The Most Expensive Cars Sold at Auction

A trawl through the top ten car purchases of all time, through the public auction mechanism.

It must be noted that these are all bonafide ‘auctioned’ lots, as opposed to private sales, which have in the past gone for substantially more.

There are quite a few reasons for a car to pull in big bucks upon its going to market:

• Very few being made being a key one. Rarity due to this, or the age of the vehicle is integral to the price it will come in at.

• How desirable the car is, perhaps it belonged to a famous face in the past, has a documented racing pedigree, or is even a prototype. Cars owned by James, Coburn, or Steve McQueen, or raced by Stirling Moss can command a hefty price tag.

• The demand for the car and the car’s appearance. Some may be chicken-nested ‘barn finds’ that have undergone extensive refurbishment prior to their unveiling on the world stage. Original racing colours, complete with decals, on a proven race-winning car is another sure-fire banker.

• Market forces can also never be underestimated. With the surge in fuel prices, the must-have supercars of the Seventies became unfashionable, unwanted. Today however, those same white elephants can hit big digits in the car auctions of the world. Indeed, recent stats indicate that despite the vagaries of the world markets, top-end collectibles are gaining by 21% year on year, outstripping many other investment choices.

Most cars commanding the big numbers tend to be sports or racing cars, but there are a few notable exceptions to this rule.

As far back as 1973, a 1941 Mercedes-Benz 770 F-Cabriolet commanded a very solid sum for the day, at the Arizona-based auction-house ‘Kruse’: $176,000, equivalent to over $935,000 in today’s money.

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1984 and a second Merc, this time a 1936 500K Roadster, for which Christie’s raised $1,450,000.

1985 brought a 1934 Alfa Romeo Tipo B to Christie’s, going under the hammer for $2,788,513.

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1985 again and another Christie’s sale; a 1957 Aston Martin DBR2, eventually going for $3,424,490.

In 1986, Kruse auctioned-off a rare edition of the rather elegantly handled 1931 Bugatti Royale Berline de Voyage, for a massive $6,500,000.

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November 1987 and Christie’s sell a 1931 Bugatti Royale Kellner Coupe just shy of $10mill, at $9,800,000.

It was only a question of time though and in May 2008, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider passed through the RM Auction rooms to take down $10,894,900.

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May the following year saw a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa sold, again through RM Auctions, this time in Romagna, Italy, for the princely sum of $12, 402,500.

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In August of 2011, American Car Auction specialists Gooding & Company auctioned a rare 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa prototype in Pebble Beach California, to the tune of $16,390,000.

However, topping them all in July last year, a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R was sold through Bonham’s at Goodwood, for a staggering $29,600,000. A 2.5 litre 8-cylinder Formula One racing car, it was one of several that won nine Championship qualifying GP races in the ’54 and ’55 seasons.

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On balance, perhaps a surprise to find a Merc at the top then, rather than yet another Ferrari, but that’s not to say it won’t be topped again in the not too distant, the way collectible cars are going.

Now, I must go check exactly what that jalopy is under the tarp in my broke-down shed one of these days…