The big week ahead: an insider look at the 2024 Monterey auctions

After slightly lacklustre figures last year, slower trading in Europe in 2024 yet record-breaking results from Florida this March, predicting this week’s Pebble Beach auctions isn’t easy. Here’s our take.
 
Overall, it’s a surprisingly similar picture to 2023: around 650 entries, an average value per car of $916k (up from $887k last year), 16-17% each of Ferraris and Porsches, and over half of all the offerings at No Reserve. What’s different is the average age of entries, 1971 vs. 1964, far fewer pre-War cars and more big-ticket items on offer. This year 53 cars are hoping to be sold at $3m+; last year that figure was 45.
 
At a glance: 2024 Monterey classic car auctions*
 
Total average of estimates: $596.4m (2023, $574.6m)
Average mid-estimate price per car offered: $916k (2023, $887k)
Number of cars offered: 651 (2023, 648)
Average year of car offered: 1971 (2023, 1964)
Percentage of cars at No Reserve: 53% (2023, 52%)
Average estimate per car for top 20 lots by value: $8,825,000 (2023, $7,093,750)
Number/percentage of Ferraris: 103/16% (2023, 107/16%)
Number/percentage of Porsches: 111/17% (2023, 79/12%)
Number/percentage of pre-War entries: 77/12% (2023, 139/21%)
2023 gross: $363,059,670 after post-sales
2023 percentage sold by number: 82% after post-sales
 
*Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding and RM Sotheby’s
 
Thankfully last year’s face-off with four events battling each other concurrently during Friday won’t be repeated. Broad Arrow starts on Wednesday night with a follow-up the evening after, RM runs auctions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Gooding on Thursday and Friday. Bonhams has a single-day auction on Friday that includes a convoy of around 40, slightly confused No Reserve muscle cars, surely lost somewhere off Route 66 heading for a January auction in Arizona.
 
Let’s take a closer look:
 
The headliners. On ticket price alone but also wow factor, Gooding’s 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider by Touring (a fair $16m to $20m) sits at the top of the tree. Its recent adventures in a stolen trailer and subsequent recovery by the FBI shouldn’t materially affect its value, and although pre-War collecting is increasingly being likened to the Old Masters art market, the quality of this ‘2.9’ transcends passing trends. The Californians have another 1930s supercar, the $9m to $11m 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante, an alternative to the dramatic Alfa Romeo in their day but without the bragging rights of 8C 2.9 ownership in 2024.
 
Other than Broad Arrows’s 1997 Porsche 911 GT1 racer ($8.5m to $10.5m) the rest of the $10m+ club comes from Maranello. Two covered-headlight Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spiders will compete for bidders’ attention in Monterey. RM’s original grey car is the first SWB Spider built and has a hardtop and vaguely defined “competition-specification engine”. Gooding’s is unfortunately bright red but was born dark blue and also had a hardtop, now possibly missing in action. Both are Ferrari Classiche-certified with matching numbers and in the $17m zone, with RM’s a little stronger on estimate due to its special motor and first-of-the-breed status. That’s the right ballpark but note the Gooding car was sold for $16.83m in August 2015, which says something about the recent trajectory of this ‘blue chip’ model.
 
Road-racers. RM’s base at the Portola has long been the place to find exotic 1950s Ferrari and Maserati sports cars. This year, the Canadians have a lesser-known 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport at “In excess of $15m”. This big bruiser comes from a mature enthusiast selling off his collection (others are dotted around the salerooms in Monterey) and has already been floated around the trade. We expect it to sell and think it offers value. In 2021, RM sold a similar car for $22m – against an estimate of $25m to $30m. There are also a very pretty 1957 Ferrari 625 TRC (RM, $8m to $11m), underappreciated 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Pinin Farina Spider (RM, $2.75m to $3.25m) and rare 1957 Ferrari 857 Sport (Gooding, $6m to $8m). All top-level event eligible, attractive and restored to an inch of their lives, there could be buying opportunities here in a currently less-fashionable sector.
 
Pre-War icons. Reflecting a changing market, there are fewer older cars: surprisingly not one WO Bentley, for example. The usual raft of medium-level ‘Great Gatsby’ Americana is there, but no longer the headlining feature it once was. A pair of Alfa Romeo 8C 2300s backs up the 2.9 poster car. RM’s 2300 Lungo ‘Spider’ (more accurately a roadster given its English clothing) is bodied by the obscure Eagle Coach Works, has never been fully restored and is said to retain its “coachwork and all of its original major mechanical components”. Gooding offers a 1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Cabriolet by Figoni with “its original chassis, engine, factory data tags, and open Figoni coachwork”. These are both interesting cars that have luckily escaped being turned into fake short-chassis racers, and probably worth their $5m estimates, but not easy to sell in an increasingly polarised market.
 
Broad Arrow has a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C ‘Teardrop’ Coupé for $6.5m to $8m; Gooding a 1938 Delahaye 135m Torpedo Roadster for $2m to $3m. Both are sculptural designs by Figoni & Falaschi, but the (actually conservative) estimates should give you a clue that one isn’t the most spectacular design available, and the other isn’t the most virgin survivor.
 
Bird watching. When was the last time a genuine Maserati Tipo 60/61 ‘Birdcage’ was seen at a public auction? Like so many, Gooding’s Tipo 61, delivered new to American car dealer/racer Loyal Katskee, has lived an action-packed life. It has its original chassis and bodywork but not the original engine and transaxle, as is often the case. Once the car to have in historic racing, the plague of Jaguar and Lister replicas has made it less competitive today. But as a real drivers' track car, in sinister period black livery, with the Trident badge and trademark spidery chassis, it has few equals. Est. $5m to $6m, steep but not impossible.
 
Overloading the bandwagon. Five Ferrari 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ Berlinettas and three 365 GTS/4 ‘Daytona’ Spiders, three Ferrari 330 GTSs, six Ferrari 550/575 Maranellos, plus eight Mercedes 300 SL Roadsters – if you can see it disappearing, it’s usually too late to jump on.
 
Of the 300 SL Roadsters, though, one is a rare original Rudge wheel car (fewer than 30 made) in factory black over natural leather, delivered new with a hardtop. RM states it “retains its numbers-matching engine, body, chassis, front axles, and gearbox; hardtop; factory Karl Baisch luggage; five original Rudge wheels dated 9/57; and complete tool set”. At a bullish $2.6m to $3.2m, it would come close to setting a record for the model but could well do it. And look out for Gooding’s Verde Scuro (Dark Green) over Pelle Beige US-spec 1972 ‘Daytona’ in at $700k to $800k without reserve, the worst spec but in the best colours. This car was red and converted to European look when sold by RM for £470,400 ($738k) in London ten years ago.
 
More horses. In addition to the ‘blue chip’ entries there’s something for everyone including three Dino GTSs headed by a $650k to $850k ‘Chairs and Flares’ at RM, but not a single 250 GT SWB Berlinetta. Gooding, though, has a handsome early ‘pre-TdF’ 250 GT first raced by Alfonso de Portago ($4.5m to $5.5m) and a 1958 250 GT Tour de France – three-louvre/covered-headlamp – for $5.5m to $6.5m. These, and RM’s open-headlamp 1959 250 GT LWB California Spider at similar money, illustrate a new reality in pricing for 1950s Ferrari GT cars, but we believe they have a solid future.
 
RM is running the overlooked but fascinating 1967 Ferrari 365 California chassis 9935 over the block again after its No Sale in Miami this March. Then it was $4m to $4.5m, this week it can be bought for a keen $2.75m to $3.25m which now represents real value for Ferrari’s last truly coachbuilt model (compare it to a humble 330 GTS if you disagree).
 
Not over ’til it’s over. Appropriately in US Presidential election year, the Art of the Deal will play a big part in the final results. We remember meeting auction house representatives late on Concours Sunday night in 2023 assuring us that the ‘X’ or the ‘Y’ had been sold post-sale, but of course they could not reveal the price. The March 2024 Florida sales saw after-auction horse-trading reach new heights. Expect more of the same in Monterey.
 
Haven’t we met before? In addition to the Gooding SWB California Spider, many entries are familiar auction faces. It’s interesting to compare prices then and now, some of which are surprising. Buying cars from one auction and just waiting for another isn’t what it once was:

* 1960 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Cabriolet at RM, $6m to $7m. Sold for $6.4m in 2015.
* 1973 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 ‘Daytona’ Spider at Gooding, $2.9m to $3.4m. Sold for $3.3m in 2015, sold for $2.5m in 2023.
* 1968 Ferrari 330 GTS at Broad Arrow, $1.9m to $2.2m. Sold for $3.3m in 2015.
* 1970 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ at RM, $650k to $750k No Reserve. Sold for $583k in 2013, sold for $1m in 2015
* 1955 Ferrari 250 GT Competizione at Gooding, $4.5m to $5.5m. Sold for $7.2m in 2013.
* 1938 Talbot-Lago ‘Teardrop Coupé’ by Figoni & Falaschi at Broad Arrow, $6.5m to $8.5m. Sold for $4.6m in 2010.
* 1938 Delahaye 135m Torpedo Roadster by Figoni & Falaschi at Gooding, $2m to $3m. Sold for $1.3m in 1999.
 
Expect your usual K500 day-by-day reporting on all the action in Monterey as it happens. We look forward to meeting many subscribers there.

You can download a complete lotlist of all cars offered by Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding & Co and RM Sotheby’s sorted by make and model HERE.

Monterey Week 2024 auction schedule:

Mecum – sales Thursday 15 August to Saturday 17 August. Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa, 1 Old Golf Course Road, Monterey, CA 93940. Gates open at 08:00. See mecum.com

Broad Arrow – sale Wednesday 14 August, Thursday 15 August. Monterey Jet Center, 300 Sky Park Dr, Monterey, CA 93940. Auctions at 17:30 Wednesday, 15:00 Thursday. Preview Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. See broadarrowauctions.com

Bonhams – sale Friday 16 August. Quail Lodge & Golf Club's West Field, 27050 Rancho San Carlos Road, Carmel, CA 93923. Auction at 11:00. Preview Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. See bonhams.com

Gooding & Co – sales Friday 16 August, Saturday 17 August. Pebble Beach Parc du Concours, Corner of Stevenson Drive and Portola Road, Pebble Beach CA 93953. Auctions at 16:00 Friday, 11:00 Saturday. Preview Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. See goodingco.com

RM Sotheby’s – sales Thursday 15 August to Saturday 17 August. Portola Hotel & Spa and Monterey Conference Center, 2 Portola Plaza, Monterey, CA 93940. Auctions at 17:30 Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Preview Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. See rmsothebys.com

Photo by Alamy