It's a gorgeous day outside, so you decide to take the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO out for a spin. Heads turn and jaws drop as you cruise through town. After all, it's not every day that a $38 million car drives by.
That's a highly unlikely scenario, of course. The owner of the world's most expensive collectible car isn't going to pull a Ferris Bueller and risk a run to the local convenience store.
But the car's value, as determined by a 2014 Bonhams auction, gives an indication of the collectible car market's health. At the market's top end, each of the 10 most expensive cars ever sold at auction sold for over $10 million.
"The trends are certainly upward trends," said Rupert Banner, vice president, deputy group motoring director with auctioneer Bonhams in New York. "There's no doubt about that. It seems largely based on supply and demand."
Currently, "There are more and more people coming into the market, the supply is relatively fixed — we're dealing with a commodity that they aren't making anymore," Banner explained. "So when the supply is relatively limited compared to its demand, it's market forces, and the prices certainly have progressed over the course of at least two decades now."
Another factor driving collector interest is the greater availability of sales price data.
Public auctions, such as Bonhams' Quail Lodge event, bring both publicity and a touch of glamor to the market. Collectors also can access sales databases like the one published by Sports Car Market magazine to track auction results and price trends.
Buy What You Like
Seven- and eight-figure cars are accessible only to the ultra-high-net worth collector.
