Classic car sales stagnate in Monterey as a new generation takes over

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Auction sales during Monterey Car Week fell 3 percent from last year as the shift from older to newer cars left a backlog of unsold classics from the 1950s and 1960s.

Total sales for the five Monterey auto auction houses — RM Sotheby’s, Broad Arrow, Gooding & Company, Mecum and Bonhams — fell this year to $391.6 million from $403 million in 2023, according to Hagerty, the classic car insurance company. That followed a 14% decline last year compared with the 2022 peak.

Of the 1,143 cars on sale, only 821 were sold, giving a 72% sales rate, according to Hagerty. The average sales price was $476,965, slightly lower than last year's average of $477,866.

Experts say wealthy collectors still have plenty of money to spend and are feeling confident given the recent surge in the stock market, but the types of cars they want are changing. There were simply too many similar cars at too many auctions to generate strong prices and sales.

“It's a glut,” said Simon Kidston, founder of Kidston and a senior adviser to wealthy car collectors. “When I walked through the auctions and saw so many similar 'products', I wondered if any of them had thought about what they or their rivals had already consigned, and whether the cars were competing for the same buyers. Add to that the fact that many of the vehicles had already been in dealerships' windows for months or years, which always gives the impression that they are second-hand.”

At the same time, a new generation of collectors driving the market (primarily Gen Xers and millennials) prefer cars from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Classic cars from the 1950s and 1960s that drove the market for decades and are popular with baby boomers are flooding onto the market and failing to find buyers.

According to Hagerty, the sale rate at Monterey (or the percentage of cars that actually sold at auction) was an anemic 52% for pre-1981 cars priced at $1 million or more. The sale rate for cars less than 4 years old was much higher, at 73%, showing that younger collectors are now in charge.

Hagerty’s Supercar Index, which includes sports cars from the 1980s to the 2000s, is up more than 60% since 2019, while the Blue Chip Index, which includes Corvettes, Ferraris, Jaguars and other historic classics from the 1950s and 1960s, is down 3%.

It's true that there are still some rare masterpieces that sell for high prices. The top selling car of the week was a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider that sold at RM Sotheby's for $17 million and the runner-up was a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider, one of only five in existence.

However, the broader changing of the guard in classic cars, especially now that many vintage collectors are beginning to sell or downsize their collections, will likely weigh on prices for older cars for years to come.

“From an auction perspective, the market continues to take a breath as we move from the trendy stuff, such as Enzo-era Ferraris, so-called classics and sports racers of the 1950s and '60s, to the rising class of modern supercars,” said McKeel Hagerty, Hagerty's chief executive. “The divergence between older and newer cars has accelerated.”

Some say high interest rates are also putting pressure on the classic car market. At the lower end of the market, many buyers had been turning to financing to buy cars and add to their collections. At the higher end, rising rates have raised the opportunity cost of buying a classic car.

“People think, ‘Instead of that million-dollar car, I could make 5% or 10% if you have a good manager,’” Kidston says. “That, more than anything else, makes people think twice. A collector car is part investment. There’s no other reason for the increase in value of collector cars over the last 40 years than the investment factor.”