Top 5 Most Expensive Celebrity Cars Ever Sold

Car auctions are no stranger to eight-figure hammer prices, but when provenance involves legendary racing drivers, Hollywood icons, and automotive pioneers, values skyrocket into an entirely different stratosphere.

These are the top 5 most expensive celebrity-owned cars ever sold at public auction or private transaction, ranked by their historic final sale prices:

Image: Gooding Christie’s

1. Gary Cooper – 1935 Duesenberg SSJ

• Auction House: Gooding & Co. (Pebble Beach)

Holding the crown as the most expensive celebrity-owned vehicle ever sold, Hollywood legend Gary Cooper’s 1935 Duesenberg SSJ crossed the block for $22 million in 2018. Duesenberg built just two examples of the SSJ-the other going to fellow silver-screen icon, Clark Gable. Powered by a 400-horsepower, 7.0-liter supercharged twin-cam inline-eight, this roadster could reach an unheard-of 140 mph in 1935. The sale shattered two records simultaneously: becoming the most expensive American car and the most valuable pre-war vehicle ever sold at auction.

Image: RM Sotheby’s

2. Michael Schumacher – 2001 Ferrari F2001

• Auction House: RM Sotheby’s (Monaco)

Michael Schumacher’s championship-winning Ferrari F2001 (chassis 211) takes second place, commanding $18.2 million during a historic RM Sotheby’s sale at the Monaco Grand Prix. Driven by Schumacher to victory at both the 2001 Monaco and Hungarian Grands Prix to secure his fourth World Championship, this high-revving 825-horsepower 3.0-liter V10 machine previously made history in 2017 as the first F1 car ever sold at a fine-art auction. At that 2017 sale, it fetched $7.5 million, meaning its value more than doubled in under a decade.

Image: RM Sotheby’s

3. Carroll Shelby – 1962 Shelby 260 Cobra ‘CSX2000’

• Auction House: RM Sotheby’s (Monterey)

The birth of an American performance legend, chassis CSX2000 was the very first Shelby Cobra ever constructed. Hand-assembled by Carroll Shelby himself using a lightweight British AC Ace chassis stuffed with a 260-cubic-inch Ford V8, the 260-horsepower roadster kicked off a muscle car revolution. Shelby personally kept the car in his family until his passing in 2012. As a true one-of-one piece of automotive history, its $13.75 million sale price far outpaced any production Cobra that followed.

Image: Taylor & Crawley

4. Rowan Atkinson – 1997 McLaren F1

• Transaction: Private Sale (United Kingdom)

Famed actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson famously bought his 1997 McLaren F1 brand new for roughly £640,000. Despite crashing the iconic central-seater hypercar twice during his 18 years of ownership-resulting in a famously massive insurance repair bill-Atkinson personally consigned and sold the 627-horsepower, 240-mph V12 masterpiece for $12.2 million in 2015, walking away with a staggering profit.

Image: RM Auctions

5. James Coburn – 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder

• Auction House: RM Auctions (Maranello)

Purchased by Oscar-winning actor James Coburn while filming The Great Escape, this open-top 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder remained in his possession for roughly 25 years. Powered by Ferrari’s legendary 3.0-liter Colombo V12, it is one of only 56 short-wheelbase California Spyders ever produced. When UK television presenter Chris Evans bought the car in 2008 for nearly $10.9 million, it became the first automobile in world history to cross the eight-figure threshold at a public auction.

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