🌑--:--TR
Every new auction opens the door to fresh excitement while also reviving historic stories. RM Sotheby’s sale in Monaco saw a remarkable series of collectible pieces with unforgettable pasts change hands. Ayrton Senna’s first Formula 1 car was also offered at auction for 2.9 million Euros, though it ultimately remained unsold. Here are the highlights.
Ferrari 250s always carry the potential to become the record holders of any auction. One of Monaco’s most ambitious lots was this example. The Ferrari 250 GT Short Wheelbase California Spider by Scaglietti, first displayed at the 1961 Frankfurt Motor Show, was sold for 16,655,000 Euros. Beyond being the 26th of the 56 short-wheelbase examples produced, this Ferrari is also one of only 39 fitted with covered headlights.
In 2019, the car entered Ferrari Classiche’s “Red Book” certification due to the authenticity of all its documentation. Following a three-year restoration, it returned to the road in 2022 with its original metal roof, toolkit and owner’s manual intact. It eventually became the record sale of the Monaco auction.
We are entering a period in which the Ferrari Enzo is increasingly seen as an investment asset. Monaco offered the latest example of this trend. Only nine Ferrari Enzos were produced in Argento NĂĽrburgring silver, and just five of them featured Rosso leather seats in the interior.
This Ferrari Enzo, once featured on the cover of Auto Italia magazine in 2009, changed hands for 6,530,000 Euros after receiving routine maintenance including a new set of Pirelli tyres. The car’s value was further elevated by its Ferrari “Red Book” certification confirming complete originality, making it the third most expensive Ferrari Enzo ever sold.
Would you pay 5.1 million Euros for a car you cannot legally drive on public roads or race competitively? Someone in Monaco apparently found that entirely reasonable. The 2018 Ferrari FXX-K Evo was built in a production run of only 20 units as part of Ferrari’s exclusive “XX Program” for select customers. Alongside selling the cars, Ferrari also organised private track events limited to these owners.
The Ferrari FXX-K Evo was never homologated for road use or competitive racing, meaning it was effectively free from restrictions. Its naturally aspirated V12 engine could operate without emissions regulations or performance limitations, delivering one of the most extreme driving experiences of its era. The Monaco example had covered only 4,244 km and had remained under the care of both its original owner and Ferrari itself.
The only Ferrari LaFerrari ever delivered from the factory in Signal Green also found a new owner in Monaco. The 2014 model, showing 12,042 km, sold for 5,067,500 Euros.
Its first owner was Jay Kay, the lead singer of Jamiroquai. The car had also been displayed twice at the Enzo Ferrari Museum. Maintenance for its hybrid systems was completed in February 2026. With this result, the LaFerrari became the third most expensive example of its kind ever sold at auction. The most expensive LaFerrari Aperta to date fetched 6.715 million Dollars in August 2025.
It is road-illegal, has only 359 km on the odometer and includes 291,000 Euros worth of optional equipment. Under those circumstances, paying 4.3 million Euros for this Bugatti Bolide may actually qualify as a solid investment.
Its original tax-free list price in 2024 was announced at around 4 million Euros. This particular car is one of only 40 examples produced. Built on a chassis compliant with FIA Le Mans Hypercar regulations, the legendary W16-powered Bugatti Bolide produces 1,578 horsepower, accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.2 seconds and reaches a top speed of 380 km/h.
Driven four times by Carlos Reutemann during the 1978 Formula 1 season and later by the legendary Gilles Villeneuve at the 1979 Argentine Grand Prix, the Ferrari 312 T3 is one of only five examples ever produced.
Powered by a transversely mounted 3.0-litre flat-12 engine, the Ferrari 312 T3 retained the number “12” from Villeneuve’s final race appearance and sold for 4,336,250 Euros. Alongside the car came three sets of original racing tyres, toolkits and fuel-filling hoses.
Perhaps the best-preserved Ferrari F40 in the world changed hands in Monaco for 4,336,250 Euros, setting a new record for a road-going F40.
Leaving aside the 1993 Ferrari F40 LM that sold for 11 million Dollars, the previous record for a standard road-legal F40 stood at 3.8 million Dollars in December 2025. That car had belonged to four-time Formula 1 World Champion Alain Prost, who had purchased it new and even signed the roof.
This new record-holding Ferrari F40 has had only two owners throughout its life. Delivered to Belgium in 1989, it spent 29 years preserved in a private collection and covered just 1,799 km.
Unlike American-spec examples, this European-market F40 was built without a catalytic converter, giving it significantly more aggressive sound and performance characteristics. Between 2022 and 2024, the car underwent a comprehensive restoration. Despite its minimal use, the fuel tank was replaced, structural joints were reworked and the car was restored to virtually factory-new condition before the auction.
The Aston Martin DB3S displayed at the 1955 British Motor Show sold for 3,380,000 Euros. Originally finished in Almond Green, the car was exhibited at the show as a 1956 model. Eunice Gayson, remembered as Sylvia Trench from the James Bond films Dr. No and From Russia With Love, posed alongside the car.
This DB3S, chassis number 111, is believed to have appeared in road tests conducted by Autosport in February 1956 and by Autocar in April 1956, although definitive proof has never surfaced. One of only 20 examples produced, the car competed extensively at circuits including Silverstone and Snetterton. Having spent nearly 40 years within the renowned Aston Martin-collecting Forshaw family, the DB3S reached its current condition following a meticulous three-year restoration.
A legend scored his first Formula 1 points with this car. Driving the number 19 Toleman TG183B during the 1984 Formula 1 season, Ayrton Senna finished sixth at the South African Grand Prix on 7 April 1984, earning his first championship point. Only weeks later, on 29 April 1984, he scored another sixth-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix in the same car.
Senna’s Formula 1 story began with the Toleman TG183B before evolving into a career filled with three World Championships and countless records. Yet this historically significant Formula 1 car, driven by one of the sport’s greatest legends, failed to sell at 2.9 million Euros. It seems only a matter of time before it changes hands.
One of just 275 Mercedes-AMG ONE models produced was sold at the Monaco auction for 2.8 million Euros. Originally announced with a tax-free launch price of 2.3 million Euros in 2022, this particular example was delivered in 2024 and has covered only 89 km under a single German owner.
In just two years, the owner appears to have gained approximately half a million Euros in value. The car was ordered in the launch specification inspired by the Mercedes Formula 1 team, featuring “Silver Arrow Grey” paint with star graphics and Petronas Green accents. Inside, the cabin was finished with Magma Grey leather seats.
Following the EB110, Bugatti planned the EB112 as the second phase of the brand’s rebirth in the 1990s. While the two-seat, mid-engined, four-wheel-drive EB110 had earned the title of “The World’s Fastest Production Car,” Bugatti intended the EB112 to serve as a more luxurious four-door companion model suited to ultra-wealthy owners.
Financed by Italian businessman Romano Artioli, the project explored what the legendary Bugatti Type 41 Royale might have looked like in the 1990s. The design responsibility was handed to Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest automotive designers alive, Giugiaro adapted the spine-like centreline design of the Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic for the EB112, splitting the rear window into two sections. The turbine-style wheels referenced the Bugatti Type 41, while the signature horseshoe grille dominated the front end.
Beneath the long bonnet sat a naturally aspirated 6.0-litre V12 engine producing 460 horsepower, paired with a manual gearbox and four-wheel drive. The EB112 could reach 300 km/h and accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.3 seconds.
Despite all this ambition, the economic downturn of the 1990s prevented the EB112 from entering production. After its debut as a prototype at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show, only three examples were ever created.
The story of the Bugatti EB112 sold in Monaco for 1,692,500 Euros truly began at this point. After Bugatti declared bankruptcy in 1995, Monaco-based businessman Gildo Pallanca Pastor acquired the rights to the brand, along with the remaining EB112 chassis and parts.
In 1999, he commissioned the construction of two EB112s for personal use and continued driving them until Bugatti’s rights were sold to the Volkswagen Group in 2015.
This example is one of the three EB112s ever produced and reportedly the only road-going version in existence. Showing just 388 km, the car also came with a custom luggage set, toolkit and perhaps most importantly, the iconic Bugatti umbrella adorned with the brand’s elephant emblem.
A watch belonging to a Formula 1 legend sold for 204,000 Euros. The Omega TrĂ©sor was gifted to Juan Manuel Fangio after his victory in the 1955 Venezuelan Grand Prix driving a Maserati 300S. Engraved on the caseback are the words: “JoyerĂa Continental a Juan Manuel Fangio Caracas Nov 1955.”
The watch features an 18-karat gold case measuring 37.5 mm in diameter. Fangio wore the watch until his death. Included in the auction lot were the original presentation box and a photograph showing Fangio alongside Ayrton Senna after the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix.
How expensive can a pair of trousers really be? Especially when they are 70 years old and visibly dirty? But when those trousers belonged to Juan Manuel Fangio, everything changes. Fangio wore these Suixtil racing trousers during the 1956 Monaco Grand Prix, where he started from pole position, set the fastest lap and finished second in his Ferrari D50. As one of the rare surviving pieces of racing apparel actually worn in competition, the trousers were consigned to auction by Fangio’s family and eventually sold for 132,000 Euros.
