📊 The collector-car market has not rediscovered indiscriminate enthusiasm.
It has become more selective—and more expensive at the top end.
Monterey’s record-breaking results confirm that serious capital still chases the irreplaceable.
Elsewhere, buyers are inspecting provenance, condition and price with the enthusiasm of a tax partner reviewing lunch expenses.
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♔ The headline: Monterey Car Week produced approximately $755 million in auction sales — more than double the previous year’s total.
At the sharp end, records behaved like champagne corks.
A 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe achieved $42.9 million; Ferrari’s unique electric Luce ‘Chassis 0 reached $40 million for charity; and a McLaren F1 sold for $34.7 million.
♔ The signal: This was not a broad market rising serenely with the tide. Capital was concentrating around rarity, provenance, and cultural importance.
♔ What buyers favour:
▪️Cars that cannot readily be replaced.
▪️Exceptional histories, specification and originality.
▪️Recognised icons capable of attracting global bidders.
♔ What remains exposed:
▪️Merely good cars carrying exceptional-car estimates.
▪️Modern limited editions whose rarity requires explanation.
▪️Restorations priced without regard to the market’s preference for authenticity.
♔ Fisherley’s view: The market remains liquid at the top, but increasingly forensic below it.
Buyers have money; what they lack is patience for optimistic cataloguing.
♔ The bottom line: Quality is selling.
📍 ‘Significance is soaring. Mediocrity, even when beautifully photographed, is discovering the reserve price.’
