After months of build-up and excitement, it feels like the Monterey Car Week is over all too quickly. Aside from the world class events – and that amazing preservation-class win at Pebble Beach win – all eyes were on this year’s Monterey auctions.
Among the most discussed topics were the potential effects of recent stock market troubles, not to mention changing demographics in the post-Covid pandemic world. Not only is the health of the market always under general scrutiny here, but in more recent years there’s also been general feel that aside from the most headline cars offered, there are too many cars – not all of them of great quality – and too many sales.
Not every year can be a blockbuster, although 2024 has been far from catastrophic results have proven largely flat across the board. Hagerty reports that across all auctions, sales topped $391.6, which is down 2.9% from 2023. A deeper dive into the figures found that the average sale price was almost identical – $477k down a smidge from $477.9k in 2023. Perhaps more telling is the 52% sell-through rate of cars worth upwards of $1m, down from the 63% figure last year.
We’ve rounded up the post-sale results from all five of the major Monterey auctions, and Octane Editorial Director David Lillywhite who was on the ground at Monterey this year has given us some thoughts and feelings from each one.
Gooding & Company
After a few post-sale deals, Gooding & Company reported total sales of $108m – with 151 lots sold for a sell-through rate of 82%. Top seller was the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider, which recently recovered after being stolen from outside a hotel two years ago. The car achieved achieved $14,030,000.
As we saw elsewhere, some of the big-hitting 1950s cars struggled to gain traction, with cars such as the 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, 1955 Ferrari 250 GT Competition Berlinetta. Perhaps the biggest miss was a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, which against it $15-17m estimate struggled to attract bids above $13m.
Gooding reports three world record prices. A 1995 Ferrari 333 SP Evoluzione sold for $5,120,000 and a 2001 Ferrari 550 GTZ Barchetta made $841,000 – both benchmark prices for the models. With a 1910 Stearns 30/60 Five-Passenger Touring selling for $1,600,000, this world record price for for the marque proved that there is still some love for the more unusual pre-war marques out there.
David Lillywhite comments: ‘As ever, Gooding’s line-up as the official Pebble Beach auction house was stunning, and the atmosphere in the room was great, none more so than when the Alfa Romeo 8C sold. Even so there were a number of misses on the big hitters. The combination of David Gooding and Charlie Ross on the rostrom is surely the best of all the sales though, with Broad Arrow’s Lydia Fenet the next most characterful.’
RM Sotheby’s
RM Sotheby’s reported $161.2 million in total sales when all was said and done, with a final sale rate figure of 87.25%. As expected the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider led proceedings with a headline figure of $17,055,000 – bang in the middle of its $16-18m estimate. A second California Spider, an open-headlight LWB, sold for $5,615,000.
The 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider by Scaglietti was another strong-seller at $12,985,000, but its big brother 1957 Ferrari 625 TRC Spider failed to sell. The 1964 Shelby 289 Cobra ‘Snake Charmer’ sold, albeit for a slightly less exceptional $2,287,500 figure than was expected by many.
There were plenty of exceptional results though, including a new auction record set for the sale of a US-spec 1995 Ferrari F50 at $5,505,000. Another record fell when the 1935 Auburn 851 Supercharged Speedster fetched $1,270,000.
After the slightly subdued $5.4m sale of Steve McQueen’s Ferrari 275 GTB/4 in the 2023 Monterey auctions (it had previously sold for $10m in 2014), RM sold the King of Cool’s 1972 Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 in 2024. Bought new and driven by him until his death in 1980, it made $148,400 – a bargain for someone, or further evidence that the McQueen effect is waining?
David comments: ‘For class and pure theatre, it’s hard to top RM Sotheby’s at the Monterey Conference Center, though this year’s outdoor display was a long way off last year’s amazing Ferrari ‘junkyard’. Still, the cars inside are beautifully lit and the huge screen behind the stage really adds to the atmosphere. There were some disappointing results and no sells, mixed in with surprising sales that went way over estimate – you should have heard the cheers when the Lamborghini LM002 hit $635,000, almost double its estimate.’
Broad Arrow
Broad Arrow’s two day auction totalled $71.5m, with a final sale rate of 85% (like the others this is calculated after the post-sale deals have concluded). The eye-catching 1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Rennversion was the centre of attention, and it topped the sale with a final price of $7,045,000. Continuing the Porsche theme was a very special 1998 RUF CTR 2 – coming from its original owner – which set a new auction record for the manufacturer, making $2,095,000. The marque proved popular with another 1998 RUF Turbo R Limited fetching $1,710,000.
A 1972 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV, one of the headline stars, sold below low estimate at $2,700,000, and notable non-sellers included a 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 RS and 2003 Ferrari Enzo, both struggling to match expectations. A 1957 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing in a non-original colour looked like a great buy at $995,000.
David comments: ‘This year the first day of the sale took place during the already vibrant (or just plain noisy to some) Motorlux event at the Monterey Jet Center, with a turntable on the ramp and huge black curtains across the hangar door – so the curtains would swish open then close again as the car drove in. The car would then be turned 180 degrees on the turntable, and be driven back out as the curtains opened and closed again. It made for great theatre. The atmosphere was exciting and the sale felt strong – but on the second day, without the added atmosphere of Motorlux in progress, it fell a little flat, as did the sales. More pizzazz on the presentation of the cars outside the sales room would have helped too.’
Bonhams
David’s comments sum up the disappointment felt at Bonhams’ sale this year’s. In contrast to last year’s $55million sale – in which Bonhams sold the $30m 1967 Ferrari 412P, most expensive car of the whole 2023 Monterey car week – this year’s $11.3m sale felt somewhat flat. The top seller was a late-entry 2022 Ferrari 812 Competizione at $1,611,000, hovering close to its low estimate.
There were a few great results within that total figure though, including the sale of late-rock star Tom Petty’s 1965 Ford Mustang convertible. It eclipsed the $25-35k estimate with a final price of $224,000. Having said that, star power was not enough to sell the Risky Business Porsche 928, which failed to sell. The large collection of muscle cars offered at No Reserve helped to boost Bonhams’ figures too.
David comments: ‘Run alongside The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering (though actually a couple of minutes shuttle bus ride away), poor old Bonhams continued its run of unfortunate sales. The line-up was mostly weak, though we loved the Porsches – especially the 914/6 and the Risky Business 928. A large proportion of the field was made up of American muscle cars, most from a single collection consignment. They felt out of place at Bonhams but, being no reserve, all sold, which improved Bonhams’ sale rate no end.’
Mecum
With a 1969 Ford GT40 Lightweight leading the way at $7,865,000 Mecum’s auction, the Midwestern auction house sold a total of $54million, with 11 vehicles topping the $1m mark. Another headline figure was the 1969 Dodge Hemi Daytona that made $3.36million, the highest figure achieved for the model at auction.
Mecum also used the opportunity to unveil the 1970 Porsche 917K (917-022), the Steve McQueen hero car from Le Mans, which the auction house will offer in Kissimmee next year.
David comments: ‘The Mecum sale is still overlooked by many of the concours-goers but still racks up huge attendance numbers. No longer is Mecum only about muscle cars – there’s a hit of everything there! Look at the sale rate and you’d think Mecum was in trouble but this is how they do things, sticking to reserve prices and pushing sales through quickly for maximum buying opportunities, all in the baffling but exciting ‘county’ auction style.’
Top 10 most expensive Monterey auction prices
| 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider | RM Sotheby’s | $17,055,000 |
| 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider | Gooding & Company | $14,030,000 |
| 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider | RM Sotheby’s | $12,985,000 |
| 1969 Ford GT40 Lightweight | Mecum | $7,865,000 |
| 1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Rennversion | Broad Arrow | $7,045,000 |
| 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider | RM Sotheby’s | $5,615,000 |
| 1995 Ferrari F50 | RM Sotheby’s | $5,505,000 |
| 1955 Ferrari 857 Sport Spider | Gooding & Company | $5,350,000 |
| 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Alloy Coupe | RM Sotheby’s | $5,285,000 |
| 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta | Gooding & Company | $5,200,000 |
In summary
Final thoughts from David Lillywhite: ‘Overall the sales felt a bit flat, with top end ’50s sports cars (Ferrari and Porsche) really struggling. Election years have a history of being bad at the auctions in the US but there’s also a feeling that there are too many sales – with heavy traffic between venues and so many events to attend as well, it’s not easy to get around. Throw in a fear that there are a lot of big collectors in their 80s now, which could lead to a lot of older collector cars coming onto the market soon – and you have a likely explanation for the problems selling pre-war and 1950s in particular.’
