Hagerty, the online car magazine, has listed the most expensive cars of 2022.

Whilst there are some shockingly expensive new models out there, these are all second-hand.

What recession?

Despite a global recession, the upper echelons of the classic car market is booming. A 10% inflation rate doesn’t even compare to the rise in value of the world’ most collectible cars.

In fact 2022 was a record year, with the highest price ever paid for an automobile, and the greatest total sum for online and in-person auction sales in a year.

The unprecedented £115 million fetched by a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SLR more than doubled the previous high point of £52m paid for a Ferrari 250 GTO in 2018.

Collectively,  nearly £2.5bn was spent by the end of October, according to Hagerty data, exceeding 2021’s total with two months still to run.

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The 10 most expensive cars sold at auction in 2022

10: 1958 Maserati 450S

Most expensive cars sold at auction 2022_1958 Maserati 450S

Sold for: £7.6m
Where: California, USA
Auction: RM Sotheby’s Monterey, August

The ninth of ten 450S race cars built with coachwork by Fantuzzi.

Shelby’s Texas-based race team ordered the car new from the factory for privateer racer Jesse “Ebb” Rose. Rose did rather well, winning his first SCCA Regional race and several more. It was retired from racing in 1960.

Over the ensuing years the car found homes in the UK, USA, Japan and again in the UK.

9: 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C

Top 10 most expensive cars sold in 2022_1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C

Sold for: £7.8m
Where: California, USA
Auction: RM Sotheby’s Monterey, August

This is a 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C “Tulipwood” Torpedo by Nieuport-Astra. It was raced by aperitif heir André Dubonnet in the 1924 Targa Florio and Coppa Florio, finishing in a creditable sixth and fifth place, respectively. Part of Dubonnet’s success must come to down to the marvellous mahogany bodywork which he commissioned from aircraft makers Nieuport-Astra and weighed just 70-odd kilograms.

8: 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster

Top 10 most expensive cars sold in 2022_1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster

Sold for: £8.37m
Where: California, USA
Auction: RM Sotheby’s Monterey, August

This 1937 Mecedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster was delivered the last King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah who ascended to the throne at the age of just 19. At the outbreak of World War II the car was dispatched for safe keeping to the Afghan embassy in Paris, where it survived. The car spent a few years in London before undertaking a journey across the Atlantic. It was hidden away for decades before being put up for sale in August.

7: 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB

10 most expensive cars sold in 2022_1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB

Sold for: £7.76m
Where: London, UK
Auction: Gooding and Company London, September

A 1960 Ferrari 250 SWB GT with coachwork by Scaglietti. When new, the car was raced at Le Mans, Goodwood and Montlhéry.

6: 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante

10 most expensive cars sold in 2022_1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante

Sold for: £8.7m
Where: California, USA
Auction: Gooding and Company Pebble Beach, August

A 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante, one of just 17 examples built by Jean Bugatti and claimed to be the best of them all. Powered by a 3.3-litre supercharged inline eight-cylinder engine producing a rather mighty 200bhp it would easily top 120mph.

 

 

5: 1937 Talbot-Lago Teardrop Coupe

10 most expensive cars sold 2022_1937 Talbot-Lago Teardrop Coupe

Sold for: £10.15m
Where: California, USA
Auction: Gooding and Company Pebble Beach, August

An award-winning Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Teardrop Coupe. The French fancy features coachwork by Figoni et Falaschi. With its four-litre inline six-cylinder engine and 140bhp it was remarkably rapid for its day and it didn’t take long for a buyer to scoop it up.

 

4: 2003 Ferrari F2003 GA driven by Michael Schumacher

Most expensive cars 2022_2003 Ferrari F2003 GA driven by Michael Schumacher

Sold for: £13m
Where: Geneva, Switzerland
Auction: RM Sotheby’s Geneva, November

When Michael Schumacher won the 2003 Formula 1 title (his fourth of five consecutive championships with Ferrari, and sixth out of seven in total) this was the car that helped him to five victories. Put together by the “superteam” of Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and Paola Martinelli it was so dominant that Schumacher had wrapped up the drivers’ championship with six races to go. Chassis number 229 was the most successful of six examples built with its three-litre V10 engine powering him into the record books, surpassing Fangio’s long-held score of five world championships.

 

3: 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider

Most expensive cars sold 2022_1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider

Sold for: £18.6m
Where: California, USA
Auction: RM Sotheby’s Monterey, August

The storied racing history of this Ferrari was key to its remarkable £18.6 million ($22m) hammer price. Like the Mercedes 300SLR in this list, it was designed for a race that never was: the 1955 Carrera Panamericana. With the event cancelled after the awful events at Le Mans that year, when a collision caused a Mercedes to crash into spectators.

 

2: 1998 McLaren F1

Most expensive cars sold 2022_McLaren F1

Sold for: £21.1m
Where: California, USA
Auction: RM Sotheby’s Monterey, August

At over £600,000 pounds when it was launched in 1992, the no-compromise McLaren F1 was the most costly new car in the world but it has proven to be one of the best automotive investments.  The first owner racked up 4,676 miles before its initial service and more than 16,400 in total – although the seller added barely 300 miles in its last ten years, electing to keep it in a climate-controlled garage instead.

 

1: 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut coupé

Sold for: £115m
Where: Stuttgart, Germany
Auction: RM Sotheby’s private sale, May

May 5th 2022 will go down in history as the day the world’s most expensive car was sold. At RM Sotheby’s auction one of just two Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR coupés designed by Rudolph Uhlenhaut, the head of Mercedes’ test department, achieved £115 million (€135m). The car was conceived to take on the Carrera Panamericana and other endurance road races but Mercedes withdrew from motorsport following the tragedy of its 1955 Le Mans crash. Instead Uhlenhaut converted two examples to road use, creating the fastest car of its day with a top speed of 180 mph. Both cars were kept by Mercedes until chassis number 196.110-00008/55 was offered for sale and achieved this extraordinary price. The proceeds are being used to establish a new worldwide fund to provide education and scholarships for young people in the fields of environmental science. The private collector also agreed to make the car available for public display on special occasions.

 

You can read the full report from Hagerty here.