- Monterey 2026 finished at a record USD 758.3 million, against USD 432.8 million in 2025 and the previous record of USD 471.2 million set in 2022.
- Volume did not move. 844 of 1,124 lots sold for a 75% sell-through, flat against 76% last year. The money came from prices.
- A 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe took USD 42.9 million, the most expensive American car ever sold at auction.
- Modern supercars accounted for more than half of all sales, which is not what we expected going in.
The collector car market has just produced its largest week ever, and the headline number conceals the more interesting finding. Monterey Car Week 2026 closed at USD 758.3 million according to Hagerty, a 75% jump on last year and comfortably past the USD 471.2 million record set in 2022, having beaten the pre-auction forecast of USD 470 to 500 million by nearly half. But 844 of 1,124 lots sold, a 75% sell-through rate that is flat against last year. The same number of cars changed hands. They were simply much more expensive ones. Here is what actually happened and what it says about where this market is going.
The Records That Fell
Six categories set new public auction marks in a single week, which is unusual even for Monterey.
| Car | Result | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, CSX2300 | USD 42,900,000 | Most expensive American car |
| 2026 Ferrari Luce Tailor Made, chassis 0 | USD 40,000,000 | Most expensive new car, EV and charity lot |
| 1996 McLaren F1 GTR | USD 34,655,000 | Most expensive British car |
| 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport | USD 18,705,000 | Most expensive Corvette |
| 2023 Ferrari Daytona SP3 | USD 17,825,000 | Against a USD 10 to 12m estimate |
| 1935 Duesenberg Model JN, ex-Clark Gable | USD 9,080,000 | Third-highest Duesenberg ever |
Ferrari took seven of the top ten. RM Sotheby’s alone reached USD 380 million with a 90% sell-through and bidders from 39 countries, its highest-grossing Monterey in 29 years.
What We Got Wrong
Ahead of the week, we argued that historic competition cars would set records while modern hypercars softened, pointing to a 2024 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport estimated below the USD 3.75 million its owner paid new. That framing was half right and the wrong half was the important one.
Historic racers did set records: the Cobra Daytona Coupe, the Corvette Grand Sport, the McLaren F1 GTR. But according to Hagerty, modern supercars exceeded expectations and accounted for more than half of all sales. The Chiron Super Sport led the Bonhams sale at Laguna Seca rather than disappointing. A 2003 Ferrari Enzo took USD 12.1 million at Mecum and another USD 10.675 million at Broad Arrow.
The correct axis was never old against new. It is irreplaceable against everything else, and a low-mileage Enzo with Classiche certification turns out to sit firmly on the irreplaceable side.
The Cars That Did Not Sell Well
This is where the divergence becomes legible, and it is the part the record total buries.
- A 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, wrecked in period, without its original engine and without headline race history, brought USD 8,090,000, below the model’s fair-condition value in the Hagerty Price Guide.
- A concours-winning Bentley R-Type Continental managed USD 1,215,000 in a segment that has been sliding for two quarters.
- At Bonhams, the first twelve lots were offered without reserve and sold for a median hammer 47% below low estimates.
- A restored 1963 Jaguar E-type Series 1 at Broad Arrow sold 28% below estimate at USD 140,000.
- Mecum posted the lowest sell-through of the week at 56%, despite 23 cars over a million dollars.
A 250 GT SWB is a legendary model. This particular car had been damaged, re-engined and lacked competition provenance, and the market priced those three facts precisely. Marque prestige did not rescue it.
The Cross-Sale Comparison Worth Studying
Two Ferrari Enzos crossed the block hours apart, which produced an unusually clean read on what documentation is worth.
Broad Arrow sold a Nero D.S. over Rosso example with Ferrari Classiche certification completed in 2026 and single-family ownership since delivery, for USD 10,675,000. Later the same day, RM Sotheby’s sold a Rosso Corsa car showing 9,834 miles for USD 9,410,000.
A difference of USD 1,265,000, or 13.4%, between two examples of the same model on the same day. Certification, unusual specification and unbroken ownership history account for the gap. That is the clearest available answer to what provenance is actually worth in this market, and it is why the diagnostic in our guide to what to watch at Monterey centred on documentation rather than on badge.
What Drove the Volume of Money
Supply, not sentiment. For the first time in Monterey history, the combined low estimate across all five sales cleared USD 600 million before a single lot crossed the block. There were 24% more lots estimated above a million dollars, at 180, and 71% more above five million, at 29.
Consignors who had held back through 2023 and 2024 brought their best cars to market simultaneously. That is the same mechanism now visible across the wider collectibles market, where the art auction rebound was driven substantially by estate collections returning rather than by broader demand, as we set out in the art market’s masterworks recovery.
Bottom Line
Monterey 2026 closed at USD 758.3 million, a 75% increase on 2025 and USD 287 million past the previous record, with six categories of public auction record broken in five days. Volume was flat, sell-through was flat, and the money came from an unusually deep bench of seven and eight-figure consignments. The market is sorting itself with an increasingly stark spread between the irreplaceable and everything else, and the honest correction to our own preview is that the dividing line runs through provenance rather than through age. A low-mileage certified Enzo is on the right side of it. A damaged, re-engined 250 GT SWB is not, whatever the badge says. The wider collectibles picture sits in how watches became the auction houses’ gateway.
FAQ
What was the total for Monterey Car Week 2026?
Hagerty recorded USD 758.3 million, against USD 432.8 million in 2025 and a previous record of USD 471.2 million set in 2022. Excluding the USD 40 million Ferrari Luce charity lot, the figure was USD 718.3 million, which still constitutes a record by a wide margin.
What was the most expensive car sold?
A 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, chassis CSX2300, at USD 42,900,000 through Gooding Christie’s at Pebble Beach, making it the most expensive American car ever sold at public auction. The 2026 Ferrari Luce reached USD 40 million but was a charity consignment and is generally excluded from market comparisons.
Did the whole market go up?
No, and the sell-through rate makes that clear. At 75%, conversion was flat against last year, meaning the same proportion of cars found buyers. Several segments underperformed, including a damaged 250 GT SWB that sold below Hagerty Price Guide value and a concours Bentley R-Type Continental in a category that has been declining for two quarters.
Are modern supercars now better investments than classics?
The 2026 results show modern supercars accounting for more than half of all sales, which is a genuine shift in where money is going. The more durable distinction is not age but replaceability: cars with documented provenance, exceptional specification and certification performed strongly regardless of era, while ordinary examples of celebrated models did not.
