Months after the gavel fell, the 35th Palm Beach Cavallino Classic remains the most relevant comparable for collector-car liquidity in the Palm Beaches — and a useful gauge of how the island’s hard-asset market is holding as the season winds down.
The numbers that set the comp
RM Sotheby’s Cavallino Palm Beach sale posted a 94.1% sell-through rate on total results of $12,131,700 in vehicles plus $232,800 in memorabilia. A sell-through above 94% is the headline figure for anyone valuing a garage: it means almost everything offered found a buyer at or above reserve, the signature of a deep, confident bidding pool rather than a thin one.
A LaFerrari led the catalog at $5,230,000. Beneath it, the spread told the real story. A 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona NART Spider by Michelotti realized $654,000, while a 1988 Ferrari 328 GTS — a far more attainable entry point — brought $179,200. Even the automobilia moved: a Ferrari 488 engine coffee table cleared $60,000, and a signed Charles Leclerc helmet brought $44,400.
Why a February result still matters in May
Collector-car values do not reprice weekly. The Cavallino result, staged during Miami Concours weekend at The Boca Raton with more than 300 Ferraris on the field, remains the most recent high-volume comparable for blue-chip Ferraris transacting in this market. Until the next major Florida sale posts, it is the number appraisers, lenders and owners work from — which makes it the operative benchmark for summer, not stale data.
The breadth of the result is what gives it staying power. A 94% sell-through across a LaFerrari at the top and a sub-$200,000 328 GTS at the entry shows the strength is not confined to a single trophy lot. That depth is what underwrites collateral values across an owner’s whole collection, not just its crown jewel.
The Worth Avenue context
The collector-car strength runs parallel to the broader Palm Beach luxury economy. Worth Avenue operates year-round, and the island’s social and asset markets — galas at The Breakers and Mar-a-Lago through the winter, the polo calendar that ran through early May at Wellington — feed a concentration of wealth that keeps demand for tangible assets firm even as seasonal residents head north for the summer.
For owners weighing whether to sell into a softer summer market or borrow against a marquee car to retain it, the Cavallino comp argues for patience. Values at the certified, provenanced tier held at strong levels through the season’s signature sale, and the bidding depth suggests buyers remain present. The Palm Beach collector-car market is not cooling with the weather — it is simply waiting for its next benchmark.
How the result reads against the broader market
The Cavallino number gains weight when set against the collector-car category’s wider trajectory. The 35th edition drew more than 300 Ferraris to the field and closed with record show numbers alongside its $12.1 million auction total — a signal that participation, not just price, remains strong at the marque-specific tier. Sell-through above 94% is the figure that separates a confident market from a stalling one, because it shows reserves were realistic and bidders were willing to meet them across the catalog rather than only at the LaFerrari trophy level.
That breadth is what makes the result a durable lending and appraisal comparable. A market that clears a $5.23 million hypercar and a $179,200 328 GTS in the same room is one where collateral values hold across an entire collection, not just its single best car. For Palm Beach owners deciding between a summer sale into thinner demand and borrowing against a marquee Ferrari to hold through the next benchmark sale, the Cavallino data argues that patience, not liquidation, is the position the numbers support.
Related coverage: See where the island’s collectors actually gather after dark and how charity season defines Palm Beach. From the Borro desk: the May 2026 luxury asset market.