Making sense of the 2026 Florida auctions

The figures are in. It seems a long time ago in Miami when auctioneer Malcolm Barber hammered an antique American LaFrance fire appliance sold for $26,000. Since then, nearly 400 cars have crossed the block generating over $250m in combined sales for Broad Arrow, Gooding Christie’s and RM Sotheby’s. Some results have been extraordinary. Where does that leave the collectors car market in spring 2026?
 
Looking at the stats, the year-on-year improvement over 2025 is clear. The gross (with more cars) is up, sell-through up, fewer entries are selling below low estimate, more are beating top estimate. These are the type of metrics last seen here in 2015, when the market was peaking, though even a year earlier, in 2014, a quarter of the Amelia Island catalogue listings broke through the upper guide price. Then, in the land of the landaulet, phaeton and rear-entrance tonneau, the average year of car offered was 1954. In 2026 it’s 1975 and all the buzz is about showroom-fresh supercars mere mortals cannot just walk in off the street and buy.
 
Or is it? Arguably the two landmark results last week were for a 1972 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV ($6.605m, est. $3.5m to $4m) and a 1974 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS ($1.325m, est. $900k to $1.1m). The next round of international sales will be in Monaco at the end of April. Then it’s Villa d’Este and Monterey Week, 12 months on from when a brand-new Ferrari Daytona SP3 ‘Tailor Made’ sold for $26m. In the interim, if you have one of the following in your garage, where do you stand today?
 
* Ferrari 250 GT California Spider SWB. Two solid results this year, and the likelihood of a third coming up, when RM’s $16.5m to $19m example crosses the block at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco, cement the model as a must-have in any Big League Ferrari collection, be it of older cars or new. The same cannot be said of its more mature, long-wheelbase brother: Gooding sold a covered-headlamp LWB for $9.9m in 2019, the last two traded publicly at $7m to $7.25m. It looks (and drives) not that differently from the SWB variant, but simply isn’t considered “the ultimate version” so the value gap is widening.
 
* Ferrari Dino 246 GTS. Taking out the massive figure recorded by the one-of-one Porsche Signal Orange US-spec, ‘Chairs and Flares’ GTS at Gooding last Friday, the market has stabilised. Neither of the other two ‘chairs’ GTSs beat $800k. But it’s still a bright outlook for any GTS in an interesting colour offered at the right price, particularly if to prettier Europe spec.
 
* Porsche Carrera GT. One of the winners. Two regular silver cars traded around $3.2m while a paint-to-sample car sold for $6.7m. In 2024 these were averaging $1.5m.
 
* Lamborghini Miura. Expect to pay big – maybe not always $6.6m – money now for any SV. And watch out for a flood of poor quality, ‘mix ‘n’ match’ Miuras to come to market on the back of that result. Even the earlier Miuras in Florida, none of which were special, rose on the tide. 
 
* Early 1950s sporting. A mixed bag, but signs of life returning to what once was the high ground of collecting. The early ‘washboard’ Aston Martin DB2 going for $555k and determined bidding on the ex-Rossellini Ferrari 212 Export Spider are proof. The tired Ferrari 750 Monza ($3m) was a disappointment, but these mid-1950s four cylinder Ferraris feel antiquated and lumpy compared to sixes and twelves and often lack visual sex appeal apart from the 500 TRC.
 
* New limited-edition Ferraris. The band marches on, with the $4.2m 2017 F12tdf leading the way. Expect the slot-machine-numbers 488s, 458s, 430s and 812s in rare configurations to remain popular. 
 
* Ferrari Enzo. The flavour of the month. Maybe it’s time to cash in at $10m+ if you had bought at $4m only a couple of years ago.
 
* Ferrari F40. The model had a subdued time in Florida. It’s probably the best-driving and most iconic of all the Ferrari ‘halo cars’ but they did make over 1,300. And they are all red and often have mixed life stories.
 
* Ferrari 275 GTB. Two healthy results at $3m+ for unremarkable spec/condition/history four-cams and a no-sale for the six-carb two-cam only bought in the last few years. Like the SWB Cal Spider, the 275 GTB is an ‘inter-generational’ Ferrari that sits well alongside new cars. Over $2m paid for a red/beige US-delivered 275 GTS, usually the runt of the litter, is noteworthy.
 
* RUF, Singer and AMG market. No great fireworks this year but check out the ex-Jerry Seinfeld Mercedes-Benz 500 E that was bought for $357k. This is arguably the original AMG ‘Q-Car’ production sedan and Seinfeld’s had unrepeatable mileage.
 
* The value proposition. Further down the food chain there was some activity on Ferrari 328s and a 308 GTS. Rarer Porsche 968s now appearing at top-tier auctions will raise some older eyebrows.
 
* We missed you. No Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS, ‘Daytona’ Spider or BMW 507, and only one Duesenberg. 
 
You will notice the above majors on Ferrari, still THE marque. Finally, some thoughts from Simon:
 
“Credit where it’s due: the marketing machines of the auction houses really kicked into gear here and they did a great job. Not every Miura SV will now sell for close to $7 million, and the Florida example had a nice history but was neither a virgin nor the best spec, but it’s good to see that collectors realise that ‘classic’ models feel like attractive buys compared to the currently fashionable ‘instant collectibles’. Colours really do make cars – witness the orange Dino, black Enzo and pale blue Carrera GT which all made huge premiums over less rare coloured examples – and pre-war is alive for the right cars as proven by the Miller and the Duesenberg. Anything with four doors is normally a struggle though, unless it’s a Merc 500E… Personally I’m excited to see where the market goes next after these results: you know the saying that ‘One swallow doesn’t make a spring’ but spring does arrive sooner or later.  

“The world is in turmoil right now but in America at least that feels further away than for Europeans, and arguably in an unpredictable world assets feel safer than cash in a bank. Tariffs are also further dividing the two markets: will they still be around after the next US election? If not the playing field will level. 

“Over almost 40 years I’ve seen bubbles and declines: this feels like a good time to be selling modern cars and buying older ones for smart money wanting to improve collections long term rather than just speculate short term.”

Broad Arrow, Gooding Christie’s and RM Sotheby’s, 2026 Florida auctions combined (2025)
 
*Gross: $252,045,170 ($203,510,270)
Number of cars not sold: 31 (45)
Number of cars withdrawn: 0 (10)
Total number of cars: 395 (394)
Number sold: 364 (349)
Percentage of cars sold by number: 92% (89%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 79% (69%)
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 58% (70%)
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 74% (85%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 17% (9%)
Average price of cars sold: $692,432 ($583,124)
Average year of cars offered: 1975 (1971)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 58% (54%)
 
*Based on published results. Does not include post-auction sales listed as ‘Sold’ with no stated value. 
 
Top 10 auction sales in Florida 2026
 
1. Gooding, 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider $16,505,000
2. Broad Arrow, 2003 Ferrari Enzo $15,185,000
3. RM, 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider $7,045,000
4. RM, 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari $6,880,000
5. Broad Arrow, 2005 Porsche Carrera GT $6,715,000
6. Broad Arrow, 1972 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV $6,605,000
7. Broad Arrow, 1988 Porsche 959 Sport $5,505,000
8. RM, 1992 Ferrari F40 $5,230,000
9. RM, 2024 Bugatti Bolide $4,955,000
10. Broad Arrow, 2021 Ferrari Monza SP2 $4,955,000
 
Combined gross Top 10 sales in 2026: $79,580,000 (2025, $73,737,500)
 
RM Sotheby’s in Miami, 27 February 2026 (2025)
 
Gross: $73,910,560 ($74,413,720)
Number of cars not sold: 8 (15)
Number of cars withdrawn: 0 (4)
Total number of cars: 89 (86)
Number sold: 81 (71)
Percentage of cars sold by number: 91% (83%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 72% (68%)
Number of cars met or sold below low estimate: 37 (39)
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 46% (55%)
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 68% (79%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 12% (8%)
Average price of cars sold: $912,476 ($1,048,081)
Average year of cars offered: 1980 (1972)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 46% (40%)
 
Gooding Christies at Amelia Island, 5-6 March 2026 (2025)
 
Gross: $71,497,800 ($67,427,210)
Number of cars not sold: 9 (10)
Number of cars withdrawn: 0 (3)
Total number of cars: 132 (143)
Number sold: 123 (133)
Percentage of cars sold by number: 93% (93%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 81% (72%)
Number of cars met or sold below low estimate: 84 (103)
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 69% (77%)
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 80% (91%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 14% (6%)
Average price of cars sold: $581,283 ($506,972)
Average year of cars offered: 1969 (1963)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 67% (64%)
 
Broad Arrow at Amelia Island, 6-7 March 2026 (2025)
 
†Gross: $106,636,810 ($61,669,340)
Number of cars not sold: 14 (20)
Number of cars withdrawn: 0 (3)
Total number of cars: 174 (165)
Number sold: 160 (145)
Percentage of cars sold by number: 92% (88%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 84% (67%)
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 56% (72%)
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 71% (82%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 19% (9%)
Average price of cars sold: $666,480 ($425,306)
Average year of cars offered: 1977 (1976)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 58% (51%)
 
†Broad Arrow has declared results “totalling over $111 million” that include cars bought after the auction at undisclosed figures.
 
All quoted prices include buyer’s premium. 
 
You can download full results, sorted by make and model HERE. 
 
Photo courtesy of Gooding Christie’s