Auction sales during Monterey Car Week fell 3% from last year, as a shift from older to newer cars left a pileup of unsold classics from the 1950s and 1960s.
Of the 1,143 cars up for sale, only 821 sold — marking a 72% sell-through rate, according to Hagerty.
There were simply too many similar cars at too many auctions to generate strong prices and sales.
"It's saturation," said Simon Kidston, the founder of Kidston and a leading advisor to wealthy car collectors.
At the same time, a new generation of collectors driving the market — mainly Gen Xers and millennials — prefer cars from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
Persons:
Robert Frank, Bonhams —, Simon Kidston, Xers, millennials
Organizations:
Monterey Car, Arrow, Gooding & Company, Ferraris, Credit, Gooding, Company, Ferrari, Sotheby’s
Locations:
Monterey —, Monterey