More than $1 billion changes hands across Monterey Car Week auctions
The Monterey Car Week auctions have broken records, with eye-watering sums for some very prestigious vehicles.
The 2026 Monterey Car Week is over, and while much of the focus was on new-vehicle reveals, the event also hosts multiple high-end auctions, which this year broke records.
Figures compiled by US automotive insurance giant Hagerty show a total of 853 vehicles were sold at official, Monterey Car Week-sanctioned auctions, run by five of the nation’s biggest firms – RM Sotheby’s, Gooding Christie’s, Mecum, Broad Arrow, and Bonham’s.
According to the company, the cumulative total of the 853 auctions was US$755.6 million (A$1.07 billion), representing a huge increase on the 2025 figures of US$432.8 million (A$611.8 million).
The total could have been higher, as 271 of the 1124 lots reportedly didn’t sell, though the 76 per cent sell-through rate matched the 2025 results.
Hagerty calculated the average sale price at the 2026 Monterey Car Week auctions was US$885,765 (A$1.25 million), again a jump over 2025 where the average price was US$529,034 (A$747,780).
The most expensive car to go under the hammer was a 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe – the only example to have been personally owned by Carroll Shelby – which was estimated to sell for more than US$25 million (A$35.3 million) but ended up being sold for US$42.905 million (A$6.065 million).
In doing so, it became the most expensive American car to ever be sold at auction.
For context, the most expensive Australian car sold at an auction was a HSV GTSR W1 Maloo painted in XU3 Yellah, which last year went for A$1.2 million (US$848,965).
Just behind it in the sale price rankings was the first example of the Ferrari Luce, the brand’s first EV, designed by former iPhone designer Jony Ive’s agency LoveFrom.
At a charity auction, Luce Chassis 0 was sold for US$40 million (A$56.5 million), giving it the honour of being the world’s most expensive new car, with all proceeds going to The Ferrari Foundation.
On the last step of the podium was the 1996 McLaren F1 GTR (chassis 10R) which was formerly owned by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason until 2024, going for a hammer price of US$34.655 million (A$48.984 million), a new record for the F1 nameplate at auction.
In total, the top 10 most-expensive cars at the auctions sold for a combined US$223.1 million (A$315.35 million), making it the richest week in car auction history.
