Ferrari Daytona sells for record $26m – The 10 most expensive lots at Monterey Car Week 2025

Ferrari dominated the auction headlines at the Monterey sales, a charity SP3 shattered expectations, and a modern Bugatti muscled into the top five

Ferrari reigned supreme at Monterey Car Week in 2025, as its cars claimed the lion’s share of the week’s biggest auction results.

Out of the 10 most valuable cars sold during the week, eight were manufactured by the Maranello marque, underscoring Ferrari’s enduring pull at the top end of the collector market.

But the most valuable car wasn’t a classic: a one-off version of the 2025 Ferrari Daytona SP3 with an eye-catching paint scheme and matching handbag fetched a $26 million hammer price at RM Sotheby’s. The car was donated by Ferrari and the proceeds — almost ten times the basic price of an SP3 — will go to its own charity.

The price tag made it the most expensive car sold at Monterey and also set a record for the highest price paid for a new Ferrari.

The classic era was represented by alloy-bodied 250 GT SWB California Spiders and competition Daytonas, while the modern era set fresh records thanks to the F40 LM, F50, and LaFerrari Aperta.

Here’s a look at the 10 biggest auction sales of Monterey Car Week 2025.

10 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500 K Special Roadster

$5.34m (£3.94m)
RM Sotheby’s

One of only seven original short-tail, low-door Special Roadsters remaining, this is the only one to have been judged Best of Show at Pebble Beach (in 1982).

With a design inspired by the earlier SSK range, the 500 K Specials were re-engineered so that their 180-horsepower, eight-cylinder engines were seated further back, giving extra emphasis to the flowing fenders.

This model, chassis number 123702 was built in right-hand drive for the British market, and was delivered to Arthur Gore, Viscount Sudley. Its history is fully documented, which includes a period within the collection of Silicon Valley legend Thomas Perkins.

9 2017 Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta

$6.715m (£4.96m)
RM Sotheby’s

One of just 210 open-topped models built for Ferrari’s 70th anniversary, this 963hp hybrid V12 LaFerrari Aperta is finished in Nero Daytona with carbon extras, showing under 2,300 miles on the clock

8 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Prototipo

$7.265m (£5.367m)
Gooding Christie’s

This car is the very start of the Ferrari California Spider line: the prototype that spawned one of the company’s most recognisable and desirable models.

Produced six months before the production models, this V12 -powered convertible borrowed styling cues from the 250 GT Tour de France sports car, including grille, side vents and tail-lights. Since a concours-level restoration, the 1957 car has also picked up a series of show awards, but sold for slightly less than its estimated $7.5m-$9m range.

7 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider

$7.55m (£5.58m)
Gooding Christie’s

Owned by a celebrity but also a star in its own right: this 250 SWB California Spider was bought by Antonio Ciaccia, the Italian singer and actor known as Little Tony who drove it in one of his own films.

The car, in its original Nocciola over Tobacco colour scheme, also featured in other Italian films including Sissignore, where it raced a Lamborghini Miura P400.

That’s unlikely to be repeated given its $7.55m selling price, short of the $8m-$10m estimate.

6 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizione Series III

$8.145m (£6.015m)
Gooding Christie’s

Fielded by Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team, this Daytona is one of only 15 Competizione cars and five of the final Series III cars, which had evolved to produce 450hp; a 100hp increase over the first run.

It made its race debut at the 1973 Le Mans 24 Hours in the hands of Milt Minter and Sam Posey and was for a time leading its class before its V12 engine failed in the 21st hour.

Chassis No16407 was then a regular sight at the biggest endurance races throughout the rest of the 1970s, finishing second overall and first in class at the 1979 Daytona 24 Hours with drivers Tony Adamowicz and John Morton.

Now restored to 1973 Le Mans spec, it sold within its estimate range of $8m to $10m.

5 2020 Bugatti Divo

$8.558m (£6.321m)
Bonhams

For buyers who found that its 1479bhp Chiron was neither extreme nor exclusive enough, Bugatti built 40 examples of the Chiron, with the same power output but revised suspension, lighter wheels, and redesigned bodywork. The result was a lighter, more agile car with extra downforce: designed to drive round corners, in addition to reaching a 236mph top speed.

Priced at £4.5m in 2018 (when all examples were pre-sold to Chiron owners), this is understood to be the first Divo to be auctioned after two owners, including who put fewer than 800 miles on the clock.

The final price was in the higher range of its $7m-$9m estimate.

4 1995 Ferrari F50

$9.245m (£6.829m)
RM Sotheby’s

Only two of the 349 Ferrari F50s ever built were made to a US specification and painted in this Giallo Modena shade of yellow — as stipulated by this car’s first owner, Ralph Lauren in 1995. Between him and the car’s second owners, who were selling it this year in Monterey, the F50’s Formula 1-derived V12 engine has covered 5,400 miles.

Its almost-unique combination helped the car to far exceed its estimated range of $6.5m to $7.5m, at approaching double the sale price of a red, European F50 sold for $5.5m by RM Sotheby’s in Miami earlier this year.

3 1993 Ferrari F40 LM by Michelotto

$11.005m (£8.129m)
RM Sotheby’s

The magic of Ferrari’s F40 is as strong as ever, as evidenced by the $11m sale price of this car, which was well in excess of the $8.5m-$9.5m estimate.

The 14th of 19 factory-built LMs, this track version of Ferrari’s F40 is in its most powerful GTC-spec with its 770bhp twin-turbo V8 representing a 305bhp increase over the standard car.

The engine improvements, which include larger intercoolers and a higher turbo boost pressure, wera also combined with larger disc brakes, wider wheels and lower ride height to make the car fit for competition in the FIA-GT series.

This model, however, went into a private collection, but has taken part in several Historic Challenge events in recent years.

2. 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider Competizione

$25,305m (£18.686m)
Gooding Christie’s

Estimated to fetch over $20m at the weekend, this Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider delivered, with a sale price of over $25m — far beyond the other two California Spiders in the list, which reflects the ultra-rare specification.

This channis No2383 GT car is one of only two alloy-bodied, full competition-spec SWB Spiders. Outside, it’s marked out by the covered headlamps, removable aluminium hard top and quick-release fuel filler. Under the bonnet, its V12 engine produces 284bhp — around 40bhp more than standard thanks to upgrades that include a higher 9.5:1 compression ratio and competition exhaust.

In the hands of its first owner, German businessman Ernst Lautenschlager, the car won hillclimbs and finished on the podium in sports car races before moving into historic competition.

1. 2025 Ferrari Daytona SP3 ‘Tailor Made’

$26m (£19.2m)
RM Sotheby’s

How much extra would you pay for a Ferrari with unique upholstery? How about if it came with a custom paint-scheme and its own handbag too — and if all the proceeds were going to charity?

Last weekend, one buyer spent a staggering $26m (£19.2m) on this one-off version of the sold-out Daytona SP3; a sum that would buy nine of the standard £2m cars.

The car was donated by Ferrari, and is in addition to the Daytona SP3’s production run of 599 cars, hence its 599+1 chassis number. All of the sale price will all go to The Ferrari Foundation charity, with RM Sotheby’s waiving the buyer’s premium.