Auctions 2026: can a year of great records surpass itself at Pebble Beach?

We are at the midpoint of the year, and it seems right to take stock of what we have been witnessing across the international auction circuit. I will say at the outset that we have lived through a remarkable first half — quite extraordinary, in fact. It begins in January with a record: Mecum at Kissimmee posting a total sold figure of $400 million, some $150 million ahead of 2025. For context, more cars changed hands at that single January sale than in the whole of 2010.

Then came Arizona, where a Barrett-Jackson in commanding form edged past its own previous record with $189,417,995 — a figure that would have been difficult to imagine only a few years ago. The month was not yet over and already we had the second sale to clear $100 million by a considerable margin.

In Europe, Paris brought a shift in auction strategy: the Californians at Gooding installed themselves at Rétromobile as the official sale and displaced Artcurial from their stronghold — a development worth keeping in mind, because we shall return to it. The result: Gooding sold in excess of €50 million at their first appearance in continental Europe. But the true winner in Paris was RM, which delivered not only its finest ever European sale — United Kingdom included — but the best European result for any auction house: €80,706,750, or approximately $95,000,000.