Collectors have pushed the price of rare racing cars far beyond what most people imagine a vehicle could cost. The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe leads the field at $142 million, while a Jaguar D-Type closes the group at $21.78 million. Here are twelve of the most expensive cars ever sold at auction, ordered from highest price to lowest.
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1. Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe: Record Holder
Atop Hagerty’s top-30 ranking, the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe sold for $142,000,000 at RM Sotheby’s on May 5, 2022. That price stands as the most ever paid for a car at auction.
Nothing else on the list comes close to that figure, which is nearly triple the runner-up. The sale also set the benchmark against which every other entry in this gallery is measured. The buyer paid that sum in a sale run by RM Sotheby’s, and the price includes the auction house’s fees as every figure in this ranking does.
2. Ferrari 250 GTO: The Benchmark Ferrari
A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold for $51,705,000 on Nov. 14, 2023, according to Top Gear’s auction list. Another 250 GTO had fetched $48,405,000 at auction in 2018.
Two sales at that level in five years show how firmly this model anchors the high end of the collector market. Only the Mercedes above it has ever commanded more at a public sale. The 2023 figure comes from Top Gear’s list of the highest public auction sales, which also notes the earlier 2018 result for the same model.
3. Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe: Daytona Surprise
Per Hagerty’s ranking, a 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe sold for $42,905,000 at Gooding Christie’s on Aug. 14, 2026. It is the newest sale in this gallery and ranks fifth overall.
The result arrived with the latest Pebble Beach auctions and lifted an American-built racing coupe into territory once reserved for Ferraris. It now sits ahead of every other car on this list below the top four. Hagerty’s table places it fifth, and the Gooding Christie’s sale date of Aug. 14, 2026 makes it the freshest result among the twelve.
4. Ferrari 250 LM: Le Mans Yellow
A Ferrari 250 LM sold for $36,344,960 on Feb. 5, 2025, as Top Gear’s list records. Hagerty lists a 1964 250 LM at $36,292,882 for an RM Sotheby’s sale.
The small gap between the two figures reflects how the sources round and date their entries, not necessarily two different cars. Either way, the mid-engined 250 LM sits comfortably among the priciest cars ever auctioned. Top Gear dates its figure to Feb. 5, 2025, so a reader comparing the two lists will find the totals differ by only a few thousand dollars.
5. Ferrari 335 S: Scaglietti Spider
The 1957 Ferrari 335 S sold for $35,763,848 at Artcurial on Feb. 5, 2016, based on Hagerty’s top-30 list. The sale took place on Feb. 5, 2016.
A sale from nearly a decade ago still ranks ninth all-time, which says plenty about how far the market has climbed since. Few cars on the list have held their place as long. Hagerty lists Artcurial as the auction house, giving the French firm the only top-ten result in this gallery that did not go through RM Sotheby’s or Gooding.
6. McLaren F1 GTR: Pebble Beach Racer
evo’s auction roundup reports that a 1996 McLaren F1 GTR sold for $34,655,000 at RM Sotheby’s during Pebble Beach in 2026. The figure puts a 1990s race car among cars built decades earlier.
The GTR is the youngest design in the gallery, a reminder that modern racing machinery can rival the great prewar and 1950s icons when provenance and rarity line up. The evo list gives the Pebble Beach venue and the dollar total in its body text, which is why this entry relies on that article rather than a table row.
7. Mercedes-Benz W196: Fangio’s Silver Arrow
The Mercedes-Benz W196R from Juan Manuel Fangio’s era sold at the Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed sale on July 12, 2013, according to Wikipedia’s W196 entry. The hammer price was 19.7 million pounds, about $29.6 million with premium.
That result was a world record at the time. Other sources quote the sterling figure differently, so the dollar total here follows the Wikipedia conversion. Wikipedia records the hammer price in pounds and the premium-inclusive total in dollars, and that dual reporting is why the sale is cited here in both currencies.
8. Ferrari 290 MM: Mille Miglia Veteran
RM Sotheby’s sold the Ferrari 290 MM that Juan Manuel Fangio drove in the 1956 Mille Miglia for US$28 million on Dec. 10, 2015, Wikipedia’s 290 MM article notes. The sale came with a famous driver attached.
Racing history of that kind helps explain the premium. A car with a documented drive by a world champion in one of motorsport’s most famous road races is difficult to replace. The Wikipedia article ties the sale to the 1956 Mille Miglia drive, so the price reflects a specific, documented chapter in the car’s racing career.
9. Ferrari 250 GT California Spider: Competizione Cabriolet
A 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider Competizione sold for $25,305,000, and evo’s roundup lists it as a 2026 sale. The body text of the article carries the full price.
As a competition-prepared version of a model already treasured as an open-top Ferrari, it brought a price far above ordinary roadsters. It rounds out the gallery’s run of Maranello entries. Evo reports the price in dollars and labels the model by its full designation, which includes the short wheelbase and the Competizione specification.
10. Aston Martin DBR1: British Le Mans Winner
The 1956 Aston Martin DBR1 sold for $22,550,000 at RM Sotheby’s on Aug. 19, 2017, according to Top Gear’s list. It is the only Aston Martin in the gallery.
The sale placed a British sports racer among the most valuable cars ever to cross an auction block. Its price sits a little above the Duesenberg and the Jaguar that follow it. Top Gear’s list places the sale at RM Sotheby’s on Aug. 19, 2017, the same auction house that handled the Jaguar D-Type a year earlier.
11. Duesenberg Model SSJ: Prewar Powerhouse
The 1935 Duesenberg Model SSJ sold for $22,000,000 at Gooding & Co. on Aug. 24, 2018, based on Hagerty’s ranking. It ranks twenty-first on the list.
Almost everything else near it is a postwar European racer, so the American prewar entry stands out. The figure shows that collector money does not reserve its biggest prices for Italian or British cars alone. Hagerty prints the sale as a Gooding & Co. result from Aug. 24, 2018, which makes it one of the older entries in the top thirty.
12. Jaguar D-Type: Le Mans Legend
A 1955 Jaguar D-Type sold for $21,780,000 at RM Sotheby’s on Aug. 19, 2016, as Top Gear’s auction list records. That is the lowest price among the twelve cars here.
Even so, the figure is more than most collectors will see in a lifetime. The long-nosed British racer closes out a list where the entry point is now well above $20 million. Top Gear lists the sale at RM Sotheby’s on Aug. 19, 2016, and the result is the smallest of the twelve while still topping $21 million.
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