(UPDATED with sale prices January 24, 2020) Each January the eyes of the automotive auction world turn to Scottsdale in Arizona for a round of major events that set the tone for the remainder of the auction year. In 2020, by our reckoning, 40 cars have the potential to sell for a million dollars during the Scottsdale collectible car auctions. Here's a look at the contenders. We'll know a whole lot more about the state of the collectible car market two weeks from now.
1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Cabriolet Décapotable
Estimate: Refer to Auction House for estimate
Auction House: Bonhams | Lot 73 | January 16, 2020
Passed in | High bid: $8,700,000
Official Auction Page
Designed by Vittorio Jano, Alfa Romeo’s 8C 2300 is one of the legendary cars of history. Intended to keep the Alfa Romeo name at the forefront of racing after the successes of the 1750cc 6C, the 2300cc supercharged straight eight exceeded all expectation in competition, winning the 1931 and 1932 Targa Florio, the 1931 Italian Grand Prix and it took victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times from 1931-1934. This car is not just one of the 188 road cars built with the 2300 8C engine, but an example of the work of Joseph Figoni, whose work is still renowned globally a century later. Figoni’s craftsmanship would later be complemented by the business expertise of Ovidio Falaschi in creating “Figoni et Falaschi”, one of the greatest automotive couturiers. This car was a chance to become the most expensive car ever sold at the Scottsdale auctions, but when the bidding stopped at $8.7 million, the current record held by a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster which fetched US$9.9 million in 2016 prevailed. The last 2300 8C to sell at auction fetched $11,990,000 at Gooding & Company’s Official Pebble Beach Auction in 2016.
1958 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series I
Estimate: $6,000,000 to $7,000,000
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 253 | January 17, 2020
Passed in | High bid: $5,500,000
Official Auction Page
The 25th of 40 first-series Ferrari 250 GT cabriolets, this car has been owned by California-based Ferrari enthusiast Randy Reiss for more than 20 years, and although Reiss campaigned the car heavily (the 2000 Quail Rally in 2000, the California Mille in 2000, 2003, and 2004, the California Classic in 2002, and the Colorado Grand in 2003 and 2004), it was also prepared to aircraft quality by Richard Freshman’s Fossil Motorsports (see auction description).
Series I Cabriolets don’t sell for less than $5 million these days. The last Series I Cabriolet to sell fetched $6.8 million at Pebble Beach 2019, and recent sales include $4,840,000 at Pebble Beach 2017, €4,719,000 in September, 2017 at RM-Sotheby’s Leggenda e Passione auction in Maranello, and $5,720,000 at RM-Sotheby’s "Driven By Disruption" sale in December, 2015. Several Series I Cabriolets with estimates extending into eight figures have been passed in at auction, so the price can be expected to increase to more than $10 million sooner or later.
1995 Ferrari F50 Berlinetta Prototipo
Estimate: Refer to Auction House for estimate
Auction House: Worldwide Auctioneers | Lot 49 | January 15, 2020
Passed in | High bid: $2,500,000
Official Auction Page
Only 350 Ferrari F50s were ever made, and like the other halo models in Ferrari’s spectacular history, when the F50 was released it quickly became the focus of posters, books, magazines and the imagination of every red-blooded boy. The big difference with this car, is that it was THE car that appeared in nearly every one of those posters, magazine, books, scale models, technical drawings and postage stamps. This is the car that appeared in all the publicity, the car that appeared in the two biggest motor shows (Geneva 1995 and Tokyo 1995), and the development prototype in which the pre-release testing was done in the hands of Niki Lauda, Jean Alesi, Dario Benuzzi, and Gerhard Berger. It was first privately owned by Belgian Jacques Swaters, the famous former team owner of Ecurie Francorchamps and Ecurie Nationale Belge. Hence, this car is very special, and the premium such public acclaim affords it has already been measured at auction once before when it sold by Gooding & Company for $2,400,000 at Scottsdale in 2016. At that time, the highest price an F50 had ever sold for was $1,980,000 so the premium was roughly 25 percent. This time around, the record price for an F50 at auction is $3,000,000 achieved by RM-Sotheby’s at Monterey in 2019.
1995 Ferrari F50
Estimate: $3,200,000 to $3,600,000
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 044 | January 17, 2020
Sold for $3,222,500 inc buyers premium
Official Auction Page
This car is one of only 55 American specification F50s ever built, with just 5,200 miles on the clock and two owners in its 25 years of existence. Interestingly, this car has been to auction once before, selling for $814,000 at this same Gooding Scottsdale auction in 2011. At that point it was estimated to sell for $750,000 to $850,000, and had been purchased new by the (then) vendor in 1995 for around $500,000. There’s a lesson in that history – everyone who has owned this car so far has made money in owning it. We expect that will continue. The price makes this the most valuable F50 ever sold at auction.
1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast
Estimate: $2,500,000 to $3,000,000
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 131 | January 18, 2020
Passed in | High bid: $2,250,000
Believed to be the only Ferrari 500 Superfast delivered in black. Indeed, just 36 Superfast 500s were built and they were frightfully expensive when new, targeted at clients looking for exclusivity and uncompromising performance in a luxury car. Owners of the 175-mph Grand Tourer included Gunter Sachs, shipping magnate Peter Livanos, the Aga Khan, the Shah of Persia, actor Peter Sellers, and Woolworths heiress Barbara Hutton. A decade ago, a Superfast 500 could be purchased at auction for less than a $1 million, but prices escalated in the middle of the decade and the last three to sell have fetched $3,025,000, $2,750,000 and $2,915,000, respectively.
2018 Pagani Huayra Roadster
Estimate: $2,500,000 to $2,700,000
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 147 | January 16, 2020
Sold for $2,370,000 inc buyers premium
Official Auction Page
Only 100 Huayra roadsters were built between 2012 and 2018, each with a twin-turbocharged 720-bhp, 6.0-liter V-12. The successor to the Pagani Zonda is a spectacular beastie, and far more evolved than its equally lauded predecessor, in that it contains more than 4,700 new parts in comparison to the Zonda. This one has only 200 km on the odometer, and although it is effectively new, and in perfect condition, it will be interesting to see if it sells.
Big things have always been expected of the Huayra on the auction block, but the last four to go to auction over the last two years have not met the seller’s expectations and have been passed in. Count them:
2017 Pagani Huayra Roadster (Estimated $2,750,000 to $3,250,000) Passed in
2014 Pagani Huayra Tempesta (Estimated $2,000,000 - $2,400,000) Passed in
2013 Pagani Huayra Coupé (Estimate upon request) Passed in
2016 Pagani Huayra Coupé (Estimated $1,700,000 to $2,100,000) Passed in
Only four Huayras have ever sold at auction and not once had one ever sold for more than the lower estimate here, with previous results of $2,090,000, $1,850,000, $2,420,000 and $2,035,000. Each car is different, with varied history, provenance and condition, but it would be fair to say that Huayra owners value their cars at more than the rest of the fraternity does (at least over the last two years). The price makes this the second most expensive Huayra sold at auction.
1967 Ferrari 330 GTS
Brian Henniker / Gooding & Company
Estimate: $2,200,000 to $2,500,000
Sold for $1,985,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 154 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
One of just 99 examples built of the 330 GTS spider, the 330 was more refined than earlier Ferraris, being both quieter and easier to drive, and with 598 coupes built, the more exclusive and desirable GTS was always going to be much more valuable in the long run. The record amount paid for a Ferrari 330 GTS is (reportedly) $2,950,000 by RM-Sotheby's at Monterey in 2015, though there have been numerous instances of this model selling at auction for amounts in excess of $2 million. Even though the market is off the boil compared with a few years back, it is rare that a 330 GTS fails to sell.
1951 Ferrari 212 Inter Cabriolet
Estimate: $2,000,000 to $2,400,000
Sold for $1,930,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Bonhams | Lot 54 | January 16, 2020
Official Auction Page
This car was already the most expensive Ferrari 212 Inter ever sold at auction, having fetched $2,200,000 at Bonhams’ Quail Lodge Auction in August, 2015, when fresh from an exhaustive two-year restoration. That same restoration took it to a second place in its class at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It’s surprising that the 212 is not held in higher regard, as it performed one of the most spectacular 1-2 finishes in history when it took the top two steps of the podium at the 1951 Carrera PanAmericana – the insanely dangerous 3,000-km race on public roads across South America.
1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider
Estimate: $2,000,000 to $2,400,000
Sold for $1,930,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 042 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
The star of the 1968 Paris Motor Show, the 365 GTB/4 took over from the 275 GTB/4 as Ferrari’s two-seat GT halo car. Dubbed the “Daytona” after Ferrari’s 1-2-3 finish at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona, it is the last front-engine, V-12 GT model. The open-top spider version of almost any car is always the more desirable and hence expensive, but in this case it is also the most exclusive of the road-going Daytonas, with just 121 built – so few that for decades people have been buying the more plentiful Daytona coupe (1,284 produced) and removing the roof. The pinnacle year for this model was 2015 when the model record price of $3,300,000 was achieved twice.
1948 Tucker 48
Estimate: $1,750,000 to $2,250,000
Sold for $2,040,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 121 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
Although 51 were built, a remarkable 47 Tucker Torpedos are known to still exist, which in itself is testimony to the regard in which they are held. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1988 feature movie Tucker: The Man and His Dream disseminated the story, and the public awareness generated by the movie combined with the high regard and rarity to create a perfect storm on the auction block. Cars that had originally sold for $4,000 in 1948 began selling for tens, then hundreds of thousands and in the last two decades the price has climbed to more than a million, with the high watermark set in Scottsdale in 2012 when a perfect specimen from the Ron Pratte Collection fetched $2,915,000.
This car was a promotional car for the company back in the day, featured in the movie, and if you read the auction description, you’ll marvel at the detailed granularity of the car’s history. Every owner, every selling price, how many miles each owner did … everything you might wish to know about this vehicle, which is unmolested in every respect, and according to the auction description, “retains an impressive air of undisturbed originality.” Restored Tucker Torpedos are rare, but a 72-year-old car with just 6,241 miles on the odometer and original everything with perfect appropriate patina.
1965 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C
Estimate: $1,800,000 to $2,200,000
Passed in | High bid: $1,700,000
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 152 | January 16, 2020
Official Auction Page
Currently displaying 57,048 kilometers, this short-nose 275 is one of just 59 six-carburettor examples and displays the obvious benefits of having been well maintained and freshened during ownership by a handful of respected marque enthusiasts, including the luminary Skip Barber.
1967 Ferrari 330 GTS
Estimate: $1,800,000 to $2,200,000
Sold for $1,710,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 242 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
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Bette Davis’ 1937 Packard Twelve 1508
Estimate: Refer to Auction House for estimate
Sold for $451,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Worldwide Auctioneers | Lot 35 | January 15, 2020
Official Auction Page
There really aren’t enough superlatives to describe this car, which reportedly began its life as a present from Jack Warner (of Warner Bros. Movies) to leading lady Bette Davis for her performance in Jezebel (1938), which would subsequently win her a second Academy Award for Best Actress. This car even without such rich provenance is automotive royalty in its own right, a fact emphasized by having had $400,000 spent on a rotisserie restoration in the 1990s. Spending such a sum has its rewards, and three times it was awarded a perfect 100 points at concours events, plus a second-in-class at Pebble Beach in 1998. The car sold with a full history from new and a file of documentation, which, according to the auction description, “make it come to life in a meaningful way.”
1932 Hispano-Suiza J12 Dual Cowl Phaeton
Estimate: $1,500,000 to $2,000,000
Sold for $2,425,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 143 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
The Hispano-Suiza J12 is considered to be the finest car the luxury car manufacturer ever created, and this example has been coveted its entire life, having been in the collections of both mega-collectors Briggs Cunningham and Miles Collier and subsequently in the Blackhawk Collection. It is one of just 112 J12s built, and one of approximately 10 surviving open top J12s.
1954 Ferrari 250 Europa GT Coupe
Estimate: $1,500,000 to $1,700,000
Passed in | High bid: $1,350,000
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 140 | January 16, 2020
Official Auction Page
The 11th of only 43 examples built of the Ferrari 250 Europa GT Coupe, and the very first road car to carry the 250 nomenclature. It was revealed to the public in January 1953, and it would be Ferrari’s first true grand touring automobile, showing that the company was willing to produce cars for well-heeled customers who preferred to drive their cars on the road rather than on the track. This car has been to auction previously when it was offered by RM-Sotheby’s at Monterey in 2017, with an estimate of $2,000,000 to $2,800,000. Since then, it has been repainted in its original and fetching color combination of Azzurro with a Grigio top.
1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV
Estimate: $1,400,000 to $1,600,000
Sold for $1,391,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 220 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
If there was a car that characterized the “swinging sixties”, it was the Lamborghini Miura. As the auction description so aptly reflected, “Marcello Gandini penned the gorgeous design at the age of 27, and it encapsulated the youthful spirit of the age.” The Miura impacted upon the world at the Geneva Motor Show in 1966, and it changed sport cars from that point forward. The transversely-mounted mid-engine layout might have been used previously, but the Miura’s styling saw it become the poster car of the decade and a milestone in sportswear design. The SV was the final iteration of the Miura, with most of the weaknesses of the P400 and P400S addressed, and an SV holds the record price for a Miura at €2,388,400 ($2,543,593), a figure achieved by Artcurial in Paris during Retromobile, 2017.
1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda 440-6 Pack Convertible
Estimate: Refer to Auction House for estimate
Sold for $675,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Worldwide Auctioneers | Lot 36 | January 15, 2020
Official Auction Page
While the “Six Barrel” ‘Cuda was only produced for 1970-71, it left an indelible impression on subsequent generations. One young fan who succumbed to the hype was Ed Belfour from Carman, Manitoba, who became a professional hockey player and went on to become an NCAA champion, Olympic Gold medalist, Stanley Cup winner and NHL Hall of Fame inductee. Early in his career as a celebratory gift to himself for signing his first professional contract, Ed purchased this 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda Convertible, one of only five built with the V-Code 440 Six Barrel/four-speed powertrain.
1960 Ferrari 250 GT Series II Cabriolet
Estimate: $1,300,000 to $1,500,000
Sold for $1,462,500 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 046 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
The 68th of 202 Series II Pinin Farina Cabriolets built, this model is affectively an open-top version of the 250 GT Coupé, whose chassis and mechanics it shared. The model rarely sells below a million, and three times has topped $2 million, with the record price for a Series II Cabriolet being $2,090,000, achieved twice by Gooding & Company in 2014 at Pebble Beach and Amelia Island in 2015.
1969 Lamborghini Miura P400 S
Estimate: $1,250,000 to $1,500,000
Sold for $1,242,500 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 031 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
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2014 McLaren P1
Estimate: $1,200,000 to $1,500,000
Sold for $1,160,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 025 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
McLaren’s 900-horsepower (671-kW) hybrid hypercar is now on the wane at auction. All 375 units sold new for around $1.15 million, and when they made it to auction, they were initially selling around the $2 million mark, with a high point of $2,392,500 by Gooding & Company at Amelia Island in 2017. Since then, however, sale prices at auction have been dropping and a price over $1.5 million would now be an outlier.
1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Coupe by Hebmüller
Estimate: $1,000,000 to $1,500,000
Sold for $995,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 234 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
Few cars can match the enormous Mercedes-Benz 500K and 540K (signifying 5.0 and 5.4-liter supercharged straight-eight engines) for style and sheer presence. Initially, it was the rare 540 K Special Roadster that got all the auction attention when it became one of the first $10 million cars, causing people to begin cutting up their 500/540K Cabriolet A, B and C models to build faux Special Roadsters. Now the Sindelfingen Cabriolets are receiving a lot of love in their own right, and any 540K is potentially a million-dollar car. Unlike most other prestige automobiles of the 1920s and 1930s, Mercedes-Benz bodied nearly all the 500/540Ks in-house at Sindelfingen, so very few automotive coachbuilders get the opportunity to dress the massive lines of the 540K. This is one of those rare beasts that went beyond the factory to an external coachbuilder, Hebmüller, albeit after the car had begun life as a second-generation Cabriolet A.
1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing
Estimate: $1,150,000 to $1,300,000
Sold for $1,270,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 155 | January 16, 2020
Mercedes-Benz is one of the very few manufacturers to have ever produced a car in vast quantities that has subsequently sold for more than a million dollars. Indeed, other than the Ferrari F40 (1,315 units), I can't think of any other car that has sold for more than US$1,000,000 that has been produced in quantities greater than 500 units. With the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, the company is almost defying the immutable laws of supply and demand.
Between 1954 and 1963, Mercedes sold 1,400 Coupes (better known as “Gullwings” for their Gullwing doors) at US$6,820, and 1,858 open top roadsters at US$10,950 - in total 3,258 300 SL sports cars were sold, and they are still as sought-after today as when Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss were winning Grands Prix and Sports Car championships in closely related Silver Arrows. The 300 SL was also the fastest road car in the world at the time, which added to the mystique.
Indeed, everyone who was anyone wanted a 300 SL in the 1950s and the ownership list reads like a who’s who of very cool people: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Shah of Iran), rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, polymath John von Neumann, Johnnie Walker whisky heir Rob Walker, President Juan Peron of Argentina, actors Tony Curtis, Sophia Loren, Clark Gable, Glenn Ford, Paul Newman, Gina Lollobrigida, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Yul Brynner and Romy Schneider, artist Pablo Picasso, sportsman Briggs Cunningham, politician Pierre Trudeau, (Justin Trudeau now has one too), F1 powerbroker Bernie Ecclestone, fashion designer Ralph Lauren, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos, Opel heir Adam Opel, American Ferrari distributor Luigi Chinetti, the Aga Khan, playboy Gunter Sachs, and even Juan Manuel Fangio, who drove one on the road when he wasn’t driving one on the track.
The record price for a Gullwing was set at Scottsdale 2012 when a1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Alloy Gullwing – one of only 29 alloy bodied models produced for competition purposes – sold for $4.62 million at a Gooding & Company’s auction. The record for a steel-bodied Gullwing is $2,530,000 set at RM-Sotheby’s 2014 Monterey auction, with the only other result over $2 million being $2,035,000 at a Gooding auction in Amelia Island in 2014.
2018 Ford GT
Estimate: $1,100,000 to $1,300,000
Lot Withdrawn
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 145 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
Ever since wrestler/actor/presenter John Cena decided to sell his Ford GT and fought the legal battles with Ford to enable that to happen, we’ve been watching in amazement as Ford has fought to reclaim its turf, while equally determined buyers and sellers sought to exercise their perceived rights. Regardless, it’s clear that demand for the latest generation Ford GT is stronger than Ford imagined, and the two-year sales embargo has now lifted for 2018 models. Supply is so much less than demand, that the $500,000 GT is worth $1.5 million or thereabouts at auction. Just what this car sells for will be an unhealthy fascination for a lot of people who will never own one.
2008 Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4
Estimate: $1,000,000 to $1,300,000
Passed in | High bid: $890,000
Auction House: Bonhams | Lot 72 | January 16, 2020
Official Auction Page
When this publication kicked away in 2002, we wrote a lot about the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, the car that resurrected the Bugatti name and its glorious history and made it a household name for several new generations. There were only 178 Veyron 16.4 Coupes ever built, and that they achieved so much in terms of public awareness is astonishing. Only 76 Veyron 16.4 Coupes were built to US specs, and it still rates as one of the most important cars in history … and always will. The Veyron’s now faster brethren will not be as revered as this car in the distant future.
1969 Lamborghini Miura S
Estimate: $1,000,000 to $1,300,000
Passed in | High bid: $800,000
Auction House: Bonhams | Lot 44 | January 16, 2020
Official Auction Page
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1970 Porsche 914/6 GT
Estimate: $1,000,000 to $1,300,000
Sold for $995,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 033 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
The 914/6 GT officially debuted at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970, scoring a class win and sixth place overall at an average speed of 99.27 mph – an incredible feat for a two-liter, production-based GT car. The 914/6 GT on offer here is one of 16 customer cars built by the Porsche Racing Department in 1970, going to Jacques Duval, the celebrated French Canadian journalist and racing driver. Its race history includes first in class at the 24 Hours of Daytona and fourth in class at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
1954 Taylor Aerocar
Estimate: Refer to Auction House for estimate
Sold for $275,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Barrett-Jackson | Lot #1354 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
One of the more credible flying cars in history, five Taylor Aerocars were built, and this 66-year-old flying car is still working as advertised, with 15,254 miles (mileage not indicated on title) and 781 flight hours. The Aerocar was formerly on display at the Golden Wings Flying Museum in Minneapolis, and was the feature of a Smithsonian magazine feature in 2012 when it was up for sale for $1.25 million. We did a story on this car last month.
2019 McLaren Senna
Estimate: Refer to Auction House for estimate
Sold for $946,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Barrett-Jackson | Lot #1393 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
McLaren sold out the 789-hp Senna track and road car before the rest of the world had even heard about it, with 499 McLaren owners stumping up £750,000 (US$1,004,662) each for a second McLaren in the last months of 2017, and a private charity auction selling the 500th Senna for £2 million (US$2,685,460) in December, 2017. The usual deal with highly sought-after cars from Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche, etc. is that the buyers sign an agreement preventing them from selling them again for an agreed period to avoid profiteering. There are always a few who break the rules and a handful of Sennas have already seen the auction block, though before this week, only one of them had reached the reserve price, when Barrett-Jackson sold a 2019 McLaren Senna (VIN 005) for $1,457,500 at this same auction in 2019.
2019 McLaren Senna
Estimate: $1,100,000 to $1,250,000
Passed in | High bid: $1,000,000
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 133 | January 16, 2020
Official Auction Page
Apart from the two McLaren Sennas above, there’s also this 2019 McLaren Senna (VIN 087) with a host of options including the $193,941 MSO custom finish of Iridium Blue, air-conditioning, a Bowers & Wilkins seven-speaker audio system, the McLaren track telemetry app, three-point harnesses, a bespoke black Alcantara steering wheel, orange upholstery stitching, branded floor mats, and ultra-lightweight nine-spoke wheels. Given that the car has just 192 miles on the dial, and the far more reasonable official estimate, the vendor of this car appears to be indicating that it is there to be sold! Our guess is that by the time the dust settles in Scottsdale, three new Senna owners will have been minted.
1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing
Estimate: $1,000,000 to $1,200,000
Passed in | High bid: $925,000
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 140 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
See similar car above on this listing
1958 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster
Estimate: $900,000 to $1,200,000
Passed in | High bid: $925,000
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 015 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
As we mentioned above with the Gullwing, 300 SL Mercedes-Benz prices simply defy the laws of physics and the finest example of this occurred in 2018 when a 1963 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster established a new world record for the model at auction with a sale by Artcurial of €3,143,440 during the Le Mans Classic weekend in France – that’s US$3,694,839. Granted that the car had only one owner, and had traveled just 1,372 km from new, and was being sold for the benefit of charity, but it is testimony to perhaps the most iconic volume production collectible car of all time.
1930 Cadillac V-16 Sport Phaeton by Fleetwood
Estimate: $900,000 to $1,200,000
Sold for $1,105,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 124 | January 16, 2020
Official Auction Page
Cadillac’s V-16 was the first true 16-cylinder engine to be built from scratch, and the process also involved the styling of the engine, as all of the wiring was hidden and the engine compartment was dressed up with plenty of gleaming, polished aluminum, porcelain, and a pair of beautiful valve covers with brushed aluminum-ridged surfaces that featured the Cadillac emblem. Only 85 V-16 sport phaetons were built and just 17 survive, each the centerpiece of a significant collection. A car identical to this represents the V-16 in General Motors’ own corporate Heritage Collection.
1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster
Estimate: $950,000 to $1,150,000
Sold for $973,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 256 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
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1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster
Estimate: $950,000 to $1,100,000
Passed in | High bid: $840,000
Auction House: Bonhams | Lot 30 | January 16, 2020
Official Auction Page
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2008 Bugatti Veyron 16.4
Estimate: $950,000 to $1,100,000
Sold for $1,105,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 237 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
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1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America
Estimate: $850,000 to $1,050,000
Sold for $810,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Bonhams | Lot 28 | January 16, 2020
Official Auction Page
The Lancia Aurelia was the first ever car to use a V6 engine when it was launched at the 1950 Turin Motor Show. The pinnacle of the Aurelia lineage was the Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America that was launched in 1954 at the Bruxelles Auto Salon, a combination of the powerful race-developed V6 engine, superlative handling and Pinin Farina styling. Just 240 B24 Spiders were manufactured during 1954/55, with their international fame assured with the release of the Roger Vadim movie And God Created Woman, in which the Spider America starred alongside Brigitte Bardot.
1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 COPO
Estimate: Refer to Auction House for estimate
Sold for $1,094,500 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Barrett-Jackson | Lot #1409 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
Number 59 of the 69 COPO 9560 high-performance 1969 Camaros built, this Camaro is quite different to the other 243,000 Camaros built that year because it is finished in Hugger Orange with a black interior, and it came standard with the aluminum ZL1 427 big-block engine option. It’s also the only one of the 69-car production run built with the NC8 chambered dual-exhaust system, an upgrade over the restrictive cross-flow canister muffler used on the 68 others. Restored with its correct Hugger Orange hue and equipped with a correct Muncie M22 rock-crusher 4-speed manual transmission and 4.10 ratio 12-bolt rear axle, it is the epitome of Camaro high performance. Hindsight is 20:20 vision, and the $7,200 sticker price for these cars in 1969 was deemed too high by the public and the dealers found them hard to move. This car appeared in the same Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction in 2018 and fetched $770,000.
2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray VIN 001
Estimate: Refer to Auction House for estimate
Sold for $3,000,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Barrett-Jackson | Lot #3007 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
Yet another of Barrett-Jackson’s signature VIN #001 charity auctions, this particular one is more significant than most, because the new 2020 C8 Corvette Coupe is a landmark car in Corvette history, being the first-ever mid-engined Corvette! The winning bid will receive a black-on-black 495-hp Corvette 3LT Stingray loaded with every available option, and scheduled to be built before the end of March.
2020 Chevrolet COPO Camaro John Force Edition
Estimate: Refer to Auction House for estimate
Sold for $600,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Barrett-Jackson | Lot #3004 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
Chevrolet and John Force Racing have teamed up to bring together the legacies of Chevrolet’s factory race car and the 16-time NHRA champion driver in this supercharged custom race car designed to deliver low elapsed times on the drag strip. Chevrolet produces 69 COPO Camaros per year, but this car is produced outside that number, and although a similar paint scheme is available with a production 2020 COPO, this John Force edition is a one-of-a-kind. The Camaro runs a revised version of Chevrolet Performance’s supercharged, LSX-based 350ci engine, featuring a 2.65-liter Magnuson supercharger and all-new LSX-SC cylinder heads. Also included with this charity lot is a Racer’s Package, which consists of a carbon-fiber air inlet, dual batteries, weight box, parachute and a quick-change coupling for the supercharged engine, a custom helmet and a fire suit. All proceeds from the sale went to DonorsChoose.org, helping bring teachers’ and students’ dreams to life in classrooms across the U.S.
2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible Inspiration Series VIN 100001
Estimate: Refer to Auction House for estimate
Sold for $2,000,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Barrett-Jackson | Lot #3003 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
As has become customary at Barrett-Jackson auctions, which pioneered new car charity auctions, 100 percent of the hammer price will benefit charity, in this case, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Bob Woodruff Foundation. The car to be auctioned is the first 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible. The car is one of 100 cars customized to be part of the 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible Inspiration Series, with special paint, wheels and other component highlights, though the performance will be the same as other 471-hp LC 500s with a Direct-Shift 10-speed automatic transmission. The big difference is that this car will bear VIN 100001, and carbon-fiber scuff plates imprinted with “LC Inspiration Series Launch Exclusive 1 of 1.”
2008 Koenigsegg CCX
Estimate: $900,000 to $1,000,000
Passed in | High bid: $850,000
Auction House: Bonhams | Lot 46 | January 16, 2020
Official Auction Page
One of just 30 Koenigsegg CCX cars built, and one of just 13 produced to comply with American specifications, the 806-hp CCX is a very rare beastie indeed. We can only find a handful of previous CCX appearances at public auction, and although many of these cars have had estimates as high as $1.6 million, only one CCX has ever sold previously at public auction. That car sold for just £246,400 (US$396,832) in London in 2012, so it will be interesting to see just what happens with this car, given that it is still one of the fastest cars in the world. It should be noted that another 2008 Koenigsegg CCX with less miles and a Koenigsegg upgrade to 980 hp failed to sell last year with an estimate of $950,000 to $1,200,000.
1936 Duesenberg Model JN Tourster
Estimate: $800,000 to $1,000,000
Passed in | High bid: $550,000
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 126 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
This car is arguably the last Duesenberg. From the auction description: If ever an automobile defined the end of an era, it would be the Duesenberg Model JN. The last, best effort of the famed luxury automaker struggled to find an audience during the Great Depression, and was limited to a mere 10 examples reserved only for the wealthiest clients. Long a staple of Hollywood glamour, Model JNs were owned by such figures as Clark Gable and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. But in an age of social austerity, the exclusive automaker folded in 1937, taking with it a level of quality, precision, and elegance that has never been repeated.
There is no such thing as an “ordinary” Duesenberg JN. Each of the 10 examples is a unique masterpiece, with fascinating, well-documented histories and prestigious provenance. The rare opportunity to own such a car inserts oneself into that noble lineage and affords a legendary driving experience.
All 10 of the JNs were bodied by Rollston in 1935. Low and sleek, the JN featured skirted fenders and a wider body which extended past the frame rails, imparting a lower appearance than traditional Duesenbergs. The battery and tool boxes were slightly redesigned so that the doors could close over the frame. Smaller diameter 17″ wheels and bullet-shaped taillights updated the look.
The last of the last, the example offered here – known by its engine no. J-575 – was the 10th and final Model JN built for the public, and one of only three built on the long 153.5″ wheelbase chassis.
2017 Ford GT
Estimate: $750,000 to $1,000,000
Sold for $923,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: RM-Sotheby's | Lot 246 | January 17, 2020
Official Auction Page
See similar car above on this listing
1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster
Estimate: $700,000 to $900,000
Sold for $775,000 inc buyers premium
Auction House: Gooding & Company | Lot 115 | January 18, 2020
Official Auction Page
See similar car above on this listing
