Pebble Beach Auctions: Top five most expensive cars sold

A mint 1995 McLaren F1 topped the list of 172 vehicles sold during the 2021 Pebble Beach Auctions yesterday in Monterey, California.

While more than 1000 cars worth over $400 million combined went under the hammer during Monterey Car Week, automotive exotica worth more than $100 million changed hands at the Pebble Beach Auctions on the weekend alone.

The auctions were held by Gooding & Company, the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which wasn’t held in 2020 due to coronavirus but celebrated its 70th anniversary this year.

While the global debut of the born-again Lamborghini Countach was the highlight of Monterey Car Week, here are the top five money earners from the 2021 Pebble Beach Auctions held at the Parc du Concours on August 13-14.

The highlight of the 2021 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was this near-pristine example of what was the world’s fastest car when it was released in 1992.

At $US20.465 million ($A28m), it fetched slightly less than the $US20.5m expected – and far less than the outright automotive auction record of $US48.4m for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO in 2018. But it sets a new auction record for a road-going McLaren F1.

Just 106 McLaren F1s were produced until 1998 and this Japanese-delivered ‘Creighton Brown’ example of the famous three-seater British supercar, which can hit 100km/h in 3.2sec on its way to a 380km/h top speed, has been driven only a handful of times for a total of just 400km on the odometer.

One of only about 10 Ferrari 250 GT California LWB Spiders upgraded for motorsport use and wearing the Competizione badge, this race-prepared convertible went under the hammer for $US10.84 million (in line with its $10-$12m estimate).

Ferrari built just 106 California Spiders (making it as exclusive as the McLaren F1) between 1957 and 1962, and while all of them featured coachwork by Carrozzeria Scaglietti, only 50 of them were long-wheelbase.

This immaculate covered-headlight example of the California Spider, which was popularised by the 1980s movie hit Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, was recently restored and presented in its original Tricolore livery. Factory upgrades include velocity stacks, high-lift cams, a ribbed gearbox and long-range fuel tank.

Selling well above its pre-auction estimate of $3.5-$4.5m at $US5.615m, this post-war Bugatti racer was fully restored in 2006, featured on the cover of Road & Track magazine in 1951 and won the 1929 French and Spanish Grands Prix with Williams and Chiron.

First revealed in 1924, the Type 35 Grand Prix is described as Ettore Bugatti’s finest work, the greatest racing car of its period and one of the world’s most desirable automobiles of all time.

Housing the two-seat aluminium-bodied racer’s supercharged 130hp 2.3-litre SOHC inline eight-cylinder engine is a super-lightweight chassis featuring revolutionary hollow front axle and cast aluminium wheels with integrated brake drums.

Wrapped in coachwork by Pininfarina, this Ferrari 250 GT drop-top snared $US4.405m – slightly less than its $4.5-$5.5m estimate – despite being the 34th of just 40 Series I Pininfarina Cabriolets built between 1957 and 1959.

Fully Ferrari Classiche-certified, the iconic 1950s Italian convertible is powered by a 220hp 3.0-litre SOHC V12 and features aluminium drum brakes, coil-sprung independent front suspension and Houdaille shock absorbers all round.

This award-winning example of the Series I Cabriolet, the most expensive Ferrari 250 GT when it was released, was sold by its long-time owner with its original Oro Andalusia (Andalusia Gold) paint colour and beige Connolly leather upholstery.

Landing at the top of its $3-$4 million price estimate at $US3.965m, this pristine example of the Duesenberg Model J – the fastest, most powerful and best-quality homegrown vehicle America had seen when it was revealed at the 1928 New York motor show – is one of just 481 built.

Its body is also one of only 140 built by renowned US coachbuilders, Walter M Murphy Company, and also one of just 25 fitted with an optional articulated deck to hide its convertible roof, which later became known as the Disappearing Top.

Powered by a lusty 265hp DOHC straight eight, Fred Duesenberg’s Model J is regarded as the greatest of all American classic cars and this fully restored, award-winning Murphy-bodied Convertible Coupe is one of the finest in existence.