The top 30 cars at auction in 2021

It is time for 2021’s big 30

The auction world has changed a lot in the past couple of years, in no small part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but collectors have not been put off shelling out the big bucks when they want a car.

The world has become a smaller place, with online bidders joining those on the telephone and in the room, and record-breaking prices have been achieved.

So, as 2021 draws to a close, here is your rundown of the 30 cars that sold for the highest prices at auction this year, whether they were sold online or at a traditional, in-person sale. Let’s start with number 30…

Prices are inclusive of fees and were converted to GBP at the time of the auction

30. £2,458,125 – 2020 McLaren Speedtail, RM Sotheby’s, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA


This is a rather fitting opener for a top 30 countdown, because a 2020 McLaren is the newest car on the list. Unsurprisingly.

The £1.75m, 250mph successor to the F1 rolled out of Woking in 2020 – then 30 miles later it was added to the RM Sotheby’s catalogue for its Arizona auction, back on 22 January.

It was an instant Speedtail auction record, because it was the first to ever cross the block. At Monterey later in the year RM Sotheby’s listed another, but it couldn't topple this chassis 36. The £140k-worth of optional extras no doubt helped…

29. £2,508,000 – 1969 Ford GT40, Gooding & Company, online (UK)


The final Ford GT40 ever built beat its £1.8-2.2m estimate comfortably online with Gooding & Company in June, showing how far the car auction world has come in the past 18 months or so.

The barrier to buying a special car online has comprehensively been broken.

This particular GT40, P/1085, was sold as an unused chassis in 1969 but only completed in the 2000s to JWA spec, 40 years almost to the day after it was first purchased.

28. £2,546,060 – 1967 Ferrari 275GTB/4 Alloy, Gooding & Company, Online (USA)

Another car of many sold online this year by Gooding & Company, this ninth of 16 aluminium-bodied 275GTB/4s fell just shy of its $3.75-4.5m estimate.

It has its original engine but certainly not its paint: it arrived in Switzerland new in the late 1960s blue.

When the digital hammer fell in May it was the most paid for a 275GTB/4 at auction for six years. But its own run didn’t last long…

27. £2,617,200 – 2016 Ferrari F60 America, RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, USA

You might not have heard of the F60 America and, if so, there is a good reason why.

Just 10 were made to mark six decades of Ferrari in North America, and they were never publicly available. So 13 August 2021 was a rare opportunity to own a very rare model.

It slipped inside its estimate range at Monterey with RM Sotheby’s, as much as $1m above its original dealer ticket price. If it had a dealer ticket, that is.

26. £2,637,000 – 1967 Ferrari 275GTB/4, Gooding & Company, Pebble Beach, USA


In August, just a couple of months after the earlier 275GTB/4 sold online with Gooding, this sold for £100,000 more. The market clearly has a price in mind.

Amazingly, the new owner became only the car’s second custodian after Donald L Weber, who bought it direct from Maranello.

It came with Classiche certification confirming the body, engine and gearbox are original, and the winning bidder paid just over top estimate for the pleasure.

25. £2,678,475 – 1995 Ferrari F50, RM Sotheby’s, Amelia Island, USA

For a time this was the most ever spent on a Ferrari F50 at auction, achieving $500k more than the one at Gooding’s event at Scottsdale.

But, as is the way at the top of the collector-car market, its moment in the sun didn’t last long. More on that later.

At Amelia Island on 22 May 2021, this F50 slipped just a few thousand below its top pre-sale estimate with RM Sotheby’s, having first been owned by a friend of Horacio Pagani, Benny Caiola, and clocking just 5000 miles in 25 years.

24. £2,750,000 – 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT, Gooding & Company, online (UK)


In January, Gooding & Company held an auction of special European machinery and top of the tree was this Touring-bodied Aston Martin DB4GT.

Expected to fetch up to £2.5m, it sailed past that to £2.75m, no doubt helped by the fact that it is a matching-numbers car. Not only that, it was freshly out of leading experts RS Williams.

It could be the benchmark for GTs, going by the Hagerty Price Guide, which would expect a concours car to cost £2.7m.

=22. £2,775,600 – 1959 Aston Martin DB4GT Lightweight, RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, USA


Lightweight DB4GTs will set you back more, mind. And RM Sotheby’s set a new record with this example at Monterey on 12 August, though at $3,855,000 it missed its $4-5m estimate by $100k or so.

More than half of the Lightweights made were left-hand drive, a heady five of the nine, and this would have been campaigned at Sebring but for paperwork problems.

In the past 20 years or so it’s been enjoyed in a number of road rallies, with a replacement engine to preserve the original, which was plumbed back in prior to Monterey.

=22. £2,775,600 – 1953 Ferrari 166MM Spider Series II, RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, USA

The same money in the same sale could have got you another 1950s racer, but it looks like it’s from an earlier decade.

One of the six Vignale Spiders, it contested the 1953 Pescara 12 Hours and the 1954 Mille Miglia, and was later shut away for 20 years.

Prised free, it was sent by a subsequent owner to DK Engineering for recommissioning, only to be stolen and missing for seven years.

Found bereft of originality, it returned to DK, then another owner dispatched it to Maranello and Classiche built a new period-correct drivetrain and it was awarded a white book for cars of historical significance. The stories it could tell…

=20. £2,854,800 – 1995 Ferrari F50, RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, USA


Staying with the RM Sotheby’s three-night sale in Monterey last August, it’s the year’s most expensive Ferrari F50.

It threatened but just failed to escape its top estimate of $4m, but it did set a new auction record for the model, beating that set at Gooding’s Scottsdale 2021 sale, that sits at number 25 in this list – both were more than $1.5m over the previous record achieved with Gooding in August 2020.

A winner of Best F50 at the illustrious Cavallino XXIX in 2020, Classiche certified, fastidiously maintained, this latest record holder could take some beating in the years to come.

=20. £2,854,800 – 1930 Duesenberg Model J Disappearing-Top Convertible Coupe, Gooding & Company, Pebble Beach, Monterey USA

Monterey proved a popular event for those wanting to add a Duesie to their collection, with four in the top 40 sales of August.

Best of the lot was this Disappearing-Top Convertible, $35k short of its $4m upper estimate. One of only two survivors with running boards, and one of just 25 sweepingly graceful Disappearing-Tops, it claimed the marque class at the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance without even dropping a mark.

19. £2,973,600 – 1963 Shelby Cobra 289 Works, RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, USA


Such is the Hollywood effect, any car graced by Ken Miles comes at a premium after Le Mans ’66.

This Cobra, sold by RM Sotheby’s at Monterey on 13 August, inside its estimate, recalls his working and winning relationship with Carroll Shelby, and also that of the late Bob Bondurant.

It was shown at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and in more recent times was restored by the esteemed Mike McCluskey.

Naturally, its red livery is a tribute to Miles, who wore it to numerous podiums in 1963 and helped Shelby to the teams’ title.

18. £3,171,600 – 1958 Ferrari 250GT Cabriolet Series I, Gooding & Company, Pebble Beach, Monterey USA


If you were at Earls Court in 1958, this will be a familiar-looking thing. You certainly wouldn’t forget it. The 250GT was on display at the show before being shipped off to mainland Europe.

Another from Monterey, this time with Gooding, the Andalusia Gold stunner missed its lower expectations by around $100k, but it’s a wonder it is even still here.

It was almost lost to a fire in the early 2000s, but once returned to its former glory it was shown at Pebble Beach, where it also appeared in the 1960s.

17. £3,479,000 – 1934 Mercedes-Benz 500K / 540K (Factory Upgrade) Spezial Roadster, Bonhams, Amelia Island, USA

We are taking a break from Monterey with this the 17th most expensive car sold at auction in 2021, but we’re staying Stateside.

This well-known Benz ends the year in Bonhams’ top three, having been the star lot, by quite some margin, at its Amelia Island sale on 20 May.

Like so many on this list it has lived a life. It was upgraded when barely a few years old from 500K to 540K spec in Sindelfingen, unexpectedly stumbled upon in Poland in the 1970s and is currently wearing a 30-year-old restoration.

Not wearing its original colours, mind, because the possibly unique machine lost its Speedgray paint to a more vibrant red.

16. £3,551,250 – 1937 Bugatti Type 57 SC Tourer, RM Sotheby’s, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

When a Bugatti Type 57 comes up for auction with a completely original chassis, engine, gearbox, differential and body, you know you’re looking at big money. And then factor in that this is one of just two four-seaters by Corsica of London.

This car’s original owner, Maurice Fox-Pitt Lubbock, was a good friend of Jean Bugatti and later became chairman of Rolls-Royce, which forced the car’s sale. By which point it had gained a supercharger, and it later lost its body before being reunited.

Stints in various collections culminated in a restoration with the Blackhawk Collection, and an appearance at Pebble Beach in 2003.

15. £3,884,400 – 1928 Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 S-type Supercharged Sports Tourer, Bonhams, Quail Lodge, Carmel, USA

This imposing Mercedes-Benz came with the weight of following a very long-term owner of more than half a century.

On the other hand, that meant it was a very known quantity and bidding took it an incredible $1.4m over its upper estimate of $4m on 13 August.

Its engine was sorted around 20 years ago and it has been well kept ever since, and in its life it had been properly used – even for the odd school run. A proper star lot from Monterey.

14. £3,960,000 – 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake, Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, USA

Barrett-Jackson’s sole entry in our top 30 is a good one. And not a surprising one, given its history.

Just two proper Super Snakes have ever existed, and the other was destroyed in a fatal crash. This, CSX3015, was owned by none other than Carroll Shelby himself. Originally a 427 Competition Cobra, it was made road legal and then ‘enhanced’ to pump out 800bhp courtesy of twin superchargers.

Its $5.5m in March matched its previous sale record, also with Barrett-Jackson, in 2007.

13. £4,042,800 – 1929 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix, Gooding & Company, Pebble Beach, Monterey, USA


Gooding has a knack when it comes to Bugattis. It’s sold four of the five most expensive of all time, and this bagged a record as the most expensive Type 35 Grand Prix car ever.

It was driven by William Grover-Williams to victories in the 1929 French Grand Prix and by Louis Chiron in Spain, and like the Mercedes at Bonhams it made a mockery of its estimate. At $5.5m, it was a whole $1m clear…

12. £4,047,000 – 1934 Bugatti Type 57S, Bonhams, London, UK


Depending on when you check your exchange rate, determines whether this or the previous Bug is the year’s most expensive. Going by the rates at the time of each sale, this fascinating Type 57S from Bonhams just about nicks it.

Regular readers will know all about it as the car Mick Walsh exclusively revealed in the December 2020 edition of Classic & Sports Car.

Owned and restored by Bill Turnbull for 50 years, it is believed to the best of the best experts’ knowledge to have been built by the factory on to a lost ‘Tank’ chassis. Special lightening was discovered, a practice only ever seen on the Type 57Gs that contested Le Mans.

11. £4,064,750 – 1929 Duesenberg Model J ‘Disappearing Top’ Torpedo, RM Sotheby’s, Amelia Island, USA


We said this was a good year for Duesies and this, sold by RM Sotheby’s at Amelia Island on 22 May 2021, was the best of a good lot.

It’s the most paid at auction since 2018, which was a frankly astonishing $22m owing to a similarly astonishing history.

Anyway, this was also another estimate-buster, $1.7m more than it had been expected to fetch and it is believed to be the first Torpedo. It won its class in the Amelia Island concours in 2020 and 12 months later changed hands at the same event.

10. £4,320,000 – 1958 Ferrari 250GT TdF, RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, USA


Jacques Peron knew what he wanted, and Ferrari gave some of it to him. Unique livery, 250TR engine (requested but not delivered), and various minor build tweaks, mean this is probably unique – from an already rather rare run.

He took it to fourth in the Tour de France Automobile alongside Grand Prix driver Harry Schell, and then sold it to one-time non-champ GP starter René Cotton. Perhaps he’d have kept it if it had the 250TR engine. 

All of which was enough to put it in the top six sales at Monterey and the top 10 overall of 2021.

9. £4,455,000 – 1965 Shelby Cobra 427, Mecum, Kissimmee, Florida, USA

American auction house Mecum makes one entry into this list and, like fellow sole entrant Barrett-Jackson, a Shelby Cobra is its ticket.

The similarities continue in that this is a Carroll Shelby Cobra. The great team owner and racer had this 427 as his personal car from new until his death, in 2012.

He entrusted esteemed specialist Mike McCluskey to restore it in the 1970s, and at some point it was painted red and featured an auto ’box.

Understandably, when it was bought from the Shelby estate it was reverted back to its original state: one of only five in charcoal grey, and reunited with a four-speed Toploader transmission.

The effort was worth it, because it was bought in 2016 for $1,375,000 – a nice little windfall of $4.5m in five years.

8. £4,500,000 – 1955 Jaguar D-Type, RM Sotheby’s, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

When the hammer came down on this Jaguar D-type in Scottsdale, Arizona, with RM Sotheby’s on 22 January, having been the marquee lot, it became the first to successfully find a new home via auction for five years.

Originally sold to Bernie Ecclestone, then a car dealer, it was taken on by Peter Blond, and later raced by Jean Bloxham. In a twist of fate, Blond died in January, the same month as this sale.

It landed comfortably within estimate, which is some way down on the last time it went under the hammer (and failed to sell).

It can still lay claim to being the second-most expensive D-type of all time after the 1956 Le Mans winner, which fetched £16.65m in 2016.

7. £4,730,000 – 2010 McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25, RM Sotheby’s, Silverstone, UK

Sold on the eve of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, after performing some demonstration laps around the home of British motor racing following the maiden qualifying sprint race, this MP4-25 was the first Lewis Hamilton Grand Prix car to ever sell at auction.

He took the car to the top step in Turkey in 2010, and the same year his teammate (and then reigning world champion) Jenson Button used the chassis to score a podium in Abu Dhabi.

Unlike most recent Grand Prix cars it was sold ready to run, and only Michael Schumacher’s F2001 has cost more at auction. One record Hamilton is yet to take off Schumacher…

=5. £5,547,600 – 1966 Ferrari 275GTB/C, RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, USA

Here we have a Le Mans class winner, though you’d be forgiven for not knowing that off the bat.

Finishing 11th overall was enough for Scuderia Filipinetti’s Dieter Spoerry and journalist Rico Steinemann, later a key man during Porsche’s 917 years – and the pair went on to claim the runner-up spot in 1968 for Stuttgart. This car lasted eight hours that year with Jacques Rey, he who raced Le Monstre.

=5. £5,547,600 – 1962 Ferrari 268SP, RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, USA


A sharknose Ferrari is a rare bird indeed. This is the sports-car version, the Grand Prix cars having long disappeared, and was driven by serious pedallers Olivier Gendebien, Ricardo Rodríguez, Lorenzo Bandini and Mike Parkes.

Its competition record doesn’t set too many worlds alight, but it’s still the second-highest of all Ferraris at auction in 2021, and the runner-up for RM Sotheby’s this year.

But then it is one of only two V8 versions made, rather than the expected V6.

4. £5,940,192 – 1972 Matra MS670, Artcurial, Paris, France


French racing legend Henri Pescarolo was reportedly not best pleased that the 1972 Le Mans-winning Matra was being sold off through Artcurial at Rétromobile by the firm’s long-term guardian.

But one collector was surely delighted to have secured a genuine piece of motor-racing history.

The MS670 returned France to the top spot in its grandest race and in doing so also completed Graham Hill’s Triple Crown after a surprisingly impressive display (Pescarolo initially wasn’t pleased at the time, either, when he was told he was partnering with Hill – we suspect he cheered up when they won).

3. £6,854,400 – 1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, USA


This is a little bit of a steal. In very, very relative terms.

This Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato headed into the RM Sotheby’s sale with a top estimate of $14m, yet someone bagged it for less than $10m. And now those opening eight words make sense.

Anyway, a winner on competitive debut (albeit at a club event with ringer Roy Salvadori), only five others were built in left-hand drive. And only 18 other DB4 Zagatos were created at all.

2. £7,804,800 – 1959 Ferrari 250GT LWB California Spider Competizione, Gooding & Company, Pebble Beach, USA


The 1959 Ferrari 250GT LWB California is a race car for the road, one to cruise up and down the coastal highways of America.

And clearly someone at Monterey wanted to relive that 60-year-old dream, because they shelled out the second largest amount at auction this year with Gooding & Company.

Its colour scheme is recent but a revival of the livery it wore racing in its native Italy in period, and with a tuned engine it’s top money for a California. But, some $8m down on the past two Competiziones sold in recent years. Like the Zagato before it, a bargain…

1. £14,734,800 – 1995 McLaren F1, Gooding & Company, Pebble Beach, USA


This unique McLaren F1 could have been beaten to 2021’s top spot, had a Porsche 917K successfully found a bidder at Monterey.

Instead, after a life mostly spent hardly moving in Japan (it read 240 miles as it crossed Gooding & Company’s block in August), this Woking supercar came away with the spoils and a new home.

It is the only F1 finished in Creighton Brown, named after the company’s former director, and chassis 029 was still wearing its original tyres when it was sold.

And now it has another notable piece of history to add to its file – it’s sold for more than any other car at auction in the world this year.