A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide for wealthy investors and consumers. Register to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Collectors around the world ignored falling stock markets and the war in Iran last week to spend more than $600 million on classic cars and works of art, a sign of continued strength at the top of the economy.
Last week’s art sales in London topped $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 double their estimates and records were broken for several artists, with bids pouring in from 40 countries.
Also last week, at the Amelia Island auction in Florida, Broad Arrow Auctions held the most successful auction ever in Amelia, totaling $111 million. The sale, which included a $15 million 2003 Ferrari Enzo and a $6.7 million 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, followed a strong auction a week earlier by RM Sotheby’s at ModaMiami that reached $74 million.
A sky blue 2005 Porsche Carrera GT sold for $6.7 million in Amelia’s most successful auction ever.
Nick Zabrecky | Courtesy of Broad Arrow Auctions.
Strong results in the art car and classic car sectors, which stretch from London to Florida, reflect continued confidence among wealthy consumers, even as volatility rises and oil markets surge following the outbreak of war in the Middle East. Experts say the global crisis may even have fueled demand for rare collectibles, as the wealthy 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. “It’s surprising with everything that’s going on geopolitically. But when times are uncertain, and I think we’re in a broader era of uncertainty, people go for the tried and true.”
High prices continue the rapid rebound in collectibles markets after two years of decline. In 2023 and 2024, total art auctions fell 40% from their peak in 2022, despite soaring stock markets and falling interest rates. President Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs in April last year only added to the gloom.
By late summer, however, the collectibles came back to life. Classic car auctions in Monterey and Pebble Beach in August topped $430 million, the second-highest total ever. The following month, a Sotheby’s sale in London of the collection of British socialite Pauline Karpidas fetched $135 million, far exceeding its estimate. The strength continued in Paris and during the major New York sales in November, followed by a strong turnout at Art Basel Miami in December.
Kenneth Ahn, president of Broad Arrow, said the wealthy today seem to have become accustomed to chaotic headlines and market gyrations.
“I don’t know if desensitization is the right word,” Ahn said. “But before that, we had Russia, which has been going on for a while, and the market has been fluctuating. What the market has done is effectively dismiss those concerns as noise.”
Ahn said the current era of classic car collectors differs significantly from those of the past. Previous buyers, primarily baby boomers, were very sensitive to market fluctuations and economic cycles. He recalled a sale in Monterey in 2019, days after the stock market fell 400 points and bond yields signaled a recession.
“A customer came into the auction room and said, ‘I just lost $30 million in the last two days from my portfolio. I’m not sure I should bid on this car now,'” he added.
Ahn said today “it’s different.” Despite market volatility and uncertainty, “there’s still this incredible optimism in the auto market,” he said.
The reasons vary. Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s senior auctioneer and chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, attributed the market’s strength to the ultra-rare works offered for sale.
“I think it depends on the quality of the material that the market is seeing right now,” Barker said. “For discerning collectors, this is an incredible opportunity to acquire rare examples on the market and of high quality.”
According to many, it is the lack of supply, not demand, that is the main source of weakness in the art market. After Christie’s blockbuster sale of Paul Allen for $1.5 billion in 2022, which included famous works by Cézanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin, few mega-collections were put up for sale in 2023 and 2024.
Last fall, the big properties returned. Sotheby’s sale of works from Leonard Lauder’s collection included a rare Gustav Klimt that sold for $236 million, making it the second most expensive work ever sold at auction.
Sales in London last week included famous British works from the collection of Joe Lewis, a British billionaire and investor. A self-portrait by Francis Bacon sold for $21.5 million, double its low estimate. A painting by Leon Kossoff, titled “Children’s Pool, 11 o’clock Saturday Morning, August,” sold for $7 million after a bidding war among 10 bidders.
And at Christie’s, a Henry Moore sculpture titled “King and Queen” sold for $35.2 million – a record for Moore – after six bidders competed at auction.
Henry Moore’s sculpture “King and Queen” sold for $35.2 million at Christie’s in March 2025.
Christie’s
Barker and others said there has been a “return to quality,” meaning collectors are bidding on the best works by famous artists rather than buying more speculative works by younger, less established artists. The art world’s big brands – Picasso, Monet, Warhol – were all big drivers of prices last week.
“It’s a perfect time where there’s a greater supply of quality gear, and there’s also a class of extraordinarily hungry buyers,” Barker said. “We’re not only seeing a breadth of tendering that we haven’t seen recently, but also a much deeper depth of quality materials.”
Another factor contributing to the revival of collectibles is the new generation of buyers. As Baby Boomers slow down on purchases or sales of their collections, Generation X, Millennials and even some Generation Z are stepping in. Some are entrepreneurs and tech founders, while others inherited their wealth as part of a grand $100 trillion wealth transfer.
As they buy a wider range of collectibles, from sneakers and handbags to Pokémon cards and sports memorabilia, they are starting to shop in the art and classic car markets. And they add to the pool of buyers.
“I think we’re in the middle of a generational transition,” Watson said. “We’ve seen a lot of the collectors who have driven the post-war and contemporary market over the last two decades start to age. And we have a growing generational cohort coming in.”
The change is more dramatic in the classic car market. A market once dominated by sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s was quickly eclipsed by the supercars of the 1990s and 2000s, favored by the new wave of young collectors. Although this trend started before the pandemic, it has accelerated over the past three years, Ahn said.
“We have seen an almost parabolic price movement for some modern hypercars and supercars over the last six months,” Ahn said. “There’s a seismic shift happening. It’s a big transfer of wealth: we see it, we feel it. It’s a huge emergence of successful entrepreneurs who left their businesses in their 30s or 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. While ultra-contemporary art has driven the bulk of the post-pandemic recovery, contemporary art dealer sales have stagnated in 2025, according to the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report. Rising costs have also forced some galleries to close, even as buyers flock to auction houses and fairs for older works by established artists.
“Overall, this year’s data suggests something more consequential than a return to growth,” said Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel. “This reflects a sector that is adapting to new economic realities, refining its models and strengthening its foundations over the long term.”
Still, with stock markets likely to remain volatile and interest rates potentially falling, the financial backdrop for collectibles remains strong. Add to that the fact that America’s richest 1% have seen their wealth nearly double since 2020, to more than $55 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve, and experts say the rise in the art and classic car markets is likely to continue.
“We are optimistic that much of this more positive sentiment, at least in the art market, will continue,” Watson said.