP3 tops the list of the 10 most expensive auction cars at Monterey Car Week. But this "Tailor Made" Ferrari was a charity lot auctioned by RM Sotheby's for a good cause, fetching $26 million.

The most expensive car sold at a regular auction was a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Competizione Spider: the open-top 12-cylinder sports car with aluminum body fetched 25.305 million US dollars, the equivalent of 21.51 million euros, including the premium.

In total, auction houses sold 2025 cars valued at $411.2 million (€351.27 million) during Monterey Car Week. Of the 1,076 lots offered, 803 found buyers, representing a 75 percent sale rate.

According to Wilke, the Monterey auctions "have confirmed their status as the most important international hub for high-quality classic and collector vehicles. While the classic car market in general remains quiet, Auction Week was able to increase not only the total sales volume, but also the sales rate and the average price compared to the previous year."

More vehicles were on offer last year: Of 1,143 lots, 821 found new owners. This represents a higher number of sales. The sales rate, at 72 percent, was slightly lower in 2024 than in 2025. The total value of the cars sold was also slightly lower: In 2024, it was $391.6 million.