The final car to cross the block in California has completed its journey down the ramp, meaning the 2025 Monterey Auctions are officially over. The closing numbers are still being tabulated as the event-capping concours unfolds today in Pebble Beach. As we’ve done for a couple of years now, we’re providing an early look at the results for each auction house, plus some high-level takeaways on the state of the collector car market. There’s a lot to go over, so let’s dig in.

These are preliminary numbers from the good folks at Hagerty, so a very thankful tip of the hat to them for doing the math here. Opinions and commentary on the results for each house are my own, based on my own analysis of the numbers and each sale’s catalog.

Delivering the comeback story of the year was Bonhams’s Monterey Auction, held at the prestigious Quail gathering. Last year was so disappointing in terms of results that one wondered why the British auction house didn’t just pack it in. Bonhams bested every other auction house for the biggest year over year improvement in sales. Its $44.2 million dollar haul and a 96% sell-through rate is a huge increase over 2024’s $12.5M and 77% STR.

That’s a 250% increase in dollar volume. I consider Bonhams the biggest winner of Monterey 2025 not due to the money taken in, but the way they did it. Yes, more lots were offered this year, but two other major factors contributed to their success, in my opinion. First, they secured three major collections and second, they offered the bulk of those cars at no reserve. That is a massive triumph for their consignments team.

It wasn’t necessarily good for the sellers, however. Some cars from the Vic Edelbrock sold for well under their auction house estimates and their market averages. Perhaps the saddest was the Ex-Bob Bondurant 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Z06 which hammered for $400,000 against an estimate of $500-700K. The Future Classic Collection did very well, however, with a no reserve sale of the 800-mile 2020 Bugatti Divo reaching $7,775,000 or a world-record price of $8.6M after buyer’s premium.

If you’ve been rooting for RM Sotheby’s ever since Hagerty booted them from Amelia Island, then you’ll be happy to see that they blew away their competition in Monterey. The Canada-based subsidiary of this British-founded* international company beat their 2024 results with an 85% sell-through rate, $163.8M in total dollar volume and an average sale price of $1,213,288. While the dollar volume gains are a modest 7% over last year, RM Sotheby’s had a 35% increase in average sale price and did it with nearly 50 fewer lots than last year.

RM Sotheby’s is just killing it when it comes to acquiring rare, beautiful, and valuable consignments. Many of the 156 lots offered in Monterey were high-dollar blue-chip collector cars, but the top sale was a brand new car. The 2025 Ferrari Daytona SP3 “Tailor Made” was the last one made by the factory in an exclusive allocation that ended with 599 cars. It was a charity lot donated to benefit the Ferrari Foundation’s educational programs. The supercar was offered without a buyer’s premium penalty and sold for a rather breathtaking $26,000,000. Wow.

If you looked only at sell-through rates, the results for Gooding at Monterey this year could be interpreted as “steady” at an unchanged 81% year over year. The house had a few less lots on offer than 2024, but saw a 13% increase in dollar volume, boosting total earnings to $119.1M from $105.3M last year. The quality of the consignments also improved, with a 16% increase in average sale price.

Gooding Christie’s collected an incredible selection of Ferrari motorcars for this year’s sale, the best of which had to be the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Competizione Alloy Spider. This mouthful of a car was built by Scaglietti and was just one of two of these iconic and rare drop-tops built in short-wheelbase form with competition equipment. It hammered for a record-setting — for the market and for Gooding — $25,305,000. I hope everyone who had the opportunity to see this car at the preview appreciates being able to witness such a car in the flesh.

The Hagerty-owned and founded auction house had a solid 2024 sale at Monterey, but saw a dip in results for 2025. Last year’s 83% sell-through rate became 76% in 2025, and total dollar volume was down from $61.3M to $49.8M, a 19% decrease. The average sale price also sank from $490,052 last year to $389,133 this year. More lots were offered this year, which may have diluted things a bit. My gut tells me that relative to the other sales, Broad Arrow had more high-dollar cars with reserves than the others and lacked the 8-figure consignments seen at its competitors.

Broad Arrow’s top car for the weekend was the 2005 Maserati MC12 Spyder we featured a couple weeks ago. It hammered for $5,202,500, followed by a 2008 Koenigsegg CCXR and a 1991 911 Reimagined by Singer.

The largest auction of the week was Mecum’s sale, which totaled 372 lots compared to 485 last year. This event saw the weakest results of the 5 big houses, with a 25% decrease in total sales volume — from $50.2M in 2024 to $37.5M this year. Sell-through rate was actually up, but the average sale price was down by a similar 26% year over year.

As with Broad Arrow, it seems that Mecum suffered from a dearth of top-of-the-market consignments in the high 6 figures and up. Mecum brings loads of cars to its event and the majority tend to be in the 5-figure space, so it’s not surprising that their average sale price is so low. There were still some amazing cars on offer.

The top sale was a rather nicely restored Lamborghini Miura P400 S in a rather unusual color combination of Pistachio Verde — an electric yellow-green — over a blue interior. It hammered for $1,800,000 or just under $2M after buyer’s premium. It’s worth noting that this same Miura was offered at Kissimmee in January where it went unsold with a high bid of $1.6M, and at last year’s Mecum Monterey where it was bid to $1.8M. Congratulations to the high bidder because this is an amazing Miura.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a preview of the Monterey auctions and highlighted my top 10 favorite cars going up for sale this week. I admit that I am a contrarian by nature and like the weird stuff. So aside from a modern Maserati, the cars chosen here were a bit…singular in taste. Let’s see how they did against their estimates.

What I said: My favorite find in this year’s auctions is this beautiful wedge-shaped concept from Giorgetto Giugiaro’s Italdesign studio for Lotus. The Etna was never produced, but the interior design is incredibly futuristic and exciting, and it’s a running and driving vehicle! Estimated at $250,000-$400,000, as a Lotus fan I’ll be watching this one closely.

This super cool Giugiaro-designed wedge concept for Lotus sold for $224,000 including buyer’s premium. A bit below the estimate, but these one-off cars are very hard to value.

What I said: One of just 50 MC12 Stradale road cars built by Maserati for homologation racing purposes, this car is literally a race car for the street. The contrarian in me is drawn to this car over similar cars from Porsche or Ferrari, hence its appearance in this list. Estimated at $4.8-5.5M, this V12 beast is as exclusive as it gets.

This rare trident-wearing supercar sold for $5,202,500 including buyer’s premium, or right toward the top end of its estimate. Well done, Broad Arrow!

What I said: It’s not the only Espada crossing the block at Monterey, but it’s the only one painted in pink! The paint color will either hold this car back, or rocket it to insane heights.

I hedged on this one, predicting either a surprisingly low or high result. It truly could have gone either way, but if you wagered that this car would be held back by its color, you were probably right. It sold for $66,000 all-in, or well under its low estimate. It was offered at no reserve and even with the color I’d call this well bought.

What I said: I like my Ferraris small, egg-crate grilled, and wire wheel-festooned and this car delivers. Featuring a Colombo V12 and superleggera bodywork, the car is estimated to hammer between $3.25 and $4M.

Sadly no one in the bidding tent seemed to see what I see in this lovely little open-top Ferrari roadster. The car was bid to just $2M and failed to sell.

What I said: I’m a sucker for a large domestic car that’s been treated to coachwork from an Italian automotive design house. While this car may not be the most beautiful, the bodywork is certainly more flowing and European than the original steel body from Chrysler. There’s no estimate, but these cars routinely sell for half a million dollars and up.

Unsurprisingly, this car failed to launch with a high bid of just $170,000. It’s a pity, but there’s a buyer out there for this somewhere.

What I said: I’m not really a big hot rod guy, but this car speaks to me. With its wire wheels, cycle fenders, short wheelbase, and drop top it cuts a form that is quite European. With an impressive provenance, this gorgeous genuine dry lake vintage racer is estimated at $70,000-$100,000.

I’m glad someone else appreciated the looks and history of this awesome little roadster. It sold for $79,200 including buyer’s premium, close to the low end of its estimate.

What I said: Here’s a car for someone with my preferences for concepts and prototypes but has a bank account to match their aspirations. I’d personally rather have this car over the one it ultimately helped develop. You’ll need $900,000-$1,200,000 to make it yours.

Looks like I’m not alone in my appreciation for test mules. This development vehicle for the iconic Ferrari LaFerrari sold for $1,215,000 including buyer’s premium, or right at the top of its estimate. 

What I said: A De Tomaso race car? Yes, please. I’d much rather see this pull up to a car meet than the nearly ubiquitous Pantera. Estimated at $750,000-$1M, this may be the most beautiful De Tomaso car I’ve seen.

The reserve on this one was either set rather low, or the seller was keen to move it, as it sold for $720,000 including buyer’s premium, a good bit below the low estimate. Congratulations to the new owner; I hope to see this at the lawn at a future concours because it’s stunning.

What I said: My love for movie cars is well-known, and this one was driven by Tony Curtis in the film Johnny Dark. From its bathtub-like streamlined shape and elegant watch-like instruments, this car is stunning. You’ll need between $275,000 and $325,000 to bring it home to your garage.

Looks like I missed the “no reserve” tag next to his beauty. I’m astonished, but a lucky buyer took this home for a mere $123,200, or less than half the low estimate. INCREDIBLY well bought. No doubt the seller wept that night.

What I said: I’ll never own a pre-war Bugatti, unless the market for these absolutely collapses. I don’t see that happening, especially for rare and significant vehicles like this aero-engined test car designed by Ettore’s factory during World War One. Passing through multiple collections, the car is restored and has run at Goodwood and other events. Estimated at $700,000-$1,300,000, whoever purchases this will be a caretaker of a true piece of motoring history.

Bonhams’ great coup this year was just how many sellers it convinced to offer their cars at no reserve. This aero-engined beast hammered sold for just $285,500 or a staggering $400,000 below the low estimate. For an aero-engined pre-war Bugatti, even if it’s a bit of an assemblage, this is still a bargain price. Dollar for dollar I’d much rather have this than a Brescia.

To fully analyze the results from the 2025 Monterey Auctions, I’d want to study a full set of data, comparing the results for each car to both house estimates and pre-sale market averages before making any hard conclusions. I am investigating ways to access such data for the future. Regardless, the results aren’t fully reported yet so my Monday Morning analysis is based on the data presented here as well as my observations of the auction house’s online streams of the events.

In short, there’s much to be positive about. It seems Monterey’s results suggest that the overall market slide has arrested and possibly rebounded slightly as we enter the final months of 2025. The stock market is far more stable now than it was in the Spring time, as tariff concerns weighed heavily on investors. That fear still exists, but policy moves by the administration suggest pragmatism, and I think we saw that in the bidding.

After looking at a cross-section of sales, my gut tells me that the high end of the market is where most of the optimism is. The 5 and 6-figure cars did pretty well, but the lower end of the market seems to be suffering a bit more from economic pressures. If we get a rate cut in September, we may see a little wallet-loosening in the Fall sales at Hershey and Scottsdale. It also seems that Rad-era enthusiasm has never been higher and classics are falling a little more out of favor at these big tentpole sales. This is a trend to watch.

Have a fantastic week, everyone.

Wolf and Mare provides car finding, appraisals, and auction services for buyers and sellers of collector European cars. If you’re interested in acquiring an overseas car, give us a call or drop a line!