In this story9 chapters
Classic cars are the most visible passion asset, and in 2026 the most divided. The very best are setting records while the broad market stands still. These are five models whose auction results show what blue-chip means, and what it takes to own one well.
A market at two speeds
At the top, 2026 has been extraordinary. Monterey Car Week in August sold $747.9m of cars, a record, against $432.8m a year earlier, with eleven eight-figure results. A 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe made $42.9m, an American-car record. A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO made $38.5m in January.
Below the top, the picture is calmer. Hagerty’s Market Rating stood at 58.74 in August 2026, which Hagerty calls a flat market, having touched a 15-year low in July. Knight Frank’s index has classic cars down 3.7% in 2025, but up 17.4% over five years and 31.3% over ten: the best five-year performer in the whole luxury index.
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What held value, and for how long
Knight Frank’s index of passion assets, with prime homes alongside. Change the period and the order changes with it.
1. Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider (1960–63)
The California Spider is the open Ferrari every collector wants. In April 2026 an example made $19.52m at RM Sotheby’s Monaco, and a Spyder made $18.15m at Mecum Indianapolis in May. A 1961 competition car made $25.3m at Pebble Beach in August 2025. Fewer than sixty were built.
2. Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Alloy Gullwing (1955)
Only 29 300 SLs were built with aluminium bodies, which makes the alloy car the rarest of the Gullwings. The record is $9.355m, set by RM Sotheby’s in October 2024, against $6.825m in 2022. Steel Gullwings trade for a fraction of that: one made €4.41m in Paris in 2026.
3. Ford GT40 (1960s)
The GT40 beat Ferrari at Le Mans four years running, from 1966. In February 2025 a 1966 Mk II, chassis P/1032, made $13.205m at RM Sotheby’s Miami, a record for a Ford. Provenance is everything with GT40s: race history, chassis number and continuity decide the price.
On the marketTrump International Hotel & Tower DubaiDubai, United Arab EmiratesFrom £521,000See the development4. Ferrari 312 T4 (1979)
Formula 1 cars rarely reach the top of the market, because few people can use them. Championship cars are the exception. Chassis 040, the car Jody Scheckter drove to the 1979 world title, made €7.655m, about $8.25m, at RM Sotheby’s Monaco in May 2024.
5. Pagani Zonda (1999–2019)
The Zonda is the modern hypercar that has behaved like a classic. A 2014 Zonda LM Roadster made $11.086m at RM Sotheby’s Dubai in December 2024, the auction record for the model. Most Zondas are one-offs or were built in single figures.
What drives the price
- Rarity. Production in the dozens, not thousands.
- Provenance. Racing history, a famous first owner, and continuous records.
- Originality. Matching numbers and original panels; restoration done by recognised specialists.
- Condition. Concours-quality cars command the premium.
What it costs to own
A collector car needs climate-controlled storage, agreed-value insurance, regular exercise and specialist maintenance. Auction houses charge buyer’s premiums of around 10–12% on top of the hammer price. These costs make classic cars a long-term holding: the gain has to cover them before it is a gain at all.
Where the cars live
Collectors keep their cars where they live, and increasingly in homes designed around them: private garages, car lifts and gallery-lit display rooms. Our advisers can show you homes with the space a collection needs, in Dubai, Muscat and on the Costa del Sol.
