Graph of the Week: European makes now tops in Monterey

The annual Monterey auctions have always had a heavy concentration of European cars, but observers may be surprised to learn that Ford and Chevrolet have historically remained the most prevalent makes. These cars are, after all, the most commonly collected in the U.S., even among discerning American collectors. We reached a tipping point this year, however, and the traditional hierarchy was upended.

For the first time, neither Ford nor Chevy were the most abundant make, with Porsche seizing that honor in 2016 largely thanks to dozens of 911s. Also, for the second consecutive year, Ferrari models were a more common sight than cars from Ford and were essentially as common as Chevrolets.

While people automatically associated 1960s Ferraris and more recently Porsche 911s with the Monterey Car Week auctions, this was always anecdotal. Until this year.