Monterey Car Week is here…and I’m not there! Unfortunately, I am a little too busy to spend time in Monterey and while the event is high on many automotive enthusiast bucket lists, it’s not terribly high on mine. I’m not a huge fan of crowded spaces and from what I understand, Monterey gets positively packed. On the plus side, I don’t need to be there to cover the 2024 Monterey Car Week Auctions leading up to the big event: The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. In today’s Market Monday, I’ll share details on the big 5 sales this year, plus 10 colorful lots that stood out in their catalogs.

I’ve visited Monterey and have fond memories of the area. As a giant nerd, I remember the Monterey Bay Aquarium the most as it’s a pivotal filming location for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The entire region has a lot to offer, but from August 9-18th it’s the dozens of car-related events that draw enthusiasts the world over. The week properly kicks off, in my opinion, with the start of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and culminates with the Pebble Beach Concours. Or as I like to call it, the West coast’s Amelia.

As with Amelia, the big auction houses all have a presence in Monterey, including RM Sotheby’s who has vacated Amelia Island in favor of Miami in the Spring. All the major houses vie for the millions of dollars that pour into the Peninsula to be spent on dream cars or high-end investments in automotive art. Over 1,100 collector cars will be auctioned over the four days leading up to Sunday’s final car show event.

Below is a list of the major automotive auctions in Monterey this year, including their preview and auction dates. All times are Pacific Time.

While reviewing the 1,000 plus lots at the 2024 Monterey Car Week Auctions to uncover a theme or hook for this week’s post, I was struck by how many times I ran across a car in an unexpected or interesting color combination. For today’s Market Monday, I’m highlighting my top 10 unusual color combinations, or “rare shades” as we say in the Porsche world.

This icon of Porsche’s early forays into purpose-built racing cars usually wears Germany’s racing color of silver, but occasionally you’ll find one in a unique hue. This lovely restored car wears its original color of Signal Red, said to be one of only 14 painted in this color and raced by Spaniard Juan Fernández.

Alfa’s sexy V-8-powered, Gandini-designed sports car is often red (or that 1970s orange so common to many manufacturer’s palettes). I have to admit to not seeing an Oro Metallizzato or Metallic Gold example before. It looks pretty fetching on the gorgeous lines of the Montreal.

If a 1-of-16 NART racing Ferrari isn’t rare enough for you, how about a 275 GTB/4 painted in its original ‘Avorio’ finish with red interior, the same combination it was campaigned in during the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona? A welcome, if somewhat sedate departure from the norm for a racing Ferrari.

When’s the last time you saw a metallic blue Testarossa? It seems like a factory rule that 90% of Testarossas were painted red from the factory, but this lovely car is wearing its original color of Blue Chiaro over a Crema leather interior. $190-250K Is a high ask for a Testarossa in today’s market, so I can only assume RM Sotheby’s is betting on blue.

I’m starting to think someone at RM Sotheby’s had a mission to bring a bunch of unusual-colored Ferraris to Monterey this year. Crashed at one point in the past, this mint green F40 was treated to its unusual shade owing to its non-original status. After the wreck, it was restored to full factory specs and painted in this unusual, and Palm Beach-ready, pastel.

Based on the catalog description, the owner of this P1 returned the car to the factory over a year after purchase to have an exclusive exposed carbon paint finish applied. The cost of this conversion must have been astronomical, but it’s hard to argue with the result. It has to be one of the most beautiful and captivating finishes I’ve ever seen on a motor vehicle.

One of only 17 built, this Maserati Birdcage is the only one I’ve seen in black. It transforms one of the most beautiful car designs ever made into something mysterious and angry – almost like a 1950’s Batmobile. It’s awesome.

Painted in Heron Grey, this T6 B Coupe was treated to a lavish restoration worthy of more detailed study by yours truly. I love 356s in a combination like this, with a grey or silver exterior and green interior. The car has been nicely restored, but its asking price of $250-300K is almost Carrera money. I feel even a car this nice will struggle to reach that height in this market.

There are one or more more Gullwings at every big auction event, but apparently there’s only one ever built in Mittelgrun over gray leather. Sadly, this car currently sports a beige interior. That’s a pity, as its other combination would be a beautiful inverse of the previous car’s combo. Guided at $2-2.5M, I think the interior color change hurts bidding.

It’s clear the big houses have worked hard to bring out some amazing metal to offer in Monterey this year. After perusing the estimates, my gut says that Bonhams is being the most realistic with their guides, with a few bonkers estimates on cars that didn’t sell in previous sales. These include an optimistically guided Porsche 356 B coupe and a 1953 Porsche 356 Pre-A. The latter will struggle to hit $200K, in my opinion.

The other houses seem to be sticking with optimistic estimates that hopefully hide much lower reserves, if they have any hope of achieving a reasonable sell-through-rate. The market has shifted significantly and continues to decline into the second half of the year. If trends continue, Monterey results will be somewhat depressed by the recent stock market scare and the looming US elections.

That said, auctions are driven by emotions and not rational decision-making, so anything can happen. Best of luck to all the sellers and bidders that will be descending on the Monterey Peninsula this year!

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!