Monterey Car Week returns August 13-15, 2026, and once again the world’s most important collector cars will cross the block in and around Pebble Beach. Between RM Sotheby’s flagship sale at the Monterey Conference Center and Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach Auctions, this year’s offerings span more than a century of automotive history, from a hand-built veteran-era Mercedes to a modern Bugatti hypercar. Here are six cars we’re watching most closely this year.
1. 1963 Ferrari 250 P — Gooding & Company, Lot 26
Chassis 0810 is the car that changed the direction of Ferrari’s racing program: the very first 250 P, the marque’s original mid-engine V-12 sports-racing prototype. Developed under Mauro Forghieri with input from John Surtees, it finished 2nd overall at the 1963 12 Hours of Sebring and 3rd overall at Le Mans before a long second career with Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team. It has been part of the same North American collection since 1988 and carries a $15,000,000-$20,000,000 estimate, making it one of the most significant competition Ferraris ever to reach auction.
View this listing at Gooding & Company →
2. 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe — Gooding & Company, Lot 39
Carroll Shelby built just six Daytona Coupes with one goal: beat Ferrari’s 250 GTO at its own game. Chassis CSX2300, bodied in Modena and campaigned across the 1964 Tour de France and Shelby American’s championship-winning 1965 FIA GT season, is the only Daytona Coupe Shelby personally owned. After a second competition life in Japan through the late 1960s, it returned to Shelby himself in 1975. Offered at an estimate of “in excess of $25,000,000,” it stands among the most valuable American cars ever brought to market.
View this listing at Gooding & Company →
3. 1904 Mercedes Simplex 40 HP Rear-Entrance Tonneau — RM Sotheby’s, Lot 113
Consigned from the Owls Head Transportation Museum, this Simplex 40 HP is regarded as one of the best-preserved veteran-era Mercedes in existence, complete with its original coachwork, floorboards, and ignition system. Once part of the celebrated Waterman and Gibson collection and later owned by IBM chairman Thomas J. Watson Jr., it has been invited to run in the 2026 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. It carries an estimate of $5,000,000-$6,000,000, with proceeds benefiting the museum’s STEM education programs.
View this listing at RM Sotheby’s →
4. 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante — RM Sotheby’s, Lot 115
One of only 42 Type 57S chassis built and among a handful with the distinctive lowered headlight treatment, this Atalante has passed through an extraordinary line of owners, including artist André Derain, Harrah’s Automobile Collection, biotech pioneer Dr. Herbert Boyer, and, for the past quarter-century, the Jim Patterson Collection. It won Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 1976 and, following a meticulous 2014 restoration, took home the Most Elegant Closed Car trophy at the same event. It is estimated at $4,500,000-$6,000,000.
View this listing at RM Sotheby’s →
5. 1948 Tucker 48 — RM Sotheby’s, Lot 112
Only 51 Tuckers were ever built, and just 47 survive, making any example a rare event at auction. Chassis 1019 spent more than five decades with a single Pacific Northwest family, the Hulls, and even appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1988 film Tucker: The Man and His Dream. Never fully restored, it remains in largely original, well-preserved condition and is estimated at $1,000,000-$1,300,000, offering a comparatively accessible entry point into one of the most beloved chapters of postwar American automotive history.
View this listing at RM Sotheby’s →
6. 2020 Bugatti Chiron Sport ‘Edition Noire’ — Gooding & Company, Lot 63
For collectors looking to the modern era, this is one of only 20 “Edition Noire” Chiron Sports built and one of just 60 Chiron Sports overall, finished in exposed black carbon fiber and inspired by the Type 57SC Atlantic. Sold new for roughly $3.75 million with options, it has covered fewer than 2,500 miles from new. Offered directly from its original owner with an estimate of $3,000,000-$3,500,000, it’s a reminder that Bugatti’s modern hypercars are quickly becoming blue-chip collectibles in their own right.
View this listing at Gooding & Company →
Together, these six lots capture the range that makes Monterey Car Week the center of the collector car universe each August, spanning Brass Era engineering, the racers that beat Ferrari, coachbuilt prewar art, and today’s hypercars. Full catalogues and bidder registration are available directly through RM Sotheby’s and Gooding & Company.
