Vying for glory
Big-money auctions are among the many highlights of Monterey Car Week, which returns to California, USA, from 8-17 August 2025.
Bonhams|Cars, RM Sotheby’s, Mecum Auctions, Gooding Christie’s and Broad Arrow Auctions will host sales during this 10-day classic car celebration.
We’ve riffled through the catalogues and picked some of our favourite lots, presented here in chronological order.
Sadly, our pockets aren’t deep enough to make our wish list a reality. But we can dream, right?
What takes your fancy?
Prices are given GBP£ and US$, and all conversions were correct at the time of writing
1. 1898 Panhard et Levassor M4E (est: £929,000-1.48m/$1.25-2m)
The Panhard et Levassor M4E’s competitors must’ve been dumbfounded when this red-and-gold racer turned up for the start of the 1898 Paris-Amsterdam competition.
After pioneering what became known as the Système Panhard – the popular front-mounted engine and rear-wheel-drive layout – the French marque had another trick up its sleeve for this race: a steering wheel.
The circle-shaped device replaced the tiller system that was commonplace on early automobiles.
This car was one of five Panhard et Levassors entered into the 1898 Paris-Amsterdam race, and it’s the sole survivor.
It’s for sale in the Gooding Christie’s auction at the Pebble Beach concours from 15-16 August.
2. 1906 Züst 28/45 Spider Corsa (est: £440-550,000/$600-750,000)
The rumour mill is going strong for this red Züst.
Apparently, there is a good chance it was one of the Italian maker’s entrants for the 1907 Targa Florio, the second running of the epic Sicilian road race.
With bodywork by Milan-based carrozzeria Cesare Sala, this car – which will cross the block in the RM Sotheby’s auction at Monterey Conference Center from 15-16 August – is apparently one of just five surviving pre-WW1 Züst cars.
Despite its rarity and its potential ties to the Targa Florio, in 1946 this 28/45 Spider Corsa was sold to a scrapyard in Friedberg, Germany, where it remained until it was rescued by a restorer in 2016.
3. 1924 Bugatti-Diatto Avio 8C (est: £521-968,000/$700,000-1.3m)
Ettore Bugatti teamed up with Italian manufacturer Diatto to create the 14-litre aero engine that now powers this chain-driven racer.
Apparently, Ettore’s design for the Diatto straight-eight inspired the motor that powered Bugatti’s later cars.
When an original Bugatti-Diatto unit was discovered in a museum in Turin, alongside a Diatto chassis, a plan was hatched to build the aero-engined racing car that never was.
It was completed for the 2019 Rétromobile show, where it was displayed for the first time.
Now it’s up for grabs, without reserve, in the Bonhams|Cars auction at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club on 15 August 2025.
4. 1927 Miller Model 91 (est: £445-667,000/$600-900,000)
Harold Arminius Miller was a big name in the early days of the Indianapolis 500.
The American designer and engineer contributed to 12 race-winning cars.
This rare, front-wheel-drive Model 91 competed at The Brickyard in 1928 and 1929, finishing sixth and 12th respectively.
The Miller then travelled to Europe, where ambulance driver turned racer Gwenda Stewart-Hawkes used it to break multiple speed records at Montlhéry and Brooklands.
The record-breaker was modified and rebuilt, and later became known as the Derby-Miller.
It was restored in the 1990s and shown at Pebble Beach in 2000. Now it will return to the Californian golf course as part of the Gooding Christie’s sale.
5. 1935 Auburn 851 Speedster (est: £484-558,000/$650-750,000)
This supercharged, boat-tailed Auburn was one of 150 built, and one of just 10 in right-hand drive.
It was the show car for the 1935 Olympia Motor Show in London. The car remained in the UK until 1947, when an American serviceman brought it back to America.
A subsequent owner removed the chrome bumpers, added drop-down doors and restyled the Auburn’s wheelarches.
This Speedster was later restored to its factory specification by a specialist in Connecticut. Once complete, it was awarded Best in Show at the 1997 Auburn Cord Duesenberg Spring Meet.
Broad Arrow Auctions will sell this car as part of its auction at Monterey Jet Center from 13-14 August.
6. 1940 Von Arx Special Custom Roadster (est: N/A)
This 1940 racer was one of the many custom cars built by thrill-seeking Americans captivated by the country’s burgeoning drag-racing scene.
Before purpose-built raceways were constructed, hot-rodders competed on salt flats, like the El Mirage dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert.
That’s where this Ford flathead-engined Special achieved 114.4mph on 8 May 1942.
Its maker, Eugene Von Arx Snr, worked for Californian coachbuilder Walter M Murphy Company. He constructed this steel-bodied roadster for his son.
Tempted? It will go under the hammer in the Mecum Auctions sale at the Del Monte Golf Course from 14-16 August – the auction house doesn’t supply guide prices.
7. 1949 Norm Olson Special (est: £110-165,000/$150-225,000)
American Norm Olson was captivated by the Indianapolis 500 at a time when home-brewed Specials could dice with the big guns at The Brickyard.
Although his creation failed to qualify in 1947 and 1948, the Norm Olson Special secured a spot on the grid in 1949.
Driver Duke Dinsmore managed 174 laps before a damaged radius arm forced him to retire. The Virginian’s performance was good enough for a 15th-place finish, though.
The following year, local racer Jackie Holmes took the wheel and placed 23rd.
The Norm Olson Special was later bought by Jamaican junkyard owner and professional alligator catcher Jim Gore, who raced it on the island.
It was eventually restored in the UK and returned to the USA in 2017 – now it’s set to cross the block with RM Sotheby’s during Monterey Car Week 2025.
8. 1950 McNamara Special (est: £74-111,000/$100-150,000)
American freight business owner Lee Elkins commissioned a Wisconsin engineer to build this open-wheel racer.
In its original specification, the McNamara was piloted by Joey James to victory in the 1952 National Sprint Car Championship.
The McNamara Special was modified in 1954 and continued to compete in United States Auto Club competitions.
It was wheeled into storage after its final race in 1959 until it was rediscovered in 1985.
It’s since been restored to its late-1950s specification, and now it’s set to cross the block in the Gooding Christie’s sale at Pebble Beach.
9. 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider (est: £670-893,000/$900,000-1.2m)
Pinin Farina’s rework of the Lancia Aurelia B20 GT Series IV coupé created one of the most desirable roadsters of the mid-1950s.
Clearly, its appeal hasn’t weakened in the seven decades since it was unveiled at the 1955 Brussels motor show, because this left-hand-drive car is expected to sell for £670-893,000/$900,000-1.2m when it crosses the block in the Broad Arrow auction.
Restored in 2014, this Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider is one of just 68 survivors of the 240 built in the model’s one-year production run.
It scooped the Best of Show award at the 2014 Colorado Concours d’Elegance.
10. 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL (est: £1-1.15m/$1.35-1.55m)
Shortly after this Mercedes-Benz 300SL left the production line in Sindelfingen, near Stuttgart, the Gullwing went to Switzerland, where it was displayed at the Geneva motor show.
It was then sold to Hans Hürlimann, the owner of a Swiss tractor maker.
But after three months, the Mercedes was back in Germany for repairs, after Hürlimann was involved in a crash.
Then there is a gap in the car’s history until it went to Mexico in 1969, when Georgina Garcia Conde bought it for $1500.
The current owner acquired this 300SL Gullwing in 1995 and commissioned an award-winning specialist to restore it.
11. 1956 Ferrari 250 Europa GT (est: £1.25-1.5m/$1.7-2m)
Another motor show car, this Ferrari 250 Europa GT was revealed to the public in Brussels in 1956.
Notable for being the last Europa GT built by Pinin Farina, chassis 0427 GT was delivered new to racing driver and team owner Jacques Swaters’ Belgian dealership.
A year after its appearance at the Brussels motor show, this Ferrari 250 Europa GT was campaigned at Spa-Francorchamps.
For the rest of the century, the Ferrari jumped between collections in Europe and the US – where it was restored and displayed at multiple concours events – before it settled with its current Swiss owner, who drove it in the 2022 1000 Miglia.
We spotted it in the Bonhams|Cars catalogue.
12. 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham (est: £67-82,000/$90-110,000)
This very original Cadillac Eldorado was awarded the first-place trophy in the preservation class at the Antique Automobile Club of America’s 2016 concours.
The 42,900-mile Fairfax Blue car has a stainless-steel roof panel and is powered by a 365cu in V8 engine.
It was one of the most expensive cars in America when it was new.
This car’s first owner, a Pennsylvanian steel magnate, kept the Cadillac for a few years before selling it to Milton Wood, who held onto it from 1963-2003.
Its current keeper, who’s had the pleasure of this award-winning Eldorado since 2005, has consigned it to the Bonhams|Cars sale.
13. 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ (est: £335-409,000/$450-550,000)
Delivered to its first owner, Italian watchmaker Gianni Bulgari, in September 1960, this Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ was thrown in at the deep end when it was entered in the 1961 Targa Florio.
Bulgari and co-pilot Maurizio Grana managed six laps of the near-45-mile circuit before retiring.
Despite some strong results in various hillclimbs and endurance events, the Giulietta SZ never had much luck on the Targa Florio.
Its two other attempts at the Sicilian road race, in 1962 and 1963, also ended with DNFs.
The Alfa Romeo was then shipped to the USA, where, in 1969, it was wheeled into a storage unit. It was not seen again in public until 2014.
Since then, its mechanical components have been restored, but the bodywork has not been touched since its third and final Targa Florio race, in 1963.
It’s one of the stars of the Broad Arrow auction.
14. 1966 Lamborghini 400GT ‘Interim’ (est: £335-409,000/$450-550,000)
Ferruccio Lamborghini’s first production car, the 350GT, quickly morphed into the 400GT, with a larger-capacity V12 and a new five-speed gearbox, developed in-house at Sant’Agata.
But before 400GT 2+2 production got under way in earnest, Lamborghini built 23 ‘Interim’ models, sometimes referred to as 350/400GTs.
These in-between cars were a potpourri of both models, retaining many 350GT features while receiving the later car’s uprated engine and gearbox – this example also has the 400GT’s quad-headlamps, instead of the 350GT’s lozenge-shape lights.
It will go under the hammer in the Broad Arrow sale.
15. 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona NASCAR (est: N/A)
This Dodge Charger Daytona topped 200mph in August 1969, with NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Allison behind the wheel.
Copies of the lap-time sheets are included in the sale of this restored racer, which was brought back to life after it was discovered in a barn.
To make sure it was the real deal, Allison inspected the car in 1999 and provided a handwritten letter to confirm its authenticity.
The car is also signed by the driver and Chrysler engineer George Wallace, who was part of the team that designed this and the similarly big-winged Plymouth Superbird.
It’s up for grabs in the Mecum Auctions sale.
16. 1969 Volkswagen Beetle Limousine (est: £110-145,000/$150-200,000)
‘The $35,000 Beetle,’ bragged Volkswagen’s 1977 press release about this stretched Type 1. At the time, it cost about the same as a Ferrari 365GT4 BB.
So what sort of person turns up their nose at a flat-12-engined supercar and commissions a one-off VW limousine instead?
Meet Porsche and VW’s West Coast distributor John von Neumann. The Austrian-born racing driver and salesman ordered coachbuilder Troutman-Barnes to create this car’s bespoke, 16½ft/5m-long body.
VW later called it the Rollswagen. We prefer Beeeeeetle.
It’s for sale in the RM Sotheby’s auction.
17. 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 (est: £89-111,000/$120-150,000)
Ford needed a new racer to take on Chevrolet’s Camaro in the Trans-Am series.
Rules required at least 1000 road cars to be built for homologation, and that’s how the Boss 302 Mustang was born.
This Grabber Orange car was restored by specialist Andy Adelson in Detroit, Michigan, in the mid-2000s, and according to Gooding Christie’s this V8-powered road-racer is still in fantastic condition.
18. 1973 Ferrari Dino 246GTS (est: N/A)
In 1975, Jack May and co-pilot Rick Cline completed the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash in a record-breaking 35 hours and 53 minutes.
The pair averaged 83mph during the near-3000-mile sprint from New York City to California’s Redondo Beach.
This was the car they did it in. The Bianco Polo 246GTS has been owned by Jack May and his family ever since.
The 50,819-mile car still sports the small modifications the pair made for the illegal road race, too.
Namely, flaps on the windscreen wipers to deflect air at high speeds and a repositioned tachometer, which May tilted so he could see the needle better when it was at the top of the rev counter.
This slice of Cannonball history will be sold by Mecum Auctions this August.
19. 1984 Nissan Skyline RS Turbo (est: £75-112,000/$100-150,000)
How about this from the Bonhams|Cars catalogue?
Finished in its original livery, this Nissan Skyline RS Turbo Group A racer is believed to be the only-surviving Nismo works car.
What’s more, it won the 1986 All Japan Touring Car Championship.
Drivers Takao Wada and Aguri Suzuki (who later competed in Formula One and finished third at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix) won three of the season’s six rounds.
Following its recent restoration, the current owner reunited Wada with the c300bhp Skyline at Fuji Speedway.
20. 1987 Buick GNX (est: £105-130,000/$140-180,000)
A development of the Buick Grand National, which was itself a development of the Buick Regal, the GNX – for Grand National Experimental – was a special-edition model modified by American tuner ASC.
Just 547 were built (this car is chassis 95) and all were fitted with an upgraded Garrett turbocharger (with a ceramic turbine), an improved intercooler, a new exhaust system and more.
Reportedly, the Buick GNX could beat Ferrari’s F40 in a quarter-mile drag race.
The example being offered by RM Sotheby’s has been driven fewer than 28,000 miles since it was new.
21. 1990 Ferrari F40 (est: £1.75-1.9m/$2.4-2.6m)
If your pockets are deep enough, you could set up a Buick vs Ferrari quarter-mile race with this F40, also in the RM Sotheby’s sale.
The auction house reckons this is one of the last one-owner F40s with no more than its delivery miles on the odometer.
That’s right. Whoever buys this Ferrari will become its second keeper – and it’s got just 360km (224 miles) on the clock.
The fact it has spent so long in hibernation means it will require a lot of work before it’s back on the road.
For a start, the next owner might want to consider swapping its 36-year-old tyres for some fresh rubber.
22. 1997 Nissan Skyline GT-R Nismo 400R (est: £650-800,000/$900-1.1m)
A $1m-plus Nissan GT-R? RM Sotheby’s thinks this one-of-44 Skyline could achieve that at Monterey Car Week 2025.
The 400R was created to honour the Japanese marque’s mid-1990s campaign at Le Mans.
The highly tuned R33 GT-R was handbuilt at the Nismo factory and this example has just 7093km (4408 miles) on the clock.
Despite its rarity, the Nismo 400R has been driven by millions of enthusiasts all over the world, because it was one of the star cars in the first Gran Turismo game.
23. 1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi (est: £149-186,000/€172-215,000)
If you’re a Subaru fan, you’ll likely be bowled over by this Impreza 22B STi, one of just c400 built and perhaps the Japanese marque’s most iconic ’90s car.
Delight will likely be replaced by shock when you notice this lot’s pre-sale estimate, though.
This Sonic Blue Mica Impreza, that’s consigned to the Broad Arrow auction, was imported from Japan earlier this year, with just 36,823km (22,881 miles) on the clock.
24. 2011 Ferrari LaFerrari Prototype M4 (est: £650-900,000/$900,000-1.2m)
What in the Mad Max is this?
Don’t worry, it’s not George Miller’s idea for an apocalypse-ready Ferrari. This is actually an early LaFerrari prototype.
The development car, known as F150 Muletto M4, used the bodywork of a Ferrari 458 Italia to disguise the 2013 hypercar’s hybrid V12 powertrain – and now it’s for sale with RM Sotheby’s.
When testing was done and the production-ready Ferrari LaFerrari was revealed, the test cars were sold to loyal customers, on the proviso that they could never be road-registered or driven at public track days.
That hasn’t changed, so think of it as a very expensive, and slightly rough around the edges, piece of automotive artwork – and a significant slice of Prancing Horse history.
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