Pebble Beach 2026 Sets Collector Car Records With $42.9 Million Shelby Cobra Daytona

The 2026 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and its accompanying Monterey Car Week auctions delivered the strongest results in the event's history, with combined sales across major houses reaching $748 million, a 73 percent increase on 2025's $432.7 million total. The standout result came from Gooding Christie's, where the ex-Carroll Shelby 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe sold for $42.9 million on 14 August 2026, becoming the most expensive American car ever sold at auction and surpassing the previous record of $22 million set by a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ in 2018.

Gooding Christie's overall Pebble Beach sale totalled more than $159 million across 158 lots with a 94 percent sell-through rate, the house's highest-grossing auction to date. Rival house RM Sotheby's posted $380 million in sales at its Monterey auction, led by a 1996 McLaren F1 GTR at $34.66 million, a record for both the model and for any British car sold at auction, alongside a $40 million Ferrari Luce Tailor Made charity lot benefiting the Ferrari Foundation.

On the judged side of the event, the 75th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance awarded Best of Show on 16 August 2026 to a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Special Speedster once owned by Clark Gable, shown by collector Harry Yeaggy. Concours chairman Sandra Button called it the marque's ultimate expression, noting the car's Hollywood provenance and recent restoration. The 75th edition also surpassed $50 million in cumulative charitable donations since the concours began.

While African collector car culture operates on a different scale, Monterey's results matter to enthusiasts on the continent as a barometer of global demand for Ferrari, Shelby and other marques well represented in private African collections, and as a reminder of how concours culture pairs competitive judging with serious commercial activity.

Source: RM Sotheby's and Gooding Christie's press releases.

Original source: RM Sotheby's — https://rmsothebys.com/media-center/press-releases/mclaren-f1-gtr-leads-rm-sotheby-s-record-breaking-monterey-auction-with-us-380-million-in-sales-a-40-million-ferrari-luce-charity-lot-clark-gable-s-duesenberg-the-world-s-most-valuable-corvette-and-numerous-world-records-set/