An action-packed Monterey Car Week 2026 concluded last week, and while the 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, formerly owned by Carroll Shelby himself, delivered the defining result at $42.9 million, becoming the most expensive American car ever sold at public auction, Ferrari emerged as the dominant marque across the five major sales. More than 1,100 vehicles crossed the auction block, including 150 Ferraris: 58 at Mecum, 30 each at RM Sotheby's and Broad Arrow, 28 at Gooding Christie's, and four at Bonhams|Cars.
Hagerty reported approximately $758 million in total auction sales, comfortably exceeding the roughly $500 million forecast by CNBC heading into Monterey. Ferrari’s presence became even more pronounced at the top of the market. The Prancing Horse claimed 20 of the 50 highest results we tracked, worth approximately $196.2 million combined, while the 10 cars below generated $155.6 million on their own, with eight crossing the eight-figure threshold.
Where classics have traditionally dominated the auction scene for years, much of that strength at Monterey came from Ferrari's modern halo car lineage. Where aspects like originality and racing pedigree are the primary value drivers with classics, for modern production cars, it is factors like color, mileage, and scarcity that drive the market.
The 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo, and LaFerrari, often hailed by collectors as the Ferrari 'Big Five', all registered major transactions, with four cars on this list setting public-auction records, with a 227-mile Daytona SP3 from the Icona Series also making it into our top 10 list. The 1963 250 P at Gooding Christie’s is the only classic on this list, but it too established the first verified public benchmark for the model.
The cross-auction comparisons were even more revealing. Mecum's Giallo Modena F50, #239 of 349 produced, is one of only 31 finished in yellow worldwide, two of which are U.S. market examples. Delivered new to Switzerland, the car retains its original chassis, engine, gearbox, and bodywork, along with Ferrari Classiche certification, and 7,253 kilometers (4,506 miles) on the odometer. Its $14.575 million result was 19.4 percent above the F50 record set at Mecum Kissimmee in January this year and $2.47 million more than RM Sotheby's U.S.-market Rosso Corsa F50, carrying Mike Tyson provenance. It sold for $4.625 million in 2022, making its $12.105 million Monterey result a 161.7 percent increase in nominal auction value in four years.
Three 2003 Enzos provided another unusually clean comparison. Mecum's 589-mile Rosso Corsa car led the trio at $12.1 million, followed by Broad Arrow's Nero D.S. example at $10.675 million and RM Sotheby's Rosso Corsa example at $9.41 million, a $2.69 million spread within a single model year. The all time record Enzo auction record sits at $17.87 million. Find out more about valuations and trends of this V12 exotic in our Enzo market spotlight. Meanwhile, the 288 GTO's $11.555 million result is approximately 139 times the model's approximately $83,000 original US MSRP, exceeds the previous model record of $11.32 million set at Gooding Christie's Paris 2026, and lands $4.7 million above the $6,825,000 achieved on Bring a Trailer in July.
The $40 million Luce Chassis ‘0’ sits outside conventional valuation mechanics altogether as Buyer's Premium was waived, and all proceeds went to the Ferrari Foundation's educational campus in Maranello. It nevertheless entered our list of the most expensive cars ever sold at auction, which now has seven Ferraris. For context, against the Luce's base price of approximately $640,000, the $40 million result represents roughly 62.5 times the original list price. The published estimate was about $1.1 million, making the final figure more than 36 times that amount. The buyer was Herbert 'Dr. Herbie' Wertheim, the self-made American billionaire and optometrist-turned-investor known for his signature red fedora, also paid $26,000,000 for a one-off Daytona SP3 Tailor Made at RM Sotheby's Monterey in 2025.
Rounding out our list is a 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari that sold for $8.6 million, achieving a new record for the standard coupe, surpassing the Holy Trinity hypercar's previous high of $8.5 million achieved at Mecum Indy back in May this year.
*** All prices include Buyer's Premium unless noted. Track dRi values for every model above in real time at garage.dupontregistry.com.
10. 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari
$8,695,000 | RM Sotheby's (New Record)
9. 2003 Ferrari Enzo
$9,410,000 | RM Sotheby's

8. 2003 Ferrari Enzo
$10,675,000 | Broad Arrow

7. 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO
$11,555,000 | RM Sotheby's (New Record)

6. 2003 Ferrari Enzo
$12,100,000 | Mecum

5. 1995 Ferrari F50
$12,105,000 | RM Sotheby's

4. 1996 Ferrari F50
$14,575,000 | Mecum (New Record)

3. 2023 Ferrari Daytona SP3
$17,825,000 | RM Sotheby's

2. 1963 Ferrari 250 P
$18,705,000 | Gooding Christie's
1. 2026 Ferrari Luce 'Tailor Made', Chassis '0'
$40,000,000 | RM Sotheby's (New Record)

Images: RM Sotheby's, Gooding Christie's, Mecum, Broad Arrow Auctions

