With more than $2 billion in turnover reported for the 2023-2024 season, the new Classic Car Auction Yearbook shares expert statistics on market changes and new opportunities

The Yearbook’s Top Sale Award goes to RM Sotheby’s for the 1962 Ferrari 330 LM/ 250 GTO that sold for $51,705,000 in New York on November 13, 2023 

Historica Selecta thanks UBS for sponsoring the 29^th edition of the Classic Car Auction Yearbook

Bologna, Italy (24 October 2024) –Author and internationally-renowned Historian Adolfo Orsi and his team at Historica Selecta have released the 29^th edition of the Classic Car Auction Yearbook to report on the 2023-2024 auction season amid a bustling Auto e Moto d’Epoca Fiera in Bologna this week. Despite a record high of $2.137 billion in overall turnover, the annual reference book reports a slight weakening of the market for this past season. Understanding the cyclical nature of the collectibles market is the very nature of this publication and so the author illustrates these overall trends to help guide his readers.  

Following the official presentation of the new Yearbook today at the ACI/ ACI Storico stand, leading auction executives from Artcurial, Bonhams, Gooding & Company, RM-Sotheby’s and American expert Donald Osborne will together participate in a panel discussion sharing their own perspectives and insights from this past season. 

“The market is resilient, more reflective and selective, it is definitely a ‘buyer’s market’ for 99% of models,” writes Author Adolfo Orsi. “If you are driven by passion and the desire to achieve a dream, this could be the right time to purchase the classic car of your dreams at a reasonable price.”  

A resource that excels in presenting a wider perspective to collectors, the latest Yearbook explains the effects of aging demographics, how these audiences are shifting the focus towards younger automotive heroes and how online auctions have changed the game without losing the importance of traditional auction settings.  Blue chip models continue to hold their own and increase in value, as readers may see in the Yearbook’s charts following cars like the Ferrari F40, Dino, “Daytona” Spider, Mercedes-Benz 300SL “Gullwing” and Roadster and Lamborghini Miura, to name a few. However, for enthusiasts who don’t have that kind of money to play with, today’s market may be an opportunity. 

Every year, the Classic Car Auction Yearbook examines the market from many viewpoints, including details such as country, make, model and period. The United States’ market share of turnover for 2023-2024 increased to 75% this past season, due in part to the significance of the American online auction business. Ferrari continues to lead the market with 24.34% of total turnover, though this percentage is down 3% from the previous season. Porsche and Mercedes-Benz follow, ranked second and third respectively with 19.34% and 9.53% of total sales represented by the marques. A graph dedicated to cars offered by age on page 34 of the new Yearbook shows a dramatic rise in popularity for cars younger than 20 years old in recent years. 

There were 311 cars sold above the million-dollar mark this season, the third highest number ever recorded by the Yearbook, and 24 of these were sold online. Online auctions are often used for different types of purchasing behavior compared to traditional auctions, but they have become more widely accepted even for important examples. Readers may research online auction results for cars with estimates above $100,000 as well as other select models sold online in the new edition. 

The 29th edition of the Classic Car Auction Yearbook is a 432-page, authoritative guide that reports on the results from 101 traditional auctions, held from the 1^st of September 2023 to the 31^st of August 2024 and is filled to the brim with supporting graphs and charts as well editorial contributions from the author and leading auction house executives. New sections this year include a list of live auctions of the season listed in chronological order, the return of the season case study (the 1990 Sir Elton John’s Bentley Continental Cabriolet that sold for $441,000, 18 times over its estimate) and graphs of the prices achieved by cars offered and sold already in previous seasons. This year’s edition is complete with 736 color photographs, 107 graphs and covers 11,312 cars, listed across 378 different marques with indication by chassis number and auction results in three currencies (Euro, US dollar and GB pound sterling). 

About the Classic Car Auction Yearbook

Launched in 1993, the Classic Car Auction Yearbook, produced in partnership with UBS, is authored and edited by Adolfo Orsi Jr. Historica Selecta has published the Yearbook since 2008. The new 2023-2024 Classic Car Auction Yearbook is available for €100 through an international network of automotive bookstores as well as internet-based retailers. For more information and to find out where to buy the Yearbook, please visit ClassicCarAuctionYearbook.com.