The 5 Priciest Classics Headed to Monterey Car Week’s Ultra-Exclusive Auction
The cheapest could go for a cool $10 million.
The Monterey Car Week classic car extravaganza is nearly upon us, and with it, the annual horse trading that occurs at the elite auctions conducted in the area where the most exotic and extreme classics change hands.
The prices of these machines can be astounding, and our friend Miles Branman compiled a list of five of the cars with the highest expected sale prices of the week for The Manual. Check out the cars he named.
1. 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO
$45,000,000-$60,000,000
This is one of only 36 250 GTOs Ferrari ever built and one of one seven to wear Scaglietti’s revised bodywork. This car won the 1963 and 1964 Targa Florio open road races in Italy and scored 15 class and overall wins between 1962 and 1965. It is considered by experts to be one of the most authentic and original examples of this all-time classic model. RM Sotheby’s
2. 1963 Aston Martin DP215
$18,000,000-$22,000,000
DP215 was a racing version of the Aston Martin DB4 that was equipped with a four-liter version of Aston’s six-cylinder twin spark plug engine mounted ten inches further back in the frame for improved weight distribution. Independent rear suspension and improved balance and aerodynamics let the car record at 198.6 mph along the Mulsanne Straight in the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unfortunately, the gearbox failed due to the high torque of the four-liter engine, and DP215 retired after two hours. RM Sotheby’s
3. 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C
$12,000,000-$14,000,000
This is one of just 12 purpose-built competition cars. The bodies employed Ferrari’s thinnest-ever aluminum shells and the windows and rear screen made of lightweight Perspex instead of glass. The 3.3-liter V-12 engine has high-lift racing camshafts, competition pistons, Weber 40 DFI/3 carburetors and track-ready dry-sump lubrication in place of the conventional system. Gooding & Co.
4. 1966 Ford GT40 MKII
$9,000,000-$12,000,000
This is Ford GT40 Chassis no. P/1016, which was equipped with heavy-duty dampers and springs, adjustable anti-roll bars, and a special right-hand-side torsion bar to counteract body roll during high-speed banking on left turns for the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona.
For the 1966 Sebring 12 Hours, the Mk II was painted Kandy Gold, the classically ’60s color that it wears today. The car finished 12th at Sebring, and then went on to finish third at Le Mans. It has lived most of its life in the Harrah’s collection in Las Vegas. RM Sotheby’s
5. 1935 Duesenberg SSJ
$10,000,000 or more
This is one of two Duesenberg Model J “special speedsters,” which were built on a shortened 125″ wheelbase.
The SSJs were powered by a supercharged 400-horsepower straight-eight with twin carburetors and special cast-aluminum “ram’s horn” intake manifolds. This was more than quadruple the power of a contemporary Ford flathead V8, and was the high-water mark for power output until the late 1950s. Gooding & Co.
h/t: The Manual
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