The 3 Most Expensive Cars Sold at Monterey Car Week 2026
A record $748 million auction haul sent a Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, Ferrari’s first electric car, and a one-of-a-kind McLaren F1 GTR soaring into automotive history
Monterey Car Week has become the country’s preeminent automotive gathering, with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance as its crown jewel and the surrounding auctions establishing the week as the definitive marketplace for blue-chip collector cars. This year’s auctions reached unprecedented heights, generating a record $748 million in sales—up more than $315 million from 2025 and $277 million above the previous high set in 2022. At least 130 cars crossed the million-dollar mark, while 11 fetched over $10 million. Along the way, auction records fell for American and British cars, while another sale established new benchmarks for both a new car and an electric vehicle.
Here are the week’s three most expensive sales.
1. Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe ($42,905,000)
Setting the record for the most expensive American car ever sold at auction, this Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe represents one of the defining chapters in U.S. motorsport. One of just six built to challenge Ferrari’s dominant 250 GTO, chassis CSX2300 helped Shelby American secure the 1965 FIA World Manufacturers’ Championship. Automotive stylist Peter Brock gave the coupe its unmistakable long roofline and dramatically truncated rear, a radical silhouette that improved its performance at high speeds despite Brock admitting the shape “was so strange looking at the time.” Carrozzeria Grandsport in Modena crafted its lightweight aluminum body, meanwhile, lending the American racer an unexpected Italian connection. Legendary driver and designer Carroll Shelby later owned this very example from 1975 to 1998, making it the only Daytona Coupe ever owned by its creator.
2. Ferrari Luce “Tailor Made” ($40,000,000)
A bespoke example of Ferrari’s first fully electric car, the Luce, sold for $40 million, shattering auction records for a new car and an electric vehicle. Known as “Chassis 0,” the one-off model wears a pearl-like semi-gloss finish whose custom pigment shifts from green to violet as light moves across its bubble-shaped body—a dramatic departure from the Italian automaker’s more familiar angular language. Inside, Ferrari developed metallic Perla Le Mans leather specifically for the car, paired with contrasting black elements to luminous effect. All proceeds from the sale will benefit educational initiatives through The Ferrari Foundations.
3. McLaren F1 GTR ($34,655,000)
When the hammer fell at $34.655 million in Monterey, chassis 10R became the most expensive British car and McLaren ever sold at auction. Known as the “Pop Art F1,” the vehicle wears a searing blood-red finish splashed with oversized yellow “96 GTR” graphics—a one-off factory treatment that turns its low-slung body into a rolling canvas. Automotive designer Gordon Murray described it as a bona fide “art car,” adding, “There’s only a handful of these GTRs, but there’s only one like that.” Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason acquired the vehicle directly from McLaren in 1999 and kept it in his personal collection for nearly a quarter-century.