Broad Arrow Auctions concluded its second annual Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este Auction, held at Villa Erba on May 16-17, 2026, with an 87 percent sell-through rate and a total value of €40.8m across 75 lots. A successful sale, then – but look beyond the headline results and there were some pretty painful outcomes, with the no-reserve tag claiming several victims.
The most expensive car was the above 2023 Ferrari Daytona SP3, which sold for €6.25m against a €6.5m-€8.5m estimate. A 2020 Ferrari Monza SP2 was the next most expensive car, although this changed hands prior to the auction for an undisclosed sum. The 2018 Pagani Zonda Unica, estimated at €9.5m-€12m, failed to find a new home.
Notable above-estimate results played to what’s hot in the market: rare-spec Ferraris. The above 2004 360 Challenge, believed to be one of two in this specification, went for €725,625 against a pre-sale estimate of €500k-€600k, while a 2001 550 Barchetta sold for €771,250 against a €450k-€500k estimate.
Elsewhere, a non-cat, non-adjust 1990 F40 sold for €2,931,250 against a €2.3m-€2.9m estimate, and proof that the Enzo-era cars aren’t quite dead and buried came with the 1968 330 GTS, which made €1,918,750 against a €1.5m-€1.7m estimate.
It wasn’t all good news, however: a rare manual 2004 Scaglietti sold for €184k against a €200k-€250k estimate, and a 1996 F512M failed to find a new home against a €380k-€440k estimate.
Maranello machinery aside, there were other lots that outperformed their estimates. The above 1960 Maserati 3500 GT Vignale Spyder made €681,250 against a €450k-€500k estimate, while there was also good news for a 1960 Porsche 356B 1600 Roadster, which changed hands for €155,250 against a €110k-€130k estimate.
Overall, the majority of the cars at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este Auction 2026 sold within estimate or just below, but there were some painful stories. The chief one was the above 1929 Bugatti Type 43 by Matthys, which was estimated at €2.5m-€3.5m but sold for less than half that; it was waved away for €1,007,500. A 1926 Bugatti Type 37 Grand Prix estimated at €1m-€1.3m failed to sell.
There were other painful results elsewhere, too: a 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24 S Spider America made €343,750 against a €500k-€700k estimate, a 1966 Maserati Mistral Spyder 4000 made €332,500 against a €400k-€500k estimate, and a 2022 Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 made €1,581,250 against a €1.75m-€2m estimate.
An interesting subplot was the performance of ‘the novelties’. The weird, odd and cute either performed spectacularly well or plummeted. The 1963 Fiat 600 Torpedo Marina by Vignale made €281,750 against a €200k-€250k estimate, while the 1977 Gandini-styled Fiat Bertone 850 T Visitors Bus made €189,750 against an €80k-€120k estimate, and the 1963 Fiat 2300 Presidenziale Landaulette by Lombardi made €138k against a €75k-€100k estimate. All proof that the whimsical can still provide plenty of allure.
However, it wasn’t all good news for the oddities; the one-off 1952 Astra (more details on that here) sold for €51,750 against a €150k-€250k estimate, and the equally singular 1967 Meccanica Maniero 4700 by Michelotti made €172,500 against a €300k-€400k estimate. The 1989 Mercedes-Benz Boschert B300 Biturbo Gullwing failed to sell against a €475k-€525k estimate.
One of the major stories in this auction was the state of the Japanese modern classic market. While the NA2 Honda NSX-R was widely tipped to be the star of the show, there was also a collection of R34 Nissan Skyline GT-Rs of varying levels of performance and scarcity, all offered at no reserve. So how did they do? Well, the Honda went unsold, and the Skylines all performed very poorly. It began with an extensively aftermarket-modified Midnight Purple II example, estimated at €325k-€400k: it sold for €172,500. Perhaps unsurprising, considering the halo effect for factory-built or NISMO models rather than aftermarket tuners, but then…
A one-of-156 Millennium Jade 2002 V-Spec II Nür made €207k against a €375k-€450k estimate, while a one-of-122 Silica Brass 2001 M-Spec made €258,750 against a €450k-€600k estimate.
Things didn’t get appreciably better with the NISMO cars that followed: the one-of-14 V-Spec II NISMO S-Tune, pictured above, made just €411,250 against a €500k-€700k estimate, while one of fewer than 20 CRS-restored GT-Rs made €467,500 against a €700k-€850k estimate.
Where does this leave the Skyline market? It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but perhaps the bigger question is why the cars were offered for sale in Italy, rather than somewhere where the appetite for JDM cars is appreciably more feverish, such as the US.
Further details
For more details on Broad Arrow’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este Auction, head here.
