Monterey Car Week 2018 auctions see A$500m in sales

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 27.08.2018

Half a billion dollars in just three days of auctions!

Monterey Car Week sees the world’s most prestigious classic car auctions take place, in a three-day bonanza of class, cars and obscene amounts of money.

It’s where the many of the world’s top-collectors go shopping, and 2018 did not disappoint.

1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series II Spider - Sold for A$6.8 million via Gooding & Co

Across six different auction houses – 1376 lots went under the hammer, with 841 successful sales contributing to an ultimate sell-through rate of 61%.

The grand total? USD$367.5 million dollars.

| READ MORE: 1966 LE MANS FORD GT40 HEADLINES RM SOTHEBY’S MONTEREY AUCTION

That’s… are you sitting down? … AUD$500 million dollars. In just three days.

Half a billion Down Under dollars, exceeding 2017s auction total of AUD$446.3 million.

That ultimate figure could still increase too, as there are still a few cars undergoing negotiations.

The big headline of the week was a record setting sale of A$66 million for a Series II Ferrari 250 GTO. Again, cementing the 250 GTO as the most expensive car ever sold at auction.

Similarly, records were set for the highest price ever paid for an American car, as well as the highest price paid for any pre-war car, with auction house Gooding & Co successfully selling a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Roadster for a healthy A$30 million.

Auction results indicate that the top-end of classic collecting is only strengthening as many buyers further curate their existing collections with historically significant cars, with a high demand and tangible premium attached to examples bearing historical and motorsport provenance.

Read on for the top ten sales from all participating auction houses:

1. 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO - A$66 million (RM Sotheby’s)
2. 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Roadster – A$30 million (Gooding & Co)
3. 1963 Aston Martin DP215 Competition Prototype – A$29 million (RM Sotheby’s)
4. 1966 Ford GT40 MkII - A$13 million (RM Sotheby’s)
5. 1958 Ferrari 250 GT TDF Coupe – A$9 million (Gooding & Co)
6. 1955 Maserati A6GCS/53 Spider – A$7 million (Gooding & Co)
7. 1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial SII Spider – A$6.8 million (Gooding & Co)
8. 1957 Porsche 550A Spyder – A$6.6 million (RM Sotheby’s)
9. 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR – A$6.1 million (RM Sotheby’s)
10. 1956 Maserati A6G/2000 Zagato Berlinetta – A$6.1 million (RM Sotheby’s)

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