Paris is returning to its default state, the stream of spotters and spotless motors are boarding their trains, planes and however else they got there which leaves us reflecting on what happened at the 3 major auctions at Paris 2025.
This post covers all the content we've produced from Paris 2025, if you want to jump to a certain section, use the table of contents below to go right there.
Note: the analysis here focuses solely on the cars from Paris, automobilia and bikes are excluded. All price analysis is based on on the day results, excluding any aftersales.
Table of Contents
Our Takeaways
1 - The big stuff struggled
This is the big takeaway for me - how much the top end of the market struggled. There's no doubt it was a very tough week for the big hitters.
Across the Artcurial, Bonhams and RM auctions we saw 22 cars come to auction with a lower estimate of €1,000,000 or more.
Of those 22, 20 hammered below their lower estimate. That's over 90%.
Only the EB110 GT and the 250 LM managed to break through their lower estimates.
On average for cars with a lower estimate of €1,000,000 or more, they hammered at 16% below that lower estimate.
No doubt, some of the estimates for the heavy hitters were punchy.
For example, two of the cars that didn't sell, would've made world record prices had the vendor allowed them to be sold.
Despite that, with only 59% of cars at this price point sold and only 2 breaking their lower estimate, aside from the LM delivering a new world record there was little to shout about here.
2 - The lower value cars delivered
What's really interesting when I look at my spreadsheets and analysis today is how clear certain patterns are.
We've bucketed each car according to its lower estimate into the following categories:
Sub €25,000
€25,000 - €50,000
€50,001 - €100,000
€100,001 - €250,000
€250,001 - €500,000
€500,001 - €1,000,000
€1,000,000+
Fundamentally as you pass through these categories from low to higher prices the results get weaker and weaker.
To put numbers against that, of the 7 categories above, 3 categories saw the hammer price on average exceed the lower estimate. All 3 were the sub-€100,000 categories.
That, of course, means all 4 that failed to meet the low estimate on average were €100,000+.
The same is true by sell-through rate, as you pass through the categories above from low to high the sell-through rate gets weaker and weaker. Caveat here is that a higher proportion of lower value vehicles will be offered at no reserve which does influence the figures.
That said, even when you strip those no reserve cars out the data pattern still holds.
Strength at the bottom end, weakness as you move up.
3 - Key metrics trended upwards from prior years
We saw €104,741,946 of cars sell at Paris 2025.
That's up from €65m in 2024 but slightly down on 2023 (€112m).
2023, however, saw 28% more cars be offered than in 2025.
In other words, when you look at the average sold price of a vehicle across all the auctions it stood at €374,078. That's higher than both 2024 (€280,000) and 2023 (€355,000).
Sell-through rate also delivered well in 2025 standing at 85%. Compare that to 80% in 2024 and 76% in 2023.
It's worth noting that we did see a higher proportion of no reserve cars this year (59%) than in recent years. 2024 saw 49% no reserve and 2023 saw 48%.
We saw 13 world records across the 5 days of sales, and could have had another 6 for cars that didn't sell but when adding premium onto their high bid would've sold at world record money.
4 - 1930s is the place to be
Who'd have thought it?
The 1930s was the best performing decade at Paris 2025.
We saw 31 cars from the 1930s be offered.
87% of those sold.
We saw 3 world records, 2 more of those would've been at world record prices had their high bid met reserve.
The standout performer was Bonhams' 1938 Horch 830 which came to auction with an estimate of €20,000 - €30,000 and sold inclusive of premium for €241,500.
Interestingly the 1930s was the only decade to see the hammer price be above the low estimate on average, 15% above it in this case.
Every other decade saw the hammer price between 8% and 37% below the lower estimate.
Even when you strip out the Horch car above, the 1930s is still easily the best performing decade.
Write off pre-war cars at your peril.
5 - Porsche in P1
We've also analysed how cars performed by marque, considering 4 key metrics.
Of the marques to see at least 5 cars sold Porsche delivered the best results overall.
Closely behind was Jaguar and Ferrari.
On the weaker end, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo and Maserati came bottom of our league table.
Summary
Paris was a €160,000,000 test of the market.
If you were to ask me my main takeaway, it's all about the struggle at the top of the market.
To see over 90% of €1,000,000+ cars fail to hammer at or above their lower estimate is remarkable.
Equally remarkable was the headline star the 1965 Le Mans winning 250 LM delivered an incredible boost for the car market when it sold for €34,880,000. Positives.
Aside from the top end, there really was a lot to be pleased about.
The €100,000 and below end of the market delivered great results .
Sell-through rate across all lots delivered the biggest number in recent years at 85%.
And average sold value delivered the biggest number in recent years at €370,995.
For a €160,000,000 test, it's fair to say we're walking away with a B+, at a push A-.
The Top 5 Most Expensive Cars To Sell At Paris 2025
5 - 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB
Freshly restored. Classiche certified. Matching numbers long nose car.
Estimated at €2,200,000 - €2,600,000, it sold with Artcurial for €2,371,640 - bang on where we've seen most of these sell for recently.
4 - 1950 Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchetta
4th overall in 1951 Mille Miglia. Current owner since 1994. At one point had a Morris Minor body, ping me if you've got questions.
Estimated at €4,000,000 - €6,000,000 with no reserve, Bonhams sold it for €2,817,500. Given prior comparables, fair value for the vehicle.
3 - 2022 Pagani Huaya R
The first Huayra R to be offered at auction. Chassis 5 of 30. Specified with over €310,000 of options on it above its original list prices. A mere 196km on the clock.
Estimated at €2,800,000 - €3,200,000 it sold with RM for €3,042,500 and depending on the buyer VAT may be due on both the hammer price and buyers premium.
2 - 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari
One of 499 examples. Finished in Giallo with a matching black and yellow interior. 3,459 miles on the clock and its warranty present till March 2026.
Estimated at €3,500,000 - €4,000,000 it sold for €3,548,750 with RM. Again, depending on the buyer VAT may be due on both the hammer price and buyers premium...
1 - 1964 Ferrari 250 LM
The 1965 Le Mans winner. The only privateer-entered Ferrari to win overall at Le Mans. The 6th of 32 250 LMs produced. The list goes on and on.
It came to auction with an estimate of in excess of €25,000,000.
It sold with RM, inclusive of premium, for €34,880,000, setting a new world record for the model, leaving the prior world record of under €16,000,000 in its dust.
Cars That Flew
These are the cars that smashed through their estimates and flew at Paris 2025
The list here contains one car from each auction that exceeded their estimate based upon Euro value or the percentage by which they exceeded their lower estimate.
3 - 1967 Alfa Romeo 2600 SZ
Auction House: Artcurial
Estimate: €150,000 - €200,000
Hammer Price: €210,000 (€250,320 inc. Fees)
Hammer Price Exceeded Top Estimate By: €10,000 or 5%
Notes: New world record price. We highlighted this in our YouTube preview of the Paris sales and said it wouldn't be a surprise given the quality of the restoration to see two people get very excited and bidding run away on this one. Hate* to say we told you so.
2 - 1986 Porsche 930 Turbo Coupe Flat Nose
Auction House: RM Sotheby's
Estimate: €140,000 - €180,000
Hammer Price: €220,000 (€252,500 inc. Fees)
Hammer Price Exceeded Top Estimate By: €40,000 or 22%
Notes: Even more surprising given it had a plethora of issues including a broken odometer and heater system, paint chips, missing trim and more.
1 - 1938 Horch 830 BL
Auction House: Bonhams
Estimate: €20,000 - €30,000
Hammer Price: €210,000 (€241,500 inc. Fees)
Hammer Price Exceeded Top Estimate By: €180,000 or 600%
Cars That Flopped
There are two sides to every coin and there were also a number of cars that flopped. These are the cars that missed their lower estimate by the biggest margin.
3 - 1974 Ferrari 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer
Auction House: Artcurial
Estimate: €320,000 - €380,000
Hammer Price: €210,000 (€243,600 inc. Fees)
Hammer Price Short of Bottom Estimate By: €110,000 or 34%
Notes: Prices on these continue to fall.
2 - 1954/1955 Ferrari Tipo 555
Auction House: Bonhams
Estimate: €4,000,000 - €6,000,000
Hammer Price: €1,725,000 (€1,983,750 inc. Fees)
Hammer Price Short of Bottom Estimate By: €2,275,000 or 57%
1 - 1933 Bugatti Type 49 Drophead Coupe
Auction House: RM Sotheby's
Estimate: €400,000 - €550,000
Hammer Price: €160,000 (€184,000 inc. Fees)
Hammer Price Short of Bottom Estimate By: €240,000 or 60%
Notes: Lowest price we've seen since 2011.
There we have it, the ultimate guide to the most important classic car week in the calendar. It took us over 13 hours of analysis, a trip to Paris and 4.5 baguettes to pull together this article so if you enjoyed it, please sign up to our newsletter here to be the first to receive these insights and more.
Feel free to share it with a friend, too!
If you're after more content, you can see our review of the Artcurial auction here.
We've also produced a video on the RM auction here.
And the Bonhams auction here.
Till next time...
Comentários