The biggest sellers at the Monterey 2019 auctions

$2m+ classics from the Monterey sales

Dozens of the world's most desirable classic cars crossed the auction block at Monterey recently as RM Sotheby's, Gooding & Co, Mecum and Bonhams held their annual Monterey Car Week sales.

One very special car sold for a staggering $20m, and several others were snapping at its heels.

Here are 17 cars that topped the $2m mark, plus a couple that didn't quite manage that feat, but still sold for huge sums in their own way.

1994 McLaren F1 LM-specification

Sold for: $19.8m (£16.3m)

One of two McLaren road cars upgraded to LM trim after F1 production had finished, this car returned to McLaren in 2000 to receive a 680bhp engine, high-downforce kit and GT-spec wheels an inch bigger than the regular car’s.

A near-$20m sale price made it the most expensive car to sell at a Monterey Car Week auction this year.

1958 Ferrari 250GT Tour de France Berlinetta

Sold for: $5.1m (£4.2m)

Before the 250GT SWB and 250GTO, there was the 250GT Tour de France. 

This gorgeous TdF, the only example sold to Sweden, had an eventful early life, competing in the Reims 12 Hours in 1958, and then ending up on its roof in an accident in the early 1960s.

Now fully restored, it’s previously picked up a second in class on Pebble Beach’s concours lawn.

1958 Ferrari 250GT LWB California Spider

Sold for: $9.9m (£8.2m)

This stunning long-wheelbase 250 was the most expensive of the coveted California Spiders on offer this year (a SWB version failed to find a buyer in RM Sotheby's auction).

A matching-numbers example in the desirable covered-headlights spec, it’s in pristine condition following a full restoration and also has period racing history behind it.

1975 Ferrari 312T

Sold for: $6m (£4.9m)

This gorgeous Ferrari F1 machine is one of the cars that helped the late Niki Lauda to the 1975 F1 championship, winning that year’s French GP and scoring two further podiums.

No 312T has ever before been offered at auction, so this one produced quite a buzz, finally selling for just under £5m.

1965 Aston Martin DB5 ‘Bond Car’

Sold for: $6.39m (£5.3m)

One of two Aston DB5s bought by Eon productions to publicise Thunderball, this DB5 was fitted with all of the on-screen gadgets, or at least the suggestion of them, including machine guns, ejector seat and pop-up bulletproof armour.

It crossed the block just before No Time to Die was announced as the name of the next Bond film, and there was no danger of the DB5 failing to sell. The hammer fell at £5.3m – that was £2m more than its lowest estimated sale price.

1965 Shelby Cobra 427

Sold for: $1.38m (£1.14m)

Apart from the incredibly rare supercharged Cobra Super Snake, the 427 is as crazy as Cobras come. 

Not all of them actually came with the 427cu in V8, though: Shelby craftily slipped the less exotic Ford 428cu in V8 into the nose of some cars without a word.

This 427 has documentary proof that it was, and is, the real deal.

1930 Duesenberg Model J Sport Berline

Sold for: $2.04m (£1.68m)

A reminder that not everyone had it rough in the Great Depression, this striking 1930 Duesenberg is one of six Model Js bought by a young California playboy by the name of George Whittell.

He gave this one, complete with 265bhp eight-cylinder engine and bespoke Murphy bodywork, to a showgirl – which is why it’s famous in Duesenberg circles as The Mistress Car.

1995 Ferrari F50

Sold for: $3m (£2.5m)

Ferrari’s 50th birthday present to itself – and its luckiest, wealthiest customers – was an F1-inspired roadster with a carbon chassis and a 4.7-litre V12 that shared more than a few nuts and bolts with the one in Alain Prost’s company car. This is one of just 16 examples sold in the US.

1913 Isotta Fraschini Tipo IM

Sold for: $2.65m (£2.18m)

Almost forgotten today, Italian Isotta Fraschini was a big name in the early 20th-century car world, being among the first to offer four-wheel brakes and overhead-cam engines.

This car was part of Isotta’s unsuccessful assaults on the Indianapolis 500 in 1913 and 1914.

1962 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta

Sold for: $8.15m (£6.7m)

Claimed to be among the finest of the 195 examples built between 1959 and 1962, this late-model matching-numbers, steel-bodied car looks stunning in its Grigio Argento paint and red leather.

It changed hands for a chunky $8.15m, but that still wasn't enough to make it the most expensive Ferrari of the Monterey sales.

1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT

Sold for: $3.6m (£2.97)

One of only 75 such cars produced by Aston Martin, this rare DB4 outperformed several later DBs at Monterey – although not the ex-James Bond DB5.

Its period competition history includes a Bonneville speed record in the early 1960s.

1958 Ferrari 250GT Series 1 Cabriolet

Sold for: $6.8 (£5.6m)

Finished in inky black with a fairly striking green leather interior, this desirable 250 is one of 40 built, and one of five of the Pininfarina-bodied cars to feature those large side vents.

At $14,950 these were the most expensive 250s you could buy in 1958 – $3000 more expensive even than the California Spider.

1939 Alfa Romeo Tipo 256 Coupé

Sold for: $2.755 (£2.27)

This elegant Touring-bodied Alfa was developed by Scuderia Ferrari before the outbreak of war and competed in eight races during 1939 and also the 1940 Mille Miglia.

It's powered by a 2443cc straight-six that breathes through three Weber carbs to make 125bhp. 

1967 Ferrari 275GTB/4

Sold for: $2.75m (£2.27m)

One of several 275GTBs offered for sale at Monterey, this red car auctioned by Mecum was the only one to top £2m.

This example, which benefits from the more powerful engine introduced in 1966, was delivered new to a wealthy surgeon in Paris, eventually making its way to the US in 1986.

1969 Ferrari 365GTS

Sold for: $2.2m (£1.8m)

This early 365GTS is claimed to be the only car finished in Avorio Le Tetrach off-white with a black interior and featured on Ferrari's stand at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1969.

Perhaps not the prettiest of all open-topped Ferraris, but as one of only 20 examples, certainly among the rarest.

1960 Porsche 718 RS60 Werks

Sold for: $5.1m (£4.2m)

One of the most important of all competition Porsches, this aluminium-bodied 718's driver log reads like a Who's-Who of top tier 1950s racing stars, and includes Graham Hill, Dan Gurney, Stirling Moss, Hans Hermann and Jo Bonnier.

It raced at Le Mans and was only prevented from winning the Targa Florio outright due to a mechanical failure.

1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype

Sold for: $7.65m (£6.3m)

There aren't many Fords that can make a GT40 look ordinary – except perhaps one of the incredibly rare roadster versions.

The first of five cars built, and claimed to be the most original of the surviving examples, this one was created as a test and development car for Shelby American, and was driven by Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles and Jim Clark.

1977 Volkswagen Beetle

Sold for: $61,600 (£50,739)

How did a humble Beetle get to mix it with the rarest multi-million pound sports cars on the planet? Because this one has covered just 128 miles from new, making it the closest thing to the box-fresh car you could have bought in ’77.

New, it would have cost around $3960, equivalent to $16k today. But someone paid four times that amount for this time capsule at Monterey.

1967 Ferves Ranger

Sold for: $196,000 (£161,000)

This eye-popping Italian-built off-roader is tiny, but the cheque someone wrote RM Sotheby's for it certainly wasn't – you could have had a Mercedes-Benz 190SL or Aston Martin DB2 for less.

Built using parts from Fiat's 500 and 600, the Ferves Ranger was available in both two- and four-wheel-drive forms. Only 50 of the 600 originally built are thought to survive.