Jaguar fetches $11.2m as post-boomers drive grand marques higher

I know you weren't in Monte Carlo last weekend but you should have been.

Bonhams' Monaco sale "Les Grandes Marques a Monaco" at the Fairmont Hotel (pets welcome), was going off with the 1953 Jaguar XK120C 'C-Type' fetching a staggering $11.2 million.

The ex-Michael Schumacher, Nelson Piquet, Martin Brundle 1991-1992 Benetton-Ford F1 machine brought $1.6 million, and a one-owner-from-new 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO Coupe 2.8 sold for $2.8m.

Next it was a quick dash down to the Monte Carlo version of Jeff's Shed, Bert's Le Sporting, for RM Sotheby's $42m sale of Ferraris and some other makes.

The night's focus was the 1951 340 America Touring Barchetta, one of the first big-engine competition Ferraris. It saw service in the 1951 and 1952 Le Mans and nine Mille Miglia rallies from 1984 to 2006. A snip at $11.2m.

What do we make of all this? We caught up with world classic car price guru, Dave Kinney, publisher of the Hagerty Price Guide, in a bar in New York. His view is that market is now in the hands of post-baby Boomers who have sent prices of everything from the 80s, 90s and naughties through the roof.