The 2021 Monterey Car Week may be over, but we here at SportsCarDigest are just getting started in our review of the week. We’ve already highlighted all four exciting days of the Monterey Motorsports Reunion that took place at the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca. We’ve celebrated with you as a beautiful Mercedes-Benz 540K Autobahnkurier in immaculate shape won the venerable Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. And, just recently, we revealed the most expensive car sold at the Pebble Beach Auction, a 1995 McLaren F1 with under 400 miles on the clock, with every optional extra added in.
However, there were far more cars at the auction than just that gorgeous McLaren. In fact, since the 2020 event was canceled due to the global pandemic, there were more cars at auction over the Monterey Car Week than ever before, with nearly 300 lots to get through. This resulted in a massive $345 million USD crossing the block in two days, a full 35.3% more than the previous show, the 2019 Pebble Beach Auction.
The auction also showed that despite a year and a half of uncertainty in car collecting circles, there is still an appetite for classic cars. There may even be more of an appetite now since those wealthy enough for the best of the best classics haven’t had an opportunity to bid for a while.
If anything, the auction showed that the fears of classic car auctions disappearing was unfounded, and they are going as strong as ever. With that in mind, let us explore the top 10 cars from the 2021 Monterey Car Week Pebble Beach Auction!
#1 1995 McLaren F1: $20.5 Million USD
As already covered in our story yesterday, a 1995 McLaren F1, with owner representation by Gooding & Company, crossed the block and shattered its expected sale price of $15 Million USD. Due to the low mileage, excellent service records, and a full catalog of the optional extras one could add when purchasing a McLaren F1 new, it sold at an astounding price of $20,495,000 USD, making it the most expensive McLaren F1 road car ever sold, as well as the tenth most expensive car ever sold at auction in the world. See the full article for more details.
#2 1959 Ferrari 250 California LWB Competizione Spyder: $10.8 Million USD
Well known for their collectibility, the Ferrari 250 cars are some of the most sought-after to add to one’s private collection. This was proven once again when a 1959 Ferrari 250 California, of the rarer Long Wheel Base configuration and the extremely rare Competizione upgrade to make it into a race-capable car, crossed the block with the gavel sounding at $10,840,000 USD. There are only 50 of the 250 California LWB’s in existence, and of those, only 9 of them ever received the Competizione upgrade. The upgrade was pricey, but it did add a racing gearbox, lighter weight aluminum body panels, 3 Weber 40DCL6 carburetors for competition, and the Tipo 168 V12 bumped to 270 HP. The car sold at Pebble Beach was Chassis 1235GT with a numbers-matching engine 1235GT.
#3 1962 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato Coupe: $9.5 Million USD
The Aston Martin DB4 GT was the British company’s response to Ferrari introducing their 250 GT SWB Berlinetta into Grand Touring competitions. The DB4 GT was lighter, more powerful, and faster than its DB4 base car, but for Aston Martin, they wanted to get one up on Ferrari and produce the ultimate expression of the DB4 for racing. They turned to Carrozzeria Zagato, a highly specialized coachbuilder out of Milan, Italy, to produce the “DB to end all DBs,” the 1961 to 1962 Aston Marting DB4 GT Zagato. Hand-finished aluminum bodywork, a longer nose, a more pronounced intake for added cooling, a reshaped tail end with the lights blended into the body. The aluminum inline-six engine was coaxed to give 12.1 more HP, bringing the car to 314.1 HP with a weight of just 2,701 lbs (1,225 kg).
This specific chassis, DB4GT/0190/L, is one of only six left-hand-drive versions, one of only 19 DB4 GT Zagato’s ever made, and the only one in North America. It retains the original aluminum bodywork, verified in 2015 by Stephen Archer, an Aston Martin certified historian, and the original, numbers-matched engine and chassis. It’s no wonder, then, that it was gaveled at $9,520,000 USD for such a rare and classic piece of motoring history.
#4 Tie: 1962 Ferrari 268SP Spider, Chassis 0798: $7.705 Million USD
The 1960s was the decade that saw Ferrari produce some of its most classic, most beautiful, and most sought-after cars. This 1962 Ferrari 268SP Spider is no different, being one of four similar models of open-top race cars designed to compete in prototype endurance racing. It featured a new racing engine, the Tipo 202 V8, that was placed for the first time in the middle of the car instead of the front, which displaced 2.6L and produced over 265 HP. Only three Ferrari 268SP chassis were ever built, of which two were converted to other variations of the SP prototypes for other races. This chassis, 0798, is the only Ferrari 268SP Spider to have been built as a 268SP and never converted to another configuration, making this a one-in-the-world car.
That alone justifies the car being gaveled at $7,705,000 USD, but just to sweeten it a little bit, it has the original engine, numbers-matching, as well as the original gearbox, serial number 0798-6. It is, in effect, the perfect car for a racing car collector.
#4 Tie: 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione (Scuderia Filipinetti): $7.705 Million USD
As the Ferrari vs Everyone GT wars in the 1960s ramped up, Enzo Ferrari realized that if he wanted to gain more reputation for his cars and their achievements, he would need to start selling racing cars to teams. This formed the basis of the Clienti Competizione strategy, and the first car that saw success through that program was the 1965 and 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione. This specific car is chassis 09079, with numbers matching original engine and gearbox, which has actually seen racing miles when owned by Scuderia Filipinetti racing. It was entered in the 1967 through 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning its class in 1967, as well as winning its class in both the 1969 1000 KM of Spa-Francorchamps and the 1969 500 KM of Imola. It is the 11th of only 12 models of the 275 GTB Competizione built and is the only one currently certified to race at any vintage racing event in the world, having passed all safety and mechanical tests.
In a fitting bit of irony, it was gaveled at exactly the same price as its racing cousin listed above, at $7,705,000 USD. It retains all of its original Scuderia Filipinetti sponsorship decals as they were applied in the 1960s, as well as the number 28 that was chosen by George Filipinetti himself.
#6 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Tour de France: $6.0 Million USD
The Ferrari 250 models are often considered to be the most beautiful cars ever made, either as race cars or, like this example, as a special edition grand tourer. This 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Tour de France is chassis number 1031GT with numbers-matching engine, gearbox, and rear differetial, and belongs to the “single-louvre” subtype. The 1958 models were built to celebrate a Ferrari win at the 1957 Tour de France, and featured the Tipo 128D-variant V12 engine producing 260 HP. It originally belonged to French industrialist and gentleman racer Jacques Peron, who entered it into the 1958 Tour de France endurance race and came in fourth overall. It was the 52nd car of only 72 Berlinettas built, and underwent restoration in the early 2010s at Patrick Ottis Company, a Ferrari-certified specialist restoration shop. Significantly, it won its class in the 2016 edition of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and was in the top 3 finalists for Best in Show. It only ever appeared outdoors one more time, at the 2019 Casa Ferrari Concours d’Elegance celebrations, also at Pebble Beach.
#7 1929 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix Roadster: $5.6 Million USD
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was founded in 1909 by its eponymous namesake, with the intention of creating the world’s greatest luxury road cars and championship-winning race cars. The second part of that sentence is the important bit, as, throughout the early 20th century, Bugatti race cars won multiple significant events. This specific Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix Roadster is one of those cars, being the exact car that was raced at, and won at, both the 1929 French Grand Prix at Le Mans and the 1929 Spanish Grand Prix at Circuito Lasarte. The car retains the original chassis (4938) and numbers-matching engine and supercharger (192T) and was restored using traditional 1929 materials and techniques by specialists Ivan Dutton Inc in 2006.
#8 1928 Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 S-Type Supercharged Sports Tourer: $5.4 Million USD
One thing that many car collectors at auctions care about the most is the documented history of the car. The more official paperwork, records of service, entries into events, and the like there are, the more the car usually sells for. In the auction circle, simply the words “Complete and verified history” can add hundreds, thousands, or, in this case, millions to the price. This 1928 Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 S-Type Supercharged Sports Tourer, apart from having the longest name on this list, is also the oldest car on this list. The long string of numbers in the name are significant, as they represent the off-boost horsepower, the on-boost horsepower, and the maximum on-boost horsepower of the car. It had two max power figures as at the time, you could tour at 120 HP no problem for a gentle ride in the countryside, but if you wanted to put some wind in your hair and get some “sporty” touring done, you simply set the supercharger to the maximum boost setting, and off you roared.
The engine itself is also a masterpiece, a 6.7L inline-six with 2 carburetors feeding the Roots-style supercharged air to 3 cylinders each. It was, for the day, amazingly smooth and quiet, something that was pointed out in the original sales information, with the advertising stating “Silent streams of super-power.” Due to having an accurate and complete service and ownership history, verified by multiple classic car show adjudicators and specialists, as well as being in excellent mechanical condition and only undergoing two restorations by specialists in its entire lifetime, it’s not surprising that the gavel fell at $5,395,000 USD.
#9 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet (Series I Pininfarina): $4.4 Million USD
It should come as no surprise that another Ferrari 250 GT made it into the top 10, as they are some of the most collectible cars ever made. This specific car, a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet from the very rare Series I design by Pininfarina, is chassis number 1075GT with a numbers-matching engine, and is #34 of 40 total Series I cars made. The car has been inspected by Ferrari themselves and is registered as having the authentic and original body, chassis, engine, and gearbox in the Ferrari Classiche Red Book archive. Featuring a fully functional 2.9L Tipo 128D V12 engine, it produces 220 HP, and is fully road legal on either antique or classic plates. It has won Best in Show at the 2008 Ferrari Club of America Concours in Toronto, Canada, as well as the Coppa Bella Macchina award and Platinum award at the same event. It also appeared at the 2008 Monterey Car Week Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and won its class with a perfect 100-point scorecard. It has won multiple Best in Class awards from subsequent Concours around North America, and won Best in Class in another of the prestigious top three Concours in the world, the Concorso d’Eleganza Ville d’Este at Lake Como in Italy.
Chassis 1075GT is considered to be the best surviving example of the 250 GT Cabriolet Series I Pininfarina by a long way, and the fact that it gaveled at $4,405,000 USD is not surprising in the least.
#10 1963 Shelby Cobra 289 Works Roadster, 1 of 3 Sebring Configuration: $4.1 Million USD
The 10th most expensive car sold at the 2021 Pebble Beach Auction was one of the true classics of American sports car history. One of three 1063 Shelby Cobra 289 Works Roadsters raced by the factory team at Sebring with its more powerful engine and tighter steering rack over the “normal” 289, this specific car, chassis CSX2129, has the storied pedigree that is the stuff of race car collector dreams. This exact car was driven by both the inimitable Bob Bondurant and the legendary Ken Miles in 1963 to a total of nine podium finishes, including a win at the 1963 Lake Garnett Race in Kansas, with all race entries and finishing positions documented and certified in the Shelby American Registry. It was raced in SCCA competition by privateer teams from 1964 to 1966, and then was sold to a private owner in 1968.
It was sold once more in 2011, and was restored to the original 1963 Ken Miles #98 livery, and has made appearances around the world in many Concours d’Elegance, as well as being at the 2012 Goodwood Revival where it was raced in the revival race. When the car was raced by two almost mythical names in American motorsports history, as well as being one of only three of a series of cars modified by Carroll Shelby himself for the 1963 12 Hours of Sebring… the gavel price of $4,130,000 makes complete sense.
