Most expensive cars sold in auction

This is a list of the most expensive cars sold in auto auctions through the traditional bidding process, consisting of those that attracted headline grabbing publicity, mainly for the high price their new owners have paid. A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO serial number 3851GT sold at Bonham's Quail Auction on August 14, 2014 for US $34,650,000.00 ($38,115,000.00 including buyers premium), breaking the record previously held by a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R race car, sold for a record $31 million at an auction in England on July 12, 2013. While collectible cars have been sold privately for more, this is the highest price ever paid for a car at a public auction.

The 1904 Rolls-Royce 10 hp Two-Seater is currently listed on the Guinness World Records as the most expensive veteran car to be sold, at the price of US$7,254,290 (equivalent to $8,379,000 in 2016), on a Bonhams auction held at Olympia in London on December 3, 2007.

This list only consists of those that have been sold for at least $4 million in auction sales during a traditional bidding process, inclusive of the mandatory buyers premium and does not include private, unsuccessful (failing to reach its reserve price, incomplete) and out of auction sales.

Common contributing factors affecting the value of auctioned automobiles include:

Aside those mentioned above, the world economy is the other main factor to its values as classic cars are being regarded as an alternative investment.

The market began in the 1970s when used Ferraris was exported to any Italian exotic car dealer in the United States who were willing to buy anything that came to them, then the 1973 oil crisis when prices of exotic cars plummeted rapidly, almost new and higher in the range models frequented in used car lots, a Lamborghini Miura could be bought for $15,000 at that time. A 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider that went on to sell for $4,950,000 in 2009 was offered for sale in the June 1964 issue of Road & Track for US$10,500 (equivalent to $81,000 in 2016), in the April 1976 issue of Hemmings Motor News, the same car was offered at US$16,750 (equivalent to $70,000 in 2016). After a period of ups and downs in the 1970s and early 1980s, interest rates eased, meaning exotics once frequent on bedroom walls became suddenly affordable.

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