Monterey: Top 5 Takeaways From Monterey Car Week 2026

As Pebble Beach returns to its natural state as a golf course, as the masses head back to the airport and as the streets of Carmel no longer resemble a scene from a movie, it's time to look back on what we learnt from the auctions over Monterey Car Week 2026.

Note: the analysis here focuses solely on the cars from Monterey, automobilia and bikes are excluded. Prices include premium. Estimate analysis does not include Mecum as no estimates are provided.

Our Takeaways

1. The Strongest Monterey Ever

And by some margin. Cut it whichever way you want - Monterey 2026 delivered the strongest results we've ever seen.

Total sold vehicles reached c. $750 million, beating the previous record of $470 million in 2022 by 57%.

Sure, but was that just an increase in volume? The total number of cars offered stood at 1,068, a 5% increase on last year. The number of sold cars was up c.7%, which only partly explains the rise in average values.

Simply, it was more expensive vehicles being consigned and sold. Average sold vehicle value beat previous records, topping a remarkable $930,000. To put that into context, the average sold vehicle value in recent years has been around $500,000. That represents an unprecedented year-on-year shift.

Averages can be skewed by outliers and cars selling for incredibly strong money, of which there were plenty last week. Looking at it via the median removes those outliers - even in this instance, median values were up 19% vs last year.

Sell-through rate also remained very strong and indeed was the highest we've seen in recent years at 75%. A great indicator that buyer and seller expectations, at least in the US, are converging.

In other words, total sold value was at a record level, average sold price was at a record level and sell-through rate was the strongest we've seen for years.

But there's an important caveat here.

The auction houses had placed an intense focus on consigning more valuable cars. Median estimate values were up a staggering 45% vs last year. That's a huge shift in expectations from the auction houses - and importantly, one that buyers didn't entirely follow.

Median realised values were up 19%, less than half the increase in median estimates.

So what? Well, it tells us two things.

First, that 57% rise in total value is down in large part to the high-value halo cars crossing the block. There were simply more very expensive cars for buyers to bid on.

Second, the median rise of 19% tells a truer story. Monterey was genuinely stronger than last year, but it wasn't 57% stronger across the board. Auction houses were pricing the market aggressively, and buyers were willing to spend more - just not indiscriminately.

And that distinction is important. The market can be healthy without buyers being willing to pay whatever is put in front of them.

2. The Rich Get Richer

If there is one lesson to take away from the car market in 2026, it is the strength of the top end, particularly so with 6/7-figure 90s cars onwards trading for seemingly constant world records.

Monterey continued that trend.

Last year, the top 10 cars that sold at Monterey totalled $115 million. This year, the top 10 cars totalled $223 million - quite the rise. Side note: the sales total for Monterey in 2019 was $255 million. In other words, 10 cars this year almost amounted to the 2019 total.

Over 90 world records were set at Monterey 2026. We walk through many of those in our piece on The Top 10 Most Expensive Cars To Sell.

There's no denying that's a truly remarkable number. However, delving a little bit deeper, the story becomes more nuanced.

So, what have we got?

Circa 9% of cars sold at world-record prices. Based on the pre-sale estimates (excluding Mecum, as they don't publish estimates), 20% of cars offered were at world-record prices.

Sure, Mecum is a different offering and volume play, so it dilutes the number of lots at the world-record end of the scale. Even so, stripping out Mecum shows that 14% of lots sold at world-record prices compared to the 20% that were predicted beforehand.

Bear in mind that the estimate is an estimate of the hammer price and we're including fees here. The takeaway is that whilst plenty of records were achieved, buyers for the most part - putting the fridge to one side - refused to chase the majority of aggressive estimates.

And that's perhaps the most interesting thing about Monterey.

The buyers weren't simply throwing money at everything and that brings us to our next point.

3. The Delta Between Good and Great Widens

A trend we've seen all year has been the delta growing between the 'good' cars and the 'great' cars.

The premium someone is attributing to a unique spec, low mileage, fantastic provenance - whatever the reason - is becoming increasingly significant. If your vehicle has something to shout about, something very few (or ideally no other) cars can boast, then the market is willing to pay exceedingly handsomely for that privilege.

Monterey provided plenty of examples.

The very best cars? Absolutely. Buyers competed fiercely for those, often pushing them into record territory.

But when the car wasn't quite special enough, or the estimate was simply too ambitious, buyers were perfectly happy to walk away.

That's a healthy sign for the market. It suggests we're seeing genuine demand for exceptional cars rather than a return to an anything-goes mentality

This isn't particularly revolutionary - collectors have always paid a premium for exceptional cars. What's changing is the size of that premium.

With restoration and specialist labour costs at record highs, collectors increasingly pay a heavy premium upfront for finished, correct or preservation-grade cars to avoid the financial penalty of commissioning work later.

And when you consider the alternative, it makes sense.

Why buy an average example for $500,000, spend another $300,000 putting it right and end up with a car that's still only worth $600,000, when you can spend $750,000 on the exceptional example in the first place?

The market increasingly appears to be answering that question for us.

Good cars still sell. Great cars get fought over.

4. The Strongest Era Wasn't What You Thought, Kinda

If I was to ask you what the strongest decade was in terms of sell-through rate (STR) at Monterey, you'd probably answer the 1990s or 2000s?

The truth is it was the 1920s, with 30 of 34 cars selling - an 88% STR.

Next? Nope, not the 90s. It was the 1940s, with an 87.5% STR.

Next? Nope, still not the 90s. It was the 1910s, with an 87% STR.

These eras have typically always put their best foot forward at Monterey. Many of these cars are offered at no reserve and they're at far lower volume than the classics and modern classics, so you can caveat some of the above.

The truer indicator is perhaps how cars performed against their estimates - and the best-performing decade there was the 2000s, with 54% of cars selling above their top estimate (including fees). The 1980s were second strongest, followed by the 1990s.

At the other end of the spectrum, the 1960s took the crown for biggest underperformer, with 60% of cars selling below their lower estimate (including fees).

The pre-war cars performed reasonably well on these metrics, with 48% of all pre-war cars landing in the middle of their estimate.

And the story becomes even more interesting when you look at the major marques.

Among the popular makes we analysed, sell-through rates varied considerably. Rolls-Royce recorded an 86% STR, while Bentley and Alfa Romeo were both at 84% and Mercedes-Benz at 82%. Ferrari was at 71%, Porsche at 74%, Lamborghini at 67% and Shelby at 63%.

This isn't an exhaustive list of every marque at Monterey, so we're not suggesting one brand "won" the weekend. But it does reinforce the broader point: strength wasn't evenly distributed.

The market is increasingly discerning about what it wants - whether that's a particular era, marque, model or individual car.

5. A Crucial Caveat: Monterey's Place in the Global Market

Monterey isn't the entire market, and the market isn't Monterey. It's a crucial distinction to make.

From a volume perspective, Monterey makes up about 1% of all auctions annually. From a value perspective, it's so skewed to the top end that it isn't reflective of the broader market as a whole.

Furthermore, the US market often operates at a different level than its neighbours across the Atlantic; prices achieved here may not be attainable in Europe.

However, that doesn't stop us from taking signals from the colossal events of last weekend.

To summarise, here are the key headlines from the weekend's sales:

• Monterey was genuinely stronger - but not 57% stronger: record headline sales were driven heavily by a much more valuable catalogue, while median realised values rose a still-impressive 19%.

• The auction houses were more bullish than the buyers: median estimates rose 45%, but buyers didn't follow them all the way up. They were willing to spend, but not indiscriminately.

• The rich get richer: the very best cars attracted extraordinary levels of competition, with the top 10 accounting for $223m of sales and over 90 world records achieved.

• The gap between good and great continues to widen: exceptional specification, condition, provenance and originality are increasingly commanding a meaningful premium.

• Modern classics continue to show pricing power: 2000s, 1980s and 1990s cars performed particularly well against estimates, while the 1960s were among the weaker decades.

• Monterey is a signal, not the market: the real question is whether the strength seen among wealthy US collectors is filtering into the wider global market.

It took us over 13 hours to pull together all the Monterey analysis so if you enjoyed it, please sign up to our newsletter here to be the first to receive these insights and more.

Feel free to share it with a friend, too!

Till next year...