Ten Most Expensive Cars Ever Auctioned


1962 Ferrari 330 Testa Rossa In the last three decades, the selling of great collector cars at auctions has flourished. More of the world's finest collectibles have found their way to the great auction houses, to be sold to the highest bidder.

A number of the traditional fine arts auctioneers such as Christie's, Bonhams and Coys have established Motoring Departments where they hold catalog sales. The cars and automobilia to be auctioned are detailed in beautifully bound catalogs with full-color photos of the cars being offered. Usually an expert in the marque, or vehicle make, writes a brief description of the car with one or more accompanying photographs, both current and historical. These descriptions cover the history of the marque, the historical importance of the particular car, its provenance, its restoration and maintenance history, and a description of its current condition. The auction house also estimates a range for the vehicle's expected selling price.

For the cars with significant historical relevance, the description can run several pages, and on occasion, a special catalog will be issued for a single car, or for a collection from one collector or museum. The catalog for a particular auction is available from the auction company for $40 to $70, which also admits two people to the previews and auction. To become a bidder, a separate vetting process and fees, involving bank guarantees and credit checks, are required. The catalog provides interesting background information on the cars and becomes a valuable resource for collectors and future collectors everywhere.

Following are links to details about ten cars that have sold for some of the highest prices attained at auction. This list was compiled with the assistance of Sports Car Market magazine, a publication whose reporters attend and report on some 60 collector-car auctions a year. Annually, they provide detailed reports on more than 2,000 cars, incorporating those cars that sold and those that didn't. The descriptions and details are sourced from the auction catalogs, firsthand observations and magazines contemporary with the sales.

1. 1931 Bugatti Royale Kellner Coupe Year/ Marque/ Model/ Body:
1931 Bugatti Royale Kellner Coupe


Sold For: $8,700,000

City: London, England
Date: November 1987






Ettore Bugatti, the founder and genius behind the Bugatti car company, produced cars from 1913 to 1939. His Royale had a 12.7-liter engine, more than 770 cubic inches, a 15-foot wheelbase and weighed 7,000 pounds. It was planned on a monumental scale, to provide superlative motoring at a price within reach only of royalty, a 1931 price of $45,000 that would be equivalent today to around $700,000. Ettore vowed to better the standards of such great marques as Rolls and Mercedes.

Six were built, four sold and two ended up in his estate, preserved during World War II behind false walls on his French estate.



He kept the car in a running state in his magnificent Cunningham Museum in Costa Mesa, Calif., for more than 30 years. His entire collection was sold to Miles Collier, a racing-car aficionado who later decided to sell the car: It was the headliner in Christie's Ten Important Motor Cars Auction in 1987 at the 4,000-seat Royal Albert Hall in London. In a quick flash of bidding paddles, the car was sold to an anonymous Japanese buyer, setting the world record that 18 years later is still the highest price paid at auction for a motor vehicle.

2. 1929 Mercedes-Benz 38/250 SSK Year/ Marque/ Model/ Body:
1929 Mercedes-Benz 38/250 SSK


Sold For: $7,443,070
Company: Bonhams
City: Chichester, England
Date: September 2004








As the Mercedes people boasted, these S series cars embodied high maximum speeds and an acceleration that was considered unattainable up to that point, and provided the highest possible degree of reliability for a vehicle of its time. The car that was auctioned was a world-class, highly desirable, short-wheelbase SSK car with supercharger. It had a desirable two-seat Sports Touring coachworks by Carlton Coach Company of London.

Most important, however, was the complete known history of this model. The factory made between 31 to 35 original SSKs, many of which were destroyed during their racing careers. Because of the high value, many "bitsas" made with components of the original cars have been re-created. The Mercedes Classic Center, located in Stuttgart, Germany, is currently aware of at least 98 cars with some claim to authenticity, though experts believe that there are four, maybe five, honest SSKs in the world and only one or two perfect ones, which accounts for a huge range in sales prices. In August 2002 a car with unclear provenance, the ex-Don Ricardo 1928 SSK, sold for $662,500. What made this car so valuable was that it was one of the five remaining SSKs, though it wasn't the best one. (The current owner of the latter vehicle is rumored to have refused a $10 million purchase offer.) Thus this 1929 model was the best SSK that has been available for sale in the past decade, with $7.4 million the selling price known to date.








Year/ Marque/ Model/ Body:
1931 Bugatti Royale Berline De Voyager


Sold For: $6,500,000
Company: Harrah
City: Reno, Nev
Date: June 1986




In 1966 the late Bill Harrah, the eminent car collector and Reno gaming magnate, was asked at a collector breakfast at the famous Hershey, Pa., swap meet, "How do you like your Royale?" He replied, "Which one?" With his usual air of casualness, he announced that he owned not one but two of the most sought-after automobiles in the world. He had just bought the second car that Briggs Cunningham had purchased in the '50s, cited above.

After Harrah's death in 1984, the huge collection was largely dispersed in three auctions. At the very last one in 1986, an "Evening Royale" was held in a dimly lit hall, with a huge ice sculpture of the Royale's symbolic standing-elephant hood ornament. For $35 anyone could attend, but the party was meant for the 36 bidders with little gold stars on their badges, indicating the ability to bid over $1 million.

At that time, the highest price paid for an art object was $11.2 million, and the betting pools had wagers of up to $20 million for what had once been Ettore Bugatti's personal limousine.

Bidding opened slowly, stalled at $5 million, and then Jerry Moore, a Texan shopping center developer, bid $6.5 million, adding the Royale to his immense collection. Later, Moore bought two Duesenbergs for $1.4 million, adding to his stable of 26 collectible cars.





4. 1962 Ferrari 330 TRI/LM Testa Rossa Year/ Marque/ Model/ Body:
1962 Ferrari 330 TRI/LM Testa Rossa


Sold For: $6,490,000
Company: RM Auctions
City: Monterey, Calif
Date: August 2002




"The most famous 'one-off' in Ferrari history, which won Le Mans in 1962," is how Cavallino magazine, a publication devoted solely to Ferraris, described this car in 1989. It was restored to its 1962 Le Mans configuration by the French Ferrari collector Pierre Bardinon in 1974. The 330 was raced at the Goodwood Hill Climb in 2002 by Phil Hill, the first American Formula 1 world champion driver, nearly 40 years after his decisive victory at Le Mans. Described in the catalog as "simply the most important Ferrari ever offered for public sale," it brought the highest auction price ever achieved by a Ferrari.



5. 1966 Ferrari 330 P3 Year/ Marque/ Model/ Body: 1966 Ferrari 330 P3
Sold For: $5,616,000
Company: Christie's
City: Pebble Beach, Calif
Date: August 2000




The car is from motor racing's golden era of the no-holds-barred big displacement sports-prototypes. The 330 P3 had an all-new V-12, with newly developed Lucas fuel injection, cached inside an aluminum semi-monocoque chassis body. It was a winner, and the body is recognized as one of the most pure and beautiful ever created.

Henry Ford spent millions to beat the Ferrari prototypes, or P cars, with his Ford GT40s after his efforts to buy Ferrari were spurned. One of the most recognized victories in the Ferrari's long racing history was at the 1967 Daytona 24-hour race, where three P cars crossed the finish line in formation 1-2-3. This P3 occupied the third spot behind two P4s.

After a long retirement, it was restored once again and in 1999 was entered in four vintage events. So if you want to wear a red Ferrari driving suit in the pits, and sit where legendary drivers once sat, the price tag is around $5 million.




6. 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Year/ Marque/ Model/ Body: 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO
Sold For: $5,500,000
Company: World Classic
City: Las Vegas
Date: November 1991




"I think this car sold for less than its worth; it should have brought $6.5 million to $7.5 million," said Don Williams, an authority on collector cars, in the November 1991 issue of the now defunct newsletter Automotive Investor. Williams at the time was one of the co-owners of the World Classic auction company and a major seller of some of the world's finest cars. Today most experts peg the value of any one of the 39 GTOs (Ferraris not Pontiacs) at $10 million to $15 million. But there have been no auction sales for 14 years, and 1991 was the low point in the collector market after the U.S. stock market collapse in January 1991. Prior to that, unsubstantiated stories circulated that a Japanese collector had paid $15 million for one.

Ask automobile enthusiasts what the greatest name in cars is, and most will answer the Ferrari. No other comes close to the Ferrari's record when it comes to building fast, exciting, race-winning cars. If Ferrari makes the greatest cars, what then is the greatest Ferrari?





7. 1930 Bentley Speed Six Year/ Marque/ Model/ Body: 1930 Bentley Speed Six
Sold For: $5,109,700
Company: Christie's
City: LeMans, France
Date: July 2004





Prior to the decline of the British Empire, there was a vibrant English motor industry: W.O. Bentley, along with his wonderful cars, was at his pinnacle. He won the 24 Heures du Mans five times, four of them consecutively. This car is one of four "Works" Speed Sixes that Bentley specifically constructed to contest for the 1930 season. It won the Double Twelve, a 24-hour race at Brooklands, and went on to come in second at Le Mans that year, successfully beating the Mercedes SSK entry.

A largely original and unrestored car, it is regarded as the finest and most important surviving Works Bentley. This was auctioned at Christie's in 2004 and resulted in a record price paid for a British car.


8. 1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster Year/ Marque/ Model/ Body: 1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster
Sold For: $4,455,000
Company: Gooding
City: Pebble Beach, Calif
Date: August 2004





In an era of record-setters, Ab Jenkins and his Duesenberg Special set a prodigious number for his beloved Bonneville Salt Flats. He and his car, "the Mormon Meteor," performed miracles in endurance speed contests. The Model J Duesenberg had already established itself as the pinnacle of American cars in the '30s and is regarded today as the greatest American collectible of the Classic era, but the Meteor was the most powerful, the fastest and the most recognized.

After its record-setting days were over Jenkins slightly modified the body by adding doors and a top, and he and his son drove the car around Utah some 20,000 miles before selling it in 1943. Before this auction, the car had been with the same family for almost 50 years. This auction may have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire one of the greatest American cars built. Bidding was spirited, jumping in $200,000 increments to $4 million, until a phone bidder prevailed, outbidding everyone with a final $50,000.


9. 1937 Alfa-Romeo 8C-2900 Year/ Marque/ Model/ Body: 1937 Alfa-Romeo 8C-2900
Sold For: $4,072,000

City: Pebble Beach, Calif
Date: August 1999




The Immortal 2.9 is the title of Simon Moore's 1987 book detailing the complete history of some 30 cars that many consider the greatest prewar sports car. The now out-of-print book will set you back $400 to $500 if you can find a copy. The car, with the right provenance and racing history, will cost you between $2 million and the $4 million as this one fetched. Rarely do any 2.9s appear at public auction.

This 2.9 Alfa had an impressive race history, coming in third at the 1939 Mille Miglia. As one critic said, "For those who appreciate the arts of mechanical design and coach building, the 2.9s are indeed the modern counterparts of a Bernini sculpture or a Rembrandt."

Christie's, at the auction house's prestigious Sunday Pebble Beach Auction, published a separate 45-page hardbound book describing this car. All this "for arguably the best car in the world," according to the late Lorin Tryon, noted collector car authority and co-chairman for many years of the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance.


10. 1956 Ferrari 410 Sport Year/ Marque/ Model/ Body: 1956 Ferrari 410 Sport
Sold For: $3,822,500
Company: RM Auctions
City: Monterey, Calif
Date: August 2001





The 410 Sport was a major departure from Ferrari's earlier sports racers; it was a different and unique automobile that established the direction Ferrari would take until the front-engined sports racers were supplanted by mid-engined designs. The sister car to this one, sold to the American sportsman John Edgar, was later put in the quick hands of Carroll Shelby. He and the vehicle went on to dominate the 1956 SCCA races, winning virtually everywhere.

The 410 Sport was unbeatable, and in Shelby's words, "it was the brute of the brutes." But Shelby also noted at the time, in the 1982 Ferrari Album No. 3, that the 410 Sport was "a car that didn't have any bad vices."

RM Auctions proudly declared that this was the first time a 410 Sport had ever been offered at auction and was in all probability a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire it.

Remember, money doesn't buy happiness. What does bring some of us happiness are toys, and some of these toys cost a great deal.