A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter by Robert Frank, a weekly guide for high-net-worth investors and consumers. Sign up to receive future editions directly to your inbox.
Collectors around the world spent more than $600 million on classic cars and art last week, defying stock market declines and the Iran war, demonstrating the continued strength of the top economies.
Art sales in London last week exceeded $550 million, an increase of more than 50% from last year, according to auction houses Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips. Some works sold for more than twice their expected price, setting records for several artists and attracting bids from 40 countries.
Also last week, at the Amelia Island Concours in Florida, Broad Arrow Auctions hosted the most successful auction in Amelia history, reaching a total of $111 million. The sale, which included a $15 million 2003 Ferrari Enzo and a $6.7 million 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, followed a successful auction by RM Sotheby’s at Moda Miami a week earlier that reached $74 million.
A baby blue 2005 Porsche Carrera GT sold for $6.7 million in the most successful auction ever held in America.
Nick Zabrecky |Courtesy of Broad Arrow Auctions.
The strong performance in both art and classic cars from London to Florida points to continued confidence among wealthy consumers, despite heightened volatility and a sharp rise in oil markets following the outbreak of Middle East wars. Experts say the global turmoil may have further helped demand for rare collectibles, as wealthy individuals seek safe, long-term stores of value in an increasingly uncertain world.
“It’s surprising, but not surprising,” said Drew Watson, head of art services at Bank of America. “This is surprising given everything that’s going on geopolitically. But when times are uncertain and I think we’re in a time of broader uncertainty, people follow the tried and true.”
After two years of decline, the collectibles market continues its rapid recovery due to rising prices. Despite soaring stock markets and falling interest rates, art auction totals in 2023 and 2024 were down 40% from their 2022 peak. President Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs last April added to the pall.
But by late summer, the collectibles were back to life. Classic car auctions held in Monterey and Pebble Beach in August topped $430 million, marking the second-highest total in history. The following month, a collection of British socialite Pauline Karpidas was sold at Sotheby’s in London for $135 million, exceeding expectations. The boom continued in Paris, with a big sale in New York in November and a huge crowd at Art Basel Miami in December.
Broad Arrow President Kenneth Ang said today’s wealthy people seem accustomed to chaotic headlines and market turmoil.
“I don’t know if desensitization is the right word,” Anne said. “But leading up to this, the Russia issue had been going on for some time and the market was volatile. The market has effectively filtered out those concerns as noise.”
Mr Ang said the current era of classic car collectors is very different from past eras. Historically, buyers have been primarily baby boomers, who have been highly sensitive to market fluctuations and business cycles. He recalled selling in Monterey in 2019, days after the stock market fell 400 points and bond yields showed signs of a recession.
“I once had a customer walk into an auction room and say, ‘I lost $30 million in the last two days of my portfolio. I don’t know if I should bid on this car right now,'” he added.
Anne said, “It feels different than usual” today. Despite market volatility and uncertainty, “there is still incredible optimism in the auto market,” he said.
There are various reasons. Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s chief auctioneer and chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said the strength of the market was due to the ultra-rare pieces on sale.
“I think it’s because of the quality of materials that the market is seeing at the moment,” Barker said. “For the savvy collector, this is a great opportunity to acquire a high-quality sample that is rarely available on the market.”
Many say the main cause of the art market’s downturn is a lack of supply, not demand. After Christie’s blockbuster $1.5 billion sale of Paul Allen in 2022, which included famous works by Cezanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin, few mega-collections sold in 2023 and 2024.
Last fall, big real estate returned. The sale of works from the Leonard Lauder collection at Sotheby’s, which also included a rare Gustav Klimt, sold for $236 million, making it the second-highest price ever sold at auction.
A sale held in London last week included famous British pieces from the collection of British billionaire and investor Joe Louis. Francis Bacon’s self-portrait sold for $21.5 million, double the reserve price. Leon Kossoff’s painting “Children’s Pool at 11am Saturday, August” sold for $7 million after a bidding war between 10 bidders.
At Christie’s, Henry Moore’s sculpture “The King and Queen” sold for $35.2 million, a Moore record, after six bidders.
Henry Moore’s “King and Queen” sculpture was sold at Christie’s in March 2025 for $35.2 million.
christie’s
Mr Barker and his colleagues said there was a “return to quality”, meaning collectors were auctioning off the best works by well-known artists rather than buying speculative works by younger, lesser-known artists. Big names in the art world, Picasso, Monet, and Warhol, were all big drivers of prices last week.
“It’s a perfect time, with a greater supply of great materials and a very hungry buyer base,” Barker said. “We are not only witnessing a depth of tendering that we have not experienced in recent times, but we are also witnessing an even greater depth of quality materials.”
Another factor in the new power of collectibles is a new generation of buyers. As baby boomers delay buying and selling their collections, Gen Xers, Millennials, and even some Gen Zers are getting in on the act. Some are entrepreneurs and technology founders, while others inherited their wealth as part of a massive $100 trillion wealth transfer.
They buy a wide range of collectibles, from sneakers and handbags to Pokemon cards and sports memorabilia, while also starting to shop in the art and classic car markets. And they are further increasing the pool of buyers.
“I think we’re really in the midst of a generational shift,” Watson said. “We have seen many of the collectors who have driven the post-war and contemporary markets over the past few decades begin to age, and a rising generational cohort is moving in.”
Nowhere is this change more evident than in the classic car market. A market once dominated by 1950s and 1960s sports cars has been quickly supplanted by 1990s and 2000s supercars favored by a new wave of young collectors. This trend started before the pandemic, but has accelerated over the past three years, Ang said.
“Over the past six months, we’ve seen an almost parabolic movement in prices for some of the newest hypercars and supercars,” Ang said. “There’s a seismic shift happening. It’s a huge transfer of wealth. We’re seeing it and feeling it. It’s a huge rise in successful entrepreneurs who left the business in their 30s and 40s or inherited huge amounts of capital, and they’re passionate about the cars they grew up with.”
Not all collectibles segments are benefiting from increased spending. Ultra-contemporary art drove much of the post-pandemic recovery, but sales at contemporary art dealers stagnated in 2025, according to Art Basel and the UBS Art Market Report. Rising costs are forcing some galleries to close, even as buyers flock to auction houses and trade shows for old works by famous artists.
“Overall, this year’s data points to something more significant than a return to growth,” said Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz. “This reflects the sector adapting to new economic realities, refining its models and strengthening its foundations over the long term.”
However, the economic context for collectibles remains strong, as the stock market remains volatile and interest rates are likely to fall. Add to that the fact that the wealth of America’s richest 1% has nearly doubled to more than $55 trillion since 2020, according to the Federal Reserve, and experts say the bull market in art and classic car markets is likely to continue.
“I’m optimistic that we’ll continue to see more positive sentiment, at least in the art market,” Watson said.
