1995 McLaren F1 is the most expensive car sold at auction this year – Robb Report

The annual Monterey Car Week auction came back in full force this weekend.

A 1995 McLaren F1 sold for a record $ 20.47 million on Friday night at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach auction. The mind-boggling hammer price makes the most expensive F1 supercar of all time and is also the highlight for a vehicle at auction this year.

Despite the financial uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the vintage car market has remained as strong as ever, according to CNBC. All eyes were on the F1 road car, which was seen as a barometer of the market as a whole and is expected to reach $ 15 million. An anonymous buyer ended up paying $ 20.47 million (including fees) for the immaculate vehicle. This easily exceeds the $ 15.62 million paid for a road version of the supercar in 2017 and the $ 19.8 million paid for an LM-spec variant in 2019.

F1 is considered by many to be the first hypercar and, with just 106 units built between 1992 and 1998, it is among the most popular vehicles in the world. This particular example, frame 029, is 25^e of 64 series road cars, according to the auction house. It’s finished in a Creighton Brown paint job, which is offset by a sleek light brown and beige interior. Originally sold to a collector in Japan, the car remains in the ‘as delivered’ condition (meaning no changes have been made since leaving the factory), and only traveled 243 miles on his V-12 engine.

“We were incredibly proud to present this exceptional McLaren F1 and tonight the market confirmed the prowess of this unprecedented supercar from one of the most legendary names in the automobile,” said the president and founder of the house. auctioneer David Gooding in a statement. “This sale was a historic moment not only for Gooding & Company, but for the McLaren heritage and the industry as a whole.”

While the F1 sale may grab the headlines, it was a great weekend for the auction house across the board. In total, the two-day Pebble Beach sale event grossed $ 107 million. Other highlights include a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider which sold for $ 10.84 million, a 1929 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix which sold for $ 5.62 million and a Duesenberg convertible. Model J from 1930 which sold for $ 3.97 million.

Gooding & Company was also not the only company to have enjoyed a strong sales weekend, according to CNBC. Overall, business is up 34% from 2019, the last year of Monterey Car Week. It’s never a bad time to be a car collector, apparently.