Half a million for an old Porsche. Nearly as much for an Aston Martin that looks as though it should arrive with a silk dressing gown and a sideboard full of whisky. A Subaru 22B at the sort of money that would once have bought you a decent flat and a bit left over for curtains. If anyone still think the collector car market in this part of the world is looking peaky, March said non monsieur.
That is the gist of Collecting Cars March 2026 market update for Australia and New Zealand. The online auction platform sold 102 auction lots in March for a tidy AU $10.5 million across 2 countries. That puts the platform 6% ahead of this time last year, and takes its 2026 year-to-date tally to AU $24.3 million. That is AU $5 million higher than the same point in 2025, which is not what a soft market looks like.
Then there is the average sale price beyond AU $103,000 in March, which is its highest local monthly average since launching in 2019. It means this was not just a busy month full of cheerful little toybox purchases and harmless Sunday curios. The bigger cheques were out and the metal was moving. The expensive fantasies were getting loaded onto trucks and waved off down the street.
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ABOVE: March winners from Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Subaru
Lee Hallett, Head of APAC at Collecting Cars, says enthusiasts and collectors across Australia and New Zealand continue to confirm the health of the local collector market. They are confirming it the old-fashioned way, by lobbing money at cars they do not need and then justifying it as an asset class. There are worse delusions to have.
Australia’s March highlights tell a rather tasty story all on their own. A Porsche 964 Turbo 3.3 made AU $541,500, which Collecting Cars says may be a public auction sales record. An Aston Martin DB6 reached AU $450,500. A Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG pulled AU $430,000.
That trio is marvellous because it shows just how catholic the appetite still is. Air-cooled Porsche greed remains in rude health. Aston still has old-money glamour dripping from every chrome edge. And the SLS AMG, that absurd long-bonnet brute with gullwing doors and the social subtlety of a chandelier through a shopfront, continues to have buyers by the throat.
Over in New Zealand, Collecting Cars says March was its biggest single month yet, topping NZ $2 million in sales. The top names there were a Ferrari 512 BBi at NZ $550,000, a Ferrari F355 Spider at NZ $387,500, and a Subaru Impreza STi 22B at NZ $350,000.
That last number deserves a moment, because the 22B has now fully escaped the realm of naughty blue rally relic and entered the temple of collector madness. Once upon a time you could explain one to your mother as a Subaru with a wing and a silly exhaust. Now you have to explain why that Subaru costs the thick end of a serious house deposit. Nostalgia, scarcity, and middle-aged men trying to buy back their adolescence are a potent cocktail. Add a bit of homologation pixie dust and here we are.
The Ferrari numbers are no less revealing. A 512 BBi at more than half a million New Zealand dollars says buyers are still happy to spend serious money on a flat-12 dream if the right car appears. The F355 Spider result says the nineties still have people in a chokehold as well. If the 512 is opera, the 355 is nightclub and both sold.
What all this suggests is not merely that Collecting Cars had a good month, but that confidence is still whirling around the room. Online collector auctions only hum when bidders trust the platform, trust the stock, and trust that someone else in the room will help justify the lunacy. March says that confidence remains tickety boo.
It also suggests the market has breadth. This was not one huge Ferrari month propping up the averages while everything else sat about looking unwanted. You had Stuttgart muscle, British charm, German theatre, Italian exotica, and Japanese rally mythology all jostling for wallet space at once. That is a healthy market. A narrow market is one where everyone piles into the same dreary safe choice and calls it strategy. This lot still looks gloriously emotional.
Of course, not every old car with a story and a bit of patina is about to become a retirement plan. Some remain exactly what they always were, costly hobbies for people with questionable judgment and an excellent eye for excuses. But the top end of the market in Australia and New Zealand is clearly still alive, still liquid, and still capable of making sensible people mutter filthy things under their breath.
Collecting Cars will be delighted with the brag sheet. Record local March average, stronger year-to-date sales, a six percent lift on last year, and a New Zealand business that appears to be finding its stride quickly. Fair enough too. These are the sort of numbers you put on a slide deck when you want everyone in the room to stop fiddling with their phones.
So yes, March was rather strong, the buyers showed up with pockets full. The fantasy garage remains open for business.
Collecting Cars March 2026 market update highlights
| March 2026 lots sold | 102 |
| March 2026 total value | AU $10.5 million |
| Result versus same time last year | 6% higher |
| 2026 year-to-date sales | AU $24.3 million |
| Year-to-date increase versus last year | AU $5 million |
| Average sale price in March | Above AU $103,000 |
| Australia highlight | Porsche 964 Turbo 3.3 at AU $541,500 |
| Australia highlight | Aston Martin DB6 at AU $450,500 |
| Australia highlight | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG at AU $430,000 |
| New Zealand March total | More than NZ $2 million |
| New Zealand highlight | Ferrari 512 BBi at NZ $550,000 |
| New Zealand highlight | Ferrari F355 Spider at NZ $387,500 |
| New Zealand highlight | Subaru Impreza STi 22B at NZ $350,000 |
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Alan Zurvas is the founder and editor of Gay Car Boys, Australia's leading LGBTQI+ automotive publication. Before launching GCB in 2008, Alan's automotive writing was published in SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer. With over 16 years of hands-on car reviewing experience, Alan brings an honest, irreverent voice to every review — championing value and innovation over brand loyalty.
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