It happened in Monterey 2019: All the numbers

Probably with a sigh of relief, the Big Three auction houses have packed up their tents for another year on the Monterey Peninsula. Despite bumper catalogues, gross figures were down and a smaller percentage of cars sold.

The combined gross for the Big Three has slipped by a third, even with an additional 111 cars to sell. Sell-through is down eight percentage points across the board and the number of $1m+ cars finding new owners has dropped from 56 to 41.

We usually suggest you pour a drink while digesting how the Monterey Week auctions panned out in hard figures. Better make it a stiff one.

You can download a list of all cars sold by Bonhams, Gooding & Co and RM Sotheby's sorted by make and model HERE.

Monterey Week Sales 2019 – Bonhams, RM Sotheby’s, Gooding combined (2018)

Gross: $216,053,690 ($310,995,690)
Number of cars not sold: 134 (76)
Number of cars withdrawn: 4 (2)
Total number of cars: 543 (432)
Number sold: 409 (356)
Percentage cars sold by number: 75% (82%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 48% (67%)
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 76% (63%)
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 88% (80%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 7% (10%)
Average price of cars sold: $528,249 ($873,583)
Average year of cars offered: 1967 (1967)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 48% (47%)

Monterey Week Sales 2019, Top 10 Cars Sold by Value

1. RM 1994 McLaren F1 'LM-Specification' $19,805,000
2. Gooding 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider $9,905,000
3. RM 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta $8,145,000
4. RM 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype $7,650,000
5. Gooding 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Series I Cabriolet $6,800,000
6. RM 1965 Aston Martin DB5 'Bond Car' $6,385,000
7. Gooding 1975 Ferrari 312T $6,000,000
8. RM 1960 Porsche 718 RS 60 Werks $5,120,000
9. Gooding 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta $5,100,000
10. Bonhams 1951 Ferrari 340 America Coupé Speciale by Vignale $3,635,000

Top 10 total: $78,545,000 (2018, $132,360,000)

Number of cars sold over $1m: 42 (2018, 56)

Bonhams at Quail Lodge, 15 – 16 August 2019 (2018)

Gross: $31,410,840 ($37,021,850)
Number of cars not sold: 53 (17)
Number of cars withdrawn: 4 (0)
Total number of cars: 219 (135)
Number sold: 166 (118)
Percentage cars sold by number: 76% (87%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 43% (57%)
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 81% (60%)
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 93% (75%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 4% (9%)
Average price of cars sold: $142,428 ($274,236)
Average year of cars offered: 1964 (1964)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 56% (53%)

RM Sotheby’s at the Monterey Conference Center, 15 – 17 August 2019 (2018)

Gross: $107,818,110 ($158,109,330)
Number of cars not sold: 49 (25)
Number of cars withdrawn: 0 (0)
Total number of cars: 184 (150)
Number sold: 135 (125)
Percentage of cars sold by number: 73% (83%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 47% (67%)
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 64% (66%)
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 75% (83%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 11% (7%)
Average price of cars sold: $798,653 ($1,264,875)
Average year of cars offered: 1974 (1967)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 43% (45%)

Gooding at Pebble Beach, 16 – 17 August 2019 (2018)

Gross: $76,824,740 ($115,864,500)
Number of cars not sold: 32 (25)
Number of cars withdrawn: 0 (2)
Total number of cars: 140 (147)
Number sold: 108 (122)
Percentage cars sold by number: 77% (83%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 51% (69%)
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 85% (60%)
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 95% (75%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 4% (12%)
Average price of cars sold: $711,340 ($949,709)
Average year of cars offered: 1963 (1970)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 39% (41%)

NOTE: Updated with post-sales 23/8/2019

Photos by K500