A $1.9 million 1969 Lamborghini was the most valuable car at the Monterey Mecum sales that closed on August 16 with a $45 million total that’s set to rise.
Car specialists Mecum said multiple vehicles had been auctioned for over $1 million apiece as the sales attracted a record attendance. Some deals are yet to be closed the auction house says.
The most valuable motor was a “meticulously restored” 1969 Lamborghini Miura P400 S finished in an unmissable Verde Miura/Pistachio paint job.
It sold for $1.9 million on August 16.
The model was the world’s first mid-engined two-seater car, built by Lamborghini (Ferrari’s great rivals) at their Sant’Agata Bolognese workshops and finished on January 29, 1969.
Marcello Gandini, who died in 2024, designed it. The car was first made by Lamborghini engineers behind the back of the company’s founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, who didn’t want to produce small, powerful sports cars.
Built to go fast, Lamborghini’s bosses weren’t interested in cars like the Miura until they saw it, preferring to make big, powerful tourers. Image courtesy of Mecum Auctions.
Ferruccio gave his go ahead when he saw the work in progress and the car was a huge hit at motor shows in 1965 and came off lines – as the world’s fastest production car – from 1966.
Gandini’s designs were said to prioritise performance over prettiness, but this striking colour shows up the smooth lines of his design, contrasted against a luxe blue interior.
This example has been extensively restored.
In 2018, another Miura P400 S – in unrestored, virtually junk-yard state – made $967,500 at auction. Another, a one-off Speiziale Miura realised $6.6 million in 2023 to become the second most expensive Lamborghini ever sold at auction behind the $8.3-million, 2014 Veneno (numbered 7 of just nine produced) that auctioned in 2019.
In a statement, Mecum said: “If there was any uncertainty about the strength of the collector car market before this past weekend, Mecum’s Monterey 2025 auction surely set the record straight with high demand leading to substantial sales, even in the midst of a highly competitive environment hosting many of the best cars to be found anywhere in the world.”
