Most expensive cars sold at auction

This is a list of the most expensive cars sold in auto auctions through the traditional bidding process, consisting of those that attracted headline grabbing publicity, mainly for the high price their new owners have paid. A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO serial number 3851GT sold at Bonham's Quail Auction on August 14, 2014 for US $34,650,000.00 ($38,115,000.00 including buyers premium), breaking the record previously held by a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R race car, sold for a record $31 million at an auction in England on July 12, 2013. While collectible cars have been sold privately for more, this is the highest price ever paid for a car at a public auction.

The 1904 Rolls-Royce 10 hp Two-Seater is currently listed on the Guinness World Records as the most expensive veteran car to be sold, at the price of US$7,254,290 ($8,278,809 in 2016), on a Bonhams auction held at Olympia in London on December 3, 2007.^[1]

This list only consists of those that have been sold for at least $4 million in auction sales during a traditional bidding process, inclusive of the mandatory buyers premium and does not include private, unsuccessful (failing to reach its reserve price, incomplete) and out of auction sales.

Common contributing factors

Common contributing factors affecting the value of auctioned automobiles include:

• Low production volumes^[2][3]
• Rarity^[2][3]
• Desirability^[2][3]
• Demand^[2][3]
• Aesthetic design, even of its time.^[4]
• Nostalgia, known as the generation effect; collectors in their prime earning years, being able to afford a seven figure car, are likely to buy cars that they are born to identify themselves with.^[3]
• Typically sport cars are generally more expensive than comparable engined saloons, therefore desirable, the same applies to roadsters over saloons but luxury cars, as for their higher price tag, are on a higher end of the scale.^[5]
• Condition, also complete documentation (such as evidence of its restoration) of the car is vital for its value.^[6] It is not unusual for these cars to have undergone restoration work in the past costing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.^[7]
• Winning a prestigious auto show helps the car's value, this was the case for some of the cars listed below have been cited to had taken overall^[8] or class wins^[9] at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.
• Originality, typically a car that had its original mechanical components, as it was when it left the factory, is more desirable to the one that doesn't.^[10] Original bodyshell retains the value better to one fitted with a new body but the chassis of the car is more considered by collectors.^[11]
• Cars equipped with automatic transmission are considered to be less desirable than its manual counterpart.^[12]
• Cars that have been freshly restored or hidden away for a number of years or decades makes the car desirable to a show winner or a famous car.^[3]
• Eligibility to vintage events is a factor to prices as collectors typically buy vintage race cars to enter historic events as are cars that can be designed to be driven on the street but are competitive on the track.^[3]
• The originality of the car is considered important in historic racing due to the Historic Technical Passports and FIA Heritage Certificates in force, meaning cars must retain mechanical systems that belonged to the car of the period to prevent unfair advantages.^[13]
• Cars with a strong motorsport history improve on the car's desirability, better if the car have won a prestigious race such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans,^[4] the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500.^[14] An example would be the Ferrari 330 TRI/LM Spider that was sold for $9,2 million in 2007, which was the 1962 winner of the 24 hours classic. Note that sportcar racers makes up the majority of competition cars on the main list.
• A car associated with a famous person adds value to its price.^[15] Examples are:
  • Elton John in 2001 auctioned his large collection, as a result of his fame, a majority of those sold twice its estimates.^[16]
  • In 2008, TV presenter and radio personality Chris Evans broke a twenty-one-year-old record, when he successfully placed a bid for a Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider that once belonged to James Coburn.^[17]
  • In 1973 a Mercedes-Benz 770 F-Cabriolet that stated to be the parade limousine of Adolf Hitler was sold for a then record of US$153,000 ($815,579 in 2016),^[18][19] surpassing the previous record held by a Duesenberg Model J Victoria that belonged to Greta Garbo at US$90,000 ($509,141 in 2016).^{[20][21][22][23]} Despite revealed to be the limousine of the President of Finland Carl Mannerheim, not Hitler, a week after the auction, the same Mercedes went on to surpass its own record months later despite this error.^[18]
  • On the other hand, a car belonging to a celebrity who is implicated in a credibility damaging scandal is likely to be worth less. An example of this is the Rolls-Royce Corniche belonging to British TV and radio personality, Jimmy Savile; in light of his sexual abuse scandal following his death, the car is speculated by the motoring trade to be worthless.^[24] However, the white 1993 Ford Bronco, that was involved in the chase between O. J. Simpson and LAPD, was sold for $75,000 in 2004, almost twice its original value, ten years after the incident.^[25]
• On the other hand, as above, a car that is associated with a famous otherwise factory-backed racing team, such as Scuderia Ferrari, which was the case on August 2011 when one of their factory Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa broke the new record, surpassing the record held by the same car two years before, which was a customer car.^[26]
• Auctions taking place during the annual Monterey Historics events every mid-August is expected to bring in record sales as it is considered to be the hotpoint for collectors and investors who prefer to make attendance there to awaiting the outcome.^[27]
• Auctions are not likely to command higher sale price in comparison to private sales.^[9]

World economy affecting car values

Aside those mentioned above, the world economy is the other main factor to its values as classic cars are being regarded as an alternative investment.^[16][28]

The market began in the 1970s when used Ferraris was exported to any Italian exotic car dealer in the United States who were willing to buy anything that came to them, then the 1973 oil crisis when prices of exotic cars plummeted rapidly, almost new and higher in the range models frequented in used car lots, a Lamborghini Miura could be bought for $15,000 at that time.^[29] A 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider that went on to sell for $4,950,000 in 2009 was offered for sale in the June 1964 issue of Road & Track for US$10,500 ($80,113 in 2016), in the April 1976 issue of Hemmings Motor News, the same car was offered at US$16,750 ($69,655 in 2016).^[30] After a period of ups and downs in the 1970s and early 1980s, interest rates eased, meaning exotics once frequent on bedroom walls became suddenly affordable.^[29]

During the 1980s boom, investors frequented auctions, causing prices to skyrocket. When cars were sold, they were frequently shifted to storage for investors intending to profit later. The high prices drove enthusiasts away from the market, and cars passed from investor to investor.^[16] The 1980s boom was followed by 1990s bust, and the values of classic cars plummeted^[31]

According to the November 1997 issue of Car Magazine, the Ferrari F40 was credited for sparking the price speculation craze.^[32]

During the height of the Japanese asset price bubble in the late 1980s, when the yen had strengthened from about 300 to the U.S. dollar in 1985 to about 150 by 1989, wealthy Japanese buyers began to buy classic cars for effectively half the previous cost in yen. One example of this in 1989, a Ferrari 250 GTO (3909GT) was privately sold to Takeo Kato for $13,837,500.^[29] When the bubble burst, it was sold to Talacrest, an Egham (in Surrey) based Ferrari dealer for $2.7m in 1994,^[33] eventually selling onto David Morrison, a London-based American for an estimated $3.5 million. It passed on in 2001 to John Mozart, via private sale in exchange of a Ferrari 250 TR, for an estimated $7,000,000.^[29]

Although prices have slightly dipped for general classic cars due to the recent recession,^[34] prices for high end collector cars have held their value or continued to rise.^[2] Since the 1990s recession, values of the most desirable cars have risen in value by 200% or more.^[31] The reason for this is unlike the late 1980s, buyers are enthusiasts with knowledge on the products they are interested in.^[35]

Between 2005 and 2010, the value of vintage cars have said to increased by 21 per cent, according to Dietrich Hatlapa of the HAGI Index (Historic Automobile Group International), vintage cars have offered annual returns of about 21 per cent over the past five years.^[34]

One challenge to owners of expensive cars is the risk of having them damaged in crashes. The most expensive car crash in motoring history appears to have been by Christopher Cox, who crashed while driving his Ferrari 250 GTO and destroyed its front end. The car itself was valued at around $30 million.^[36]

World records

• Source: Sports Car Market all list of cars sold for over $1 million

Annual records

• Source: Sports Car Market all list of cars sold for over $1 million

Absolute record

Notes

References

External links

• Historic Automobile Group International (HAGI)
• Top 100 Cars at Auction (including those unsold) (incomplete)

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