The desirable classics that sold at huge auction prices in 2022

Some turbulence over the past few years, particularly with the effects of Covid-19 and chip shortages, a gap is left for the ultra-rich enthusiast who wants something more than just a car. They want a personable machine tailored to their exact tastes (except this time, it was done by the previous owner). 

With that in mind, let's take a look at the some of the classics some people (and their bank accounts) just couldn't live without, from the 'Bad Boys' Porsche 911 Turbo to a record-breaking Ford Model T. 

Saab owners tended to drive their cars much farther than other marque loyalists, until, eventually, trading it in for another Saab. The 246-mile 1987 Saab 900 T16 Convertible on US auction website Bring a Trailer in August, therefore, drew a lot of interest. In a desirable spec and near-new condition, it drew bids up to an astonishing $145,000 – more than 10 times the going rate for those with the usual miles behind them.

Le Mans legends of the 1960s have had a resurgence this year, with the various historic racing events returning to full swing. One of the more unusual auction lots was the headliner of the Aguttes Summer Sale in June: a stunningly slinky 1957 DB HBR Le Mans racer. This sole-remaining example of three made sold for €283,560. It has a small two-cylinder air-cooled engine but was part of the determined racing legacy of French maker Deutsch-Bonnet.

Plenty of big-ticket Porsche 911s have been sold this year, including three broken records: £2m for a 1970s Carrera RS 2.7 Lightweight, £1.26m for a 993 GT2 and £448k for a 991 911R. But the sale of the 1994 911 Turbo used in the film Bad Boys felt extra special. It was director Michael Bay’s own car, later sold to producer Pat Sandstone, then a string of Porsche enthusiasts, who kept it in show-winning condition. This nostalgic 355bhp example sold for $1.3 million.

Cars of the pre-war, and particularly the Edwardian, era have not been exploding in value like some, but the 1908 Ford Model T sold at the Bonhams Amelia Island auction in March was one of the exceptions. Claiming to be the chassis number ‘2’ car, it broke the model record with a £207,188 sale price, but many enthusiasts were sceptical. Like many 100-year-old cars, it has been rebuilt in the past and its true provenance is uncertain.

At a secretive, invitation-only event organised by RM Sotheby’s, one of two 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupés was sold for €135 million, breaking the all-time classic car auction record by £89.8m (that was for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, again sold by Sotheby’s back in 2018). Built to compete in the epic Carrera Panamericana race, both Mercedes were retired following the tragedy of the 1955 Le Mans 24-hour race, in which 84 people were killed by an airborne SLR.

Retained by the factory and wheeled out only a handful of times since, the car that has been sold still comes with strict stipulations from Mercedes-Benz to ensure the preservation of this peak of desirability, rarity and significance from the world’s first car maker.

There’s almost been a parade of low-mileage Ferraris at auction this year, and one of the benefactors has been the F355 market. A new record was achieved for the model by American auction site Bring a Trailer, which found $300,000 for its impeccable, 17k-mile 1996 manual f355 GTS in April. This wasn’t just an anomaly: newcomer Broad Arrow Auctions sold a 1995 F355 GTB – in a less traditional blue over brown – for $200,000 at its Monterey auction in August.

The Renault Clio Williams has been gaining value slowly, in the shadow of bolder cars with GTI and XRI badges, but now this rare legend is coming of age. In October, French auction house Artcurial sold this 1995 example for €73,094. Its one previous owner was Renault itself, and it had covered just 31,000km. Not long ago these were £5000, and now they’ve skipped classic status and become true collectibles.

Famous in the rarefied world of multimillion-pound collector cars, the 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Torpedo is even more exotic than other cars made by the Spanish aircraft and automobile maker. Called ‘Tulipwood’, its body was formed with strips of mahogany; its original owner, André Dubonnet, raced and rallied it, including at the legendary Targa Florio. The car was sold by Sotheby’s for $9,245,000 at its Monterey auction in August.

The very first Shelby Mustang GT350 racer sold in January for $3,850,000, breaking a record set two years earlier when the same car was last at Mecum Auctions. Built by Carroll Shelby’s team in 1965, it gained the nickname ‘Flying Mustang’ after it was photographed at Green Valley Raceway near Dallas, Texas, mid-air with Ken Miles at the wheel. Raced throughout the 1960s then restored in the 2010s, its decadeslong story as one of the most exciting Mustangs of all time is well documented – and well paid for.

In 1959, the specialist tractor company Roadless Traction Ltd of Hounslow created this monster out of a Land Rover Series II 109, and in May of this year it turned up in North Yorkshire at Tennants Auctioneers. The second prototype of a production run that amounted to fewer than 20 similar vehicles, and one of six remaining, it flew past its £50k estimate and sold for £110,000, plus premium. Against the £200k SVX Defenders from the Bond film Spectre, it almost seems good value.