The Collector Car Podcast Sep 4, 2025

383: Monterey Auction Madness: RM Sotheby's Leads the Charge

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RM Sotheby's is the world's largest collector car auction house by total sales.

They are the preeminent market maker of high-quality collector cars and collections, regardless

of size or complexity.

By working in partnership with the Sotheby's team and its network of 80 offices in 40 countries,

RM Sotheby's has established the largest client network of any collector car auction

house in the world.

Join the RM Sotheby's family by connecting with one of their car specialists at RMSotheby's.com

or contact me directly at gstanley at RMSotheby's.com

I just sent it out this morning, so if you are subscribed to my newsletter, all of this

information is in your inbox as we speak.

Now when it comes to Monterey, when the auction houses do well, that means the collector car

world is healthy.

So for this review, I sourced a lot of information mostly from HammerPrice, but I've also crossed

reference with Glen March, the auction house press releases, a lot of different places,

and then I put it all into this podcast episode.

Now I will cover a little bit of everything from top sales, record sales, Ferrari, Porsche,

some of the stuff from the 50s, muscle cars, there's a lot of cool stuff happening in Monterey.

So stay tuned if you want to hear one aspect of the market, just continue to listen in

because I will probably cover it.

Now I have to give you a heads up on a couple things ahead of time.

First off, when a car goes to auction, it's up to the car specialist in the auction

house to come up with an estimate range in which they think that car will sell.

So a low to a high estimate range, ideally in my world, I like to try to get it just right

so that it sells a mid estimate when that car crosses the block and then Hammer is sold.

Now there are some strategies, sometimes you'll hear of some car specialist putting out a lower

estimate to get buyers very excited about a car.

Other times you hear about clients that insist on a high estimate, which honestly

just scares people away from actually bidding on the car because they feel like it's unreachable.

So there's a little bit of magic going to creating estimates.

So just because a car did not hit the low estimate does not necessarily mean that it was well

bought or poorly sold.

So just a word of caution there.

Also for these results, Meekum does not release estimates for some reason for Monterey.

So I have their results only as it relates to total sales and sell-through rates.

So I wasn't able to do how they did against a low estimate because they did not provide

a low estimate, which I kind of wish they did.

It would have made for a little bit more information, multiple data points that I could have drawn

my results from.

Now also the timing of the data.

So this data was pulled right after Monterey and it's when the auction houses were still

actively trying to sell cars that may not have sold over the auction block, but

the car specialists were working hard after the fact to get them sold.

So one example I'll call out is I know Broad Arrow sold two of their top 10 most

valuable cars after the auction, which impacted their sales by $6 million.

So that is not reflected in these results just because of the timing in which I pulled the

information.

Now as you all know, I'm sure R&S Sotheby's had a huge sale with a Ferrari SP3 that hammered

for $26 million, world record price.

Because it was a charity auction car, that is not included in the results outside

of total sales.

So Gooding's Christie's is a little bit different because there was a ballpark

low estimate of around $23 million for their big cow spider that sold for just over $25

million.

So that one was recorded in these results.

All right.

So what are my headlines from this sale?

I would have to say records were shattered, but at the same time, expectations were

reset.

So what do I mean by that?

Well, there's a seismic generational shift underway within the collector car

marketplace.

A lot of things happened in Monterey.

You can see this come to fruition.

So one example I'll give you is that while there was almost 72% sell-through rate of all

cars across all auction houses, about 60% of the hammer prices, excluding the buyer's

premium, landed below the low estimate.

So what does this tell us?

This tells me that sellers are becoming more realistic about today's market and allowing

their cars to trade at true market value, meaning that when the estimates were created

by the car specialist, there's a little bit of give and take there where maybe

the consigner wanted a higher estimate and they realized in Monterey at that time when

their cars on the world stage, you know what?

This is all the money for this car.

I'm going to let it go, even though maybe it didn't reach the low estimate.

So that happened in 59.6% of the cars that sold in Monterey.

So sellers are getting more realistic in what their cars are worth.

Now the flip side of this is that there were a lot of records.

From Sotheby's recorded 14 new records, everything from a Yanco Super Sport Camaro that blew past

the previous record by over $200,000 to a Ferrari 512TR, again 200 grand above the previous record.

One of the big ones was the Ferrari F50, which almost hit $10 million, which was really amazing

to see, as well as the F40 LM, which netted out around $11 million.

I think that doubled in price since the last time one was sold publicly.

That arrow had eight new records, including a 2005 Maserati MC12 Stradale.

That one's really interesting just because it's based on an Enzo.

I would call it more attractive limited production.

I believe they made 50 of those, but it's honestly being held back by the Maserati name,

which isn't as lucrative or as well-known or as honored as much as Ferrari is.

If that was a one of 50 Ferraris, it would be even higher.

A lot of their cars were more modern stuff like the KonaSeg, CCXR, BMW M1 Pro car, Dodge

Vipers and Hennessey Venom GT, and then Gooding Christie's had the record for a 250 GT short

wheelbase Cal Spyder, a limited body for around $25 million, as well as a Daytona Compantissa

Gione Series 3 for $8 million, and then Bottoms had a couple supercars that really

rang the bell, including a Bugatti Devo at $8.6 million.

I did not show any records announced for MECOM, so typically Monterey is not one of their

big sales.

You have to go to Kissimmee or to Indianapolis to get their bigger results.

As far as sell-through rates, it was led by R&M, Sotheby's and Bottoms.

I showed, based on my information, Bottoms had 100% sell-through rate, while they

publicly say 96%, so I can't quite figure out where that 4% went.

They did have 6 or 7 cars that were withdrawn, so if they were withdrawn, they were taken

out of my results, but that might be the reason for the difference, and then R&M, Sotheby's

had 84.8%.

I think their final tally was around 87%, so that tells you that a couple cars

got sold post auction.

And then what was interesting is both R&M, Sotheby's and Bottoms were the most successful

at selling cars under the low estimate, meaning they didn't have as many as the other auction

houses.

R&M, Sotheby's was at 43.8%, while Bottoms was at 48.3%.

So when we look at the records, what really jumped out at me?

It was the fact that 77% of the total record sales were cars that were built after 1980.

That's not subtle, that's a huge trend that's talking about the generational shift that's

happening right now.

Cars that once lived on the bedroom posters or in Gran Turismo garages are now the ones

commanding record bids under the auction lights.

This could be a Ferrari from the 90s, Porsches from the 2000s, Hypercars that are basically

brand new.

These are the cars that are breaking records and the collectors are chasing right now.

This makes sense because as new generations step into the market, they're bringing

their own nostalgia with them.

So this is the same way the baby boomers went through prices sky-high on 60's muscle cars

and pre-war classics, Gen X and Millennials are now doing the same with the cars that

define their childhoods.

So I've often been quoted as saying that anyone who was pining after a 1957 Thunderbird

is probably liquidating that car right now.

It's just facts of life, generations change, as you get older you start liquidating

your collections and so that's what's going on right now.

Now when I look at these auction results I also like to look at million dollar results.

So let's see who had the best results when it came to selling cars that were worth over

one million dollars.

Now RM Sotheby's led the field delivering 37 million dollar lots with an 82.2% sell-through

rate which that is really really impressive but what was even more impressive is that

over 13% of these lots sold above their high estimates.

So that's really a strong sign of bitter competition in seller success.

Now Gooding Christie's followed in second with 21 million dollar cars sold at 61.8% sales

rate and then 4.8% just under 5% of those managed to exceed their high estimate.

So sellers of 7 figure cars aren't just looking for a sale, they're looking for the best

possible outcome.

So if you're a consigner the message is clear the choice of auction houses matter

to get that car sold.

Alright something else that really popped in Monterey was the strength of JDM cars, Asian

cars, Japanese domestic market cars or Asian cars that were made for the US market.

So there are only 24 examples crossing the block but 22 of those found new homes in

Monterey.

Now some of the standouts, the one that really stood out in particular was the

1996 Nissan Skyline GTR NISMO 400R this was offered by RM Sotheby's one of just

44 ever built and it hammered for just under $1 million which is approximately mid estimate.

This was quite a car, a lot of next gen collectors were walking around this buzzing around it

all week.

They were truly excited to see such a rare car come on offer kind of like a once in

a lifetime chance to own one of these.

Now what might be a takeaway if you're a collector looking to get into the Asian

market.

Now rare homologation specials such as the 400R Super Turbo NSX Type R they continue

to gain traction.

Now JDM and Asian exotics are punching far above their weight relative to supply.

Now the time is ripe to consider bringing rare Skyline Supras or RX-7s to market while

demand is surging.

Like I said 24 cars were offered 22 sold.

Now how about an update on Porsches for Monterey.

Now what has surprised me is that for the past few years much of the

collector car marketplace has been in a bumpy place except for Porsches.

Time and again the market has defined broader trends holding its ground harder stronger and

longer than I ever thought it would.

Now Monterey was no different.

Now while the results weren't shocking or record shattering they were telling.

Porsches continued to perform with the same consistency they show on the auction block

as they do on the track.

Now with the exception of Meekum's 52.5% sell-through rate every other collector

auction house posted stronger results with their sell-through ranging from 74.1%

to a perfect 100%.

Once again ARM's Sotheby's and Gooding Christie's led to charge pushing beyond Haye

estimates 14.3% for Sotheby's and 10.5% for Gooding.

Now what does this tell us?

Porsche continues to represent stability in a shifting market.

Buyers know what they are getting engineering excellence racing pedigree and consistent

value retention.

Whether it's a rare air-cooled special, a modern halo car like the Carrera GT

or even a roof-badged legend the Porsche name continues to inspire confidence and strong

bidding.

What's my advice to collectors?

Modern halo cars, 918 Spyderic, Carrera GT and Ultra Rare variants think RS 4.0 GT2

roofs show continued strength.

There are stable performers.

Late air-cooled and early water-cooled icons remain consistent with a few surprises

such as a GT2 or GT3.

And there are opportunities.

Porsche remains one of the most reliable categories for both buyers and sellers offering liquidity

and confidence in a shifting market.

Now of course if we're talking Porsche's we need to move on to Ferrari's.

This one is a very interesting one.

As always they headline every year at Monterey.

You don't need to look far to see that they had a standout year.

The record prices I mentioned before speak for themselves but the proof is even clearer

in the top 10 sales of the entire week where 8 of the cars wore the prancing horse badge.

Number one as I mentioned was the $26 million Ferrari Daytona SP3 coupe right after that

was Gooding's Cal Spyder.

Third place was the F40 LM GTC coupe offered by RM at $11 million and then the F50

just over $9 million.

Number five was the Bugatti Devo coupe from Bonham's for $8.5 and that's the top five.

Now clearly modern halo cars and rear competition Ferraris carry today but what about the golden

age classics from the 1950s and the 1960s?

I get this question a lot especially when I'm judging Ferraris at Hillsboro or at

Cavalino and it's interesting because it goes right back to who the Ferrari buyers

are today.

If you think about it when you see someone chasing a Ferrari nowadays it's not the older

stuff it's not the stuff from the 50s and the 60s it's the 80s 90s and 2000s.

So for the 1950s Ferraris just five of the 11 cars on offer sold and every one of them

hammered below the low estimate.

A clear sign that while blue chip names attract attention such as Ferrari the market

is becoming increasingly selective in this segment.

Now how about 1960s Ferraris I'm thinking GTO's short wheel bases.

The results are more encouraging with 15 of 25 cars sold still 10 sold under the low estimate

while only four exceeded their high estimates showing that even within Ferraris most celebrated

decade buyers are exercising discipline.

Now what are some collector takeaways?

Modern icons think LaFraria Aperta's F50s F40LMs and rare competition Ferraris continue

to command top dollar and drive bidding wars.

1960s models are still moving but buyers are pickier only the very best examples are breaking

past expectations.

Now quick caution flag here 1950s Ferraris are struggling with every sale below estimate

signaling a cooling demand for this era.

Now for sellers if you have a modern halo car or a rare competition Ferrari the market

is primed for great results.

These recollection leans towards the 1950s now may be the right time to consider selling

before selectivity turns into market softness.

I hate to see that because I love those Ferraris from the 1950s and 1960s those are by far

my favorite Ferraris of all time.

Now let's talk about muscle cars sports cars and pony cars this one really surprised

me.

On paper the overall sell through rate for the segment was a modest 66.3% but if

you dig in a little deeper you'll see that the story is far more interesting.

Both arms Sotheby's at 66.7% and broad arrow at 18.2% recorded double digit percentages

of cars selling above their high estimates showing that select offerings had serious

momentum.

Now I was not working at Sotheby's this year I was there in person just taking

it all in and I watched in disbelief as a 1968 Shelby GT500 King of the Road searched to $100,000

over its $175,000 low estimate only to be followed by a world record result for a 1967 Chevrolet

Yanco Camaro Super Camaro 450 which hammered for around $300,000 above its low estimate.

Both were exceptional examples well documented beautifully presented and perfectly timed.

The message is clear when it comes to American muscle buyers will pay a premium for perfection.

Here's a few collector takeaways rare highly original or perfectly restored muscle icons

think Yanco Camaro's Shelby KR's Hemi Mopars are achieving record breaking premiums.

Now average or over restored examples are struggling keeping the overall sell through

rate down.

If you have a true standout car documented provenance top tier restoration or rarity now is an excellent

time to sell especially with our Sotheby's proven track record in this category.

Now for buyers the market is bifurcated what does that mean great cars are bringing

big money while driver quality examples remain affordable relative to recent highs.

Yeah I love the muscle cars you know I got an unrestored 66.8 GT owned a garage

that one's super rare that one has great documentation but I am not selling it.

Now what does this mean for you we just went through a bunch of the results for all the

auction houses at RM Sotheby's what but what can you take from this the Monterey results

show a market that is evolving quickly rewarding the best examples shifting momentum towards

newer icons and reminding us that the right venue makes all the difference as always

if you're considering selling now's the time to start playing in head.

RM Sotheby's Scottsdale in Miami auctions in early 2026 will be prime opportunities to

showcase your car to the right buyers in the right setting.

So as always feel free to reach out to me directly I'll be glad to review your

collection discuss timing and help position your car for maximum success.

It really is a great time we have Hershey coming up here in a few weeks that that

has locked and loaded not much else for rest of the year except to get ready for the big

auctions in Q1 of next year.

So as always thanks for watching thanks for listening thanks for sharing and I will talk

to all of you next week.

About this episode

Monterey's collector car auctions showcased a dynamic market with RM Sotheby's leading the charge, achieving record sales and a notable generational shift in buyer preferences. The episode dives into the auction results, highlighting significant sales like the $26 million Ferrari SP3 and the strong performance of modern cars, particularly from the 80s and 90s. Discussions include the evolving landscape of muscle cars, the stability of Porsches, and the rising interest in JDM vehicles. Insights on market trends and strategies for buyers and sellers are also shared, making it a comprehensive overview of the auction scene.

BMW M1 (E26) Chevrolet Camaro Dodge Viper Ferrari 512 TR Ferrari Daytona SP3 Ferrari F40 Ferrari F50 Koenigsegg CCXR Maserati MC12 Mazda RX-7 Nissan Skyline Porsche 918 Spyder Porsche Carrera GT Shelby GT500 Toyota Supra

Original notes

Monterey Car Week 2025 delivered another unforgettable round of collector car auctions, with record-setting results across the board. In this episode, Greg kicks things off with RM Sotheby's headline-making $26M Ferrari Daytona SP3 sale and their $165M weekend total before diving into Gooding & Christie's $25.3M Ferrari California Spider, Bonhams' Bugatti hypercar showcase led by the $8.6M Divo, and Broad Arrow's diverse mix of Maseratis, Koenigseggs, and JDM legends. From world records to shifting market trends, this recap highlights which cars surprised, which marques dominated, and what it all means for the collector car market heading into 2026.

#MontereyCarWeek #RMSothebys #GoodingChristies #Bonhams #BroadArrow #CollectorCars #Ferrari #Bugatti #Maserati #Koenigsegg #CarAuctions #CarCollector #AuctionResults

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Join RM Sotheby's Car Specialist Greg Stanley as he brings over 25 years of experience and keen market analysis to the world of collector cars. Each week, Greg dives into market trends, interviews industry experts, and shares insights—with a little fun along the way. New episodes drop every Thursday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Learn more at www.TheCollectorCarPodcast.com or email Greg at [email protected].
Interested in consigning a car at an RM Sotheby's auction? Contact Greg directly at [email protected].

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