Monterey Top Ten

RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction was another resounding success, with 74 percent of the 189 exceptional lots finding new homes and over $107 million in total sales. The impressive congregation of top-tier automobiles on offer drew high attendance from bidders from no less than 43 countries and an increase in registered bidders over last year’s Monterey sale. Despite a shift in market conditions observed throughout the Monterey Peninsula, RM Sotheby’s saw a number of impressive sale prices achieved for several outstanding collector cars offered, including new world-record sales achieved each night.

The highly anticipated sale of the 1994 McLaren F1 “LM Specification” brought a record-setting $19,805,000 following a four-and-a-half-minute-long bidding bout between four bidders, ultimately selling to a private United States–based collector. “The most famous car in the world,” one of three surviving 1965 Aston Martin DB5s with fully functioning James Bond special-effects gadgets as seen in Goldfinger and used for a press tour in the promotion of Thunderball, also sparked an exciting bidding contest between phone bidders and those present in the room. A stunning late-production, numbers-matching, Ferrari Classiche–certified 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta was offered without reserve, and bids climbed to achieve a final sale of $8,145,000. The Ming Collection, an exceptional group of fastidiously preserved contemporary Ferrari models, reached or eclipsed their high estimates and displayed the continued demand for modern performance cars in “as-new” condition. A beautifully preserved 1995 Ferrari F50 on offer was also sold immediately following the auction for a final $3,000,000. A rare example of the 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake drew significant pre-sale interest, going on to eclipse its high estimate, selling for a final $1,765,000. A unique example of the legendary 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, the only of its kind to be finished in paint-to-sample Arancio Boreallis, sold for a record-setting $1,193,000. A rare and highly original example of a 1967 Porsche 911 S “Rallye” sparked a fierce bidding competition and resulted in a final sale of nearly triple its high estimate, selling for a final $912,500. The cheerful and diminutive 1967 Ferves Ranger stole the hearts of the audience as bidding climbed to nearly five times its high estimate, selling for $196,000—an incredible result for the charismatic microcar.

Scroll down to explore the ten vehicles that achieved the top ten sales from this year’s exciting Monterey collector car auction.