The explosion of super sports car prices with one loser
03/18/2026
At the auctions at the beginning of the year, some super sports cars from the 2000s achieved new record prices. Over EUR 10 million was paid for examples of the Ferrari Enzo, while prices for the Porsche Carrera GT also soared. Typically, these two vehicles are also compared with the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, but the analysis of the performance of these three super sports cars shows very different patterns.
While the indexed valuations (based on real purchase prices at auctions) of the Porsche Carrera GT and the Ferrari Enzo are developing almost in lockstep, the SLR McLaren is practically standing still and is barely budging in terms of value. What could be the reason for this?
While the three cars hardly differ, at least in terms of performance (Porsche: 612 hp, Ferrari: 660 hp, SLR McL: 626 hp), there are considerable differences in their technical design. The Ferrari boasts a mid-engine and naturally aspirated V12 engine, the Porsche a manual gearbox and V10 mid-engine, while the Mercedes is powered by a V8 front-mid engine with supercharger and automatic torque converter. The Ferrari and the Porsche therefore appeared much more "race-like", while there were only minor differences in terms of exotic materials.
The new price of the SLR McLaren was probably hardly a criterion for buyers at the time, starting at EUR 435,000, while the Porsche cost over EUR 450,000 and the Ferrari even more at EUR 645,000. Today, you can only smile at these differences.
The number of units produced could also be a driver for the different value developments: the Ferrari only produced 400 Enzo models, the Carrera GT was built 1270 times, while the SLR McLaren was produced over 2000 times, more than five times as many as the Ferrari.
However, all three were a good investment in 2014. At the time, the average price paid for an SLR McLaren was EUR 197,211, for a Carrera GT EUR 344,814 and for the Enzo EUR 1,164,083 (according to the Zwischengas auction database ).
12 years later, you can sell the same SLR McLaren for not quite twice as much, but the Carrera GT and the Enzo for around nine times as much. Neither the maintenance and accommodation costs of the Porsche nor the Ferrari are likely to have eaten up the increase in value, but the SLR would probably be more expensive. All three cars are expensive from the owner's point of view.
Will this continue? It's hard to imagine, but who knows? But the fact that a "normal" Ferrari Enzo is now worth more than a Ferrari LM or other Ferrari racing sports cars from the sixties that were produced in minimal numbers must come as a bit of a surprise ...
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