This year’s Monterey Car Week auctions saw mixed results, with some disappointing numbers and unmet reserves contrasted with fervent bidding wars and record prices. These sales always bring out the cream of the crop in car-dom, though, and they always see huge prices no matter what the market is doing. As is often the case at Monterey, this year’s top 10 is dominated by Ferrari, but Porsches, an Alfa, and a Ford grabbed spots as well. Here they are, below.
1976 Porsche 935 Coupe
Sold for £3,339,500
The Porsche 935 won more than 100 races in its day, including really big ones like Le Mans, Sebring, and Daytona. Its famous slanted nose, or flachbau, was also popular enough that it made its way to 911 road cars as an option. Gooding & Company’s auction offered the very first 935 built (chassis 935-001), which not only served as a testing and development car but also won a race at Watkins Glen and finished on the podium at Dijon in 1976. It was also represented as the only works Martini Racing 935 in private ownership.
Porsche 935s don’t come to auction often. This one’s history and restoration helped it, and it slots in behind the ex-Paul Newman, 1981 Daytona-winning car that sold for £3.75M back in 2016.
1995 Ferrari 333 SP Evoluzione
Sold for £3,981,000
Until Ferrari’s triumphant return to Le Mans last year with the 499P, the last time the company tackled the top tier of international sports car racing was with the 333 SP in the 1990s. Developed in collaboration with Dallara (who built this example), the 333 SP borrowed heavily from Ferrari’s F1 programme and became the car to beat in the IMSA GT and European ISRS series. This one raced with the Scandia Motorsport team for the 1995 season. It retired at Daytona and started on pole to finish fourth at Sebring. It also won overall at the Halifax 3 Hours and finished second at Atlanta, Mosport, and Texas World Speedway. It notched top 10 finishes at Lime Rock, Sears Point, and New Orleans. In 1996, it started on pole at Le Mans but retired after 208 laps. More decent results followed in 1997, including sixth overall and second in class at Le Mans, the best overall finish for a 333 SP at the famous French race. Just 40 333 SPs were completed by Ferrari, Dallara, and Michelotto, so auction appearances are rare. One came to Pebble Beach two years ago but failed to meet reserve, and the last 333 SP to actually sell at auction was one that sold for £1.34M back in 2015.
1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Alloy Coupe
Sold for £4,109,300
Campaigned by Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART), this car started out as a road car with power windows and a radio, finished in Avorio (Ivory) over Rosso (red) leather. It did have alloy bodywork, though, making it one of 16 alloy-bodied cars. Its first owner, bought through Luigi Chinetti Motors in New York, was the appropriately named Jan de Vroom. He quickly traded it back to Chinetti, who converted it for racing. In it, Sam Posey and Ricardo Rodriguez-Cavazos won their class at the 24 Hours of Daytona. By 1970, it passed to another owner, Dr. Ron Finger, and has since been restored to its Daytona configuration.
1995 Ferrari F50
Sold for £4,280,360
The F50 has always been expensive (£320K when new) and rare (349 built). But it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and hasn’t always enjoyed the same rabid following as other Ferrari halo cars like the F40 and 288 GTO. Ten years ago, even the best F50 in the world wasn’t worth £1.5M. Since about 2021, though, things have shifted in this car’s favour and values have rocketed up. That trend appears to be continuing, because even in a week of underwhelming results for high-dollar Ferraris, an 8600-mile, US-spec car brought this record price.
1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider
Sold for £4,365,900
There were three Ferrari 250 GT California Spiders on offer this year, which is probably the most you’ll see for sale anywhere. This one is a less desirable long-wheelbase (LWB) with open headlights, but any Cal Spider is a big deal. It was used in a 1967 Italian movie called Le Dolci Signore and owned by Swiss racing driver Jo Siffert. It also sold in Monterey 20 years ago, for £577K. Wearing a visibly older restoration, it sold last week for a price that was under its condition #4 (fair) value in the Hagerty Price Guide.
1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Rennversion
Sold for £5,477,775
Under the eye-catching colours of the Rohr Racing team, this 911 GT1 notched four victories and took the 1997 IMSA GTS-1 class championship. One of nine cars constructed for customer teams, it’s the first 911 GT1 offered at auction since back in 2017, so this was a highly anticipated car. Bidding took a while for it, though, and in the end the £6.6M–£8.2M presale estimate proved a tad ambitious.
1969 Ford GT40 Lightweight
Sold for £6,115,350
A race winner that retains its original body, chassis, engine, and transaxle, the GT40 Lightweight that sold in Monterey this year is a special car, even if its on-track glory was at events in Africa rather than in the big leagues at Le Mans or Daytona. Its final price makes it the third most expensive GT40 ever sold at auction, exceeded only by the Mk II GT40 that took third at Le Mans in 1966 and the Gulf/Mirage used in the filming of the 1971 movie Le Mans.
1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider
Sold for £10,096,365
One-off spider coachwork by Scaglietti, its original engine, and a win at the 1956 Palm Springs Road Races with Carroll Shelby at the wheel – all add up to give this Ferrari a solid resume. It started off as a factory development car before selling to construction tycoon and race team owner Tony Parravano, who commissioned this special body. When Parravano fled the US to escape the tax man, the Ferrari went with him, and it had a renewed racing career south of the border. Its history and looks were more than enough to push it to an eight-figure price, though the presale estimate of “in excess of $15,000,000” proved a few mil high.
1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider
Sold for £10,908,900
Built during what was arguably Alfa Romeo’s golden age, the 8C 2900 has a glorious 2.9-litre straight-eight with dual overhead camshafts, hemispherical combustion chambers, and twin superchargers for anywhere from 180 to 225bhp. These cars often wore equally glorious bodywork, too. This car is one of just five Lungo (“long”) Spiders by Carrozzeria Touring known to exist. Its early history places it in Egypt, but it made news more recently in 2022 when someone stole the truck and trailer transporting it to a restoration facility. It was recovered last year. Though it was likely insured for much more than the price paid here, it was still the second most expensive sale of Monterey Car Week.
1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider
Sold for £13,260,955
A desirable short wheelbase (SWB) version of the California Spider with a competition-spec engine, factory hardtop, and covered headlights, this was also the very first 250 GT SWB California Spider built, and the one that Ferrari showed off at the 1960 Geneva motor show. It had also never been offered publicly for sale before Monterey ’24.
Another SWB Cal Spider failed to sell at a £10.5M high bid, leaving this as the most expensive car in a week of expensive cars. Even so, it is only the seventh-most expensive Cal Spider ever and the 20th most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction.
