Official Ferrari image. It shows the one-off Tailor Made car linked to the 2025 charity auction, not the production car sold at Monterey in 2026.

A 2023 Ferrari Daytona SP3 sold for $17.825 million at RM Sotheby’s Monterey in August 2026. The final figure included the buyer’s premium and exceeded the auction house’s estimate of $10 million to $12 million. The car had covered only 227 miles when catalogued, roughly 365 kilometres, and was presented as part of The Driver’s Philosophy Collection.

The result is easy to confuse with Ferrari’s $26 million Daytona SP3 sale in 2025. The earlier car was a one-off Tailor Made example commissioned in addition to the original 599-car production run, and Ferrari said the proceeds went to The Ferrari Foundation. The 2026 lot was a production Daytona SP3. The two prices describe different cars and different auction circumstances.

The 2026 Monterey car

RM Sotheby’s identified the car by chassis number ZFF05UMA0P0297567. It carried a US title and had passed through the hands of two owners. The auction description listed original manuals, tools and a copy of the window sticker. These details matter in the collector market because the headline price is tied to a specific history, specification and condition rather than to every car carrying the Daytona SP3 name.

The exterior was finished in Giallo Triplo Strato with Nero racing stripes and an Italian-flag motif. The interior used Nero trim with yellow accents. The car was equipped with a carbon-fibre roof panel and lower bodywork, painted Scuderia shields and matte black wheels with gloss black brake callipers. RM Sotheby’s also listed a suspension lifter among the equipment.

At $17.825 million, the sale is not a Ferrari list price and should not be treated as a guaranteed market value. It is the result of one public auction involving a very low-mileage car with a documented ownership chain and a highly specified configuration. Another Daytona SP3 could produce a different result depending on mileage, options, documentation, location, currency and the bidders present on the day.

What makes the Daytona SP3 unusual

Ferrari introduced the Daytona SP3 in 2021 as the third model in the Icona series, following the Monza SP1 and SP2. Its name refers to Ferrari’s 1-2-3 finish at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona. The bodywork takes visual and aerodynamic inspiration from Ferrari’s mid-engined sports prototypes of the 1960s, with a wraparound windscreen, prominent wheel arches, wing-mounted mirrors and a slatted rear section.

The car uses passive aerodynamic solutions rather than active aerodynamic surfaces. RM Sotheby’s description points to underbody air extraction through the car’s “chimneys”. Ferrari paired that body with a removable hardtop, giving the SP3 a different roof experience from a conventional fixed-roof supercar while preserving the mid-engined proportions.

Power comes from a naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 from Ferrari’s F140 family. Ferrari’s own technical material quotes 840 cv, 2.85 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h and 7.4 seconds from 0 to 200 km/h. The engine is paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and drives the rear wheels. RM Sotheby’s catalogue gives the engine output as 829 horsepower, a difference caused by the way the two sources report power rather than by two different engines in the car.

Only 599 production examples were planned for the original series. That limit, the V12 engine and the design link to the Daytona prototypes provide the background for the high prices, but they do not turn every future sale into a record. Auction results remain observations of individual transactions.

The separate $26 million Ferrari

In 2025, Ferrari partnered with RM Sotheby’s to sell a one-of-one Daytona SP3 Tailor Made. Ferrari described the car as an additional example beyond the 599-unit limited series. It used exposed carbon fibre, Giallo Modena detailing and a full-length Ferrari script across the body. Its interior included Q-Cycle, a material made using recycled tyre material, together with yellow seatbelts and embroidered Prancing Horse motifs.

The $26 million result was a charity sale. Ferrari said all proceeds would benefit The Ferrari Foundation, a US public charity supporting education programmes and community projects. That context makes the price useful as a record of a unique charitable transaction, but less useful as a direct benchmark for a regular production SP3.

The 2026 Monterey sale is more informative for people trying to understand the market for a standard Daytona SP3, although it is still not an average. The estimate of $10 million to $12 million and the final $17.825 million show how strongly a low-mileage, carefully configured car can perform at a major auction. They do not prove that every owner can sell an SP3 for the same amount.

Why the result needs careful reading

Auction reporting often places the headline price next to a model name without explaining whether commissions are included, whether the car was a charity lot or whether it was a one-off. In this case, the distinctions are material. The production car sold in 2026 had a defined chassis number and a recorded 227 miles. The Tailor Made car sold in 2025 had a unique specification and a charitable purpose.

For collectors, service records, title history, ownership, mileage and factory options may be as important as the engine specification. For readers watching the market, the safest conclusion is narrower: a production Ferrari Daytona SP3 sold at RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2026 for $17.825 million including the buyer’s premium, while a separate one-off Tailor Made car had reached $26 million the year before.

Sources

Image: Ferrari official press material. The photograph is illustrative and does not depict the 2026 RM Sotheby’s lot.