More than 800 car collectors spent $14 million at an auction in California, snapping up Duesenberg and Mercedes-Benz models and passing on a 1939 Auto Union racer that was estimated to fetch as much as $10 million.

Jay Leno, the comedian and talk-show host, was among the selective crowd at the Bonhams & Butterfields sale in Carmel that had been forecast by the organizers to make as much as $35 million. Last year's event totaled $21 million.

The Auto Union racing car had been expected to make the most for any single-seat Grand Prix racer. The rear-engined racer, which looks like a bullet with wheels sticking out, drew a top bid of $6 million, said Rupert Banner, a Bonhams specialist. A 1937 Bugatti estimated to go for as much as $6 million also didn't sell. About two-thirds of the roughly 300-lot sale of collectible cars and memorabilia found buyers.

It's definitely a selective market, Banner said of the unsold Auto Union. A Grand Prix racer is never indicative of the market as a whole.

Set at the 850-acre Quail Lodge Resort and Golf Club, the sale lasted eight hours with snacks served throughout.

The top lot was a 1933 black convertible Duesenberg, which went for $1.4 million. Another highlight was a 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster that sold for $804,500, above its high estimate of $600,000.

The Auto Union was made by four companies: DKW, Wanderer, Horch and Audi. Auto Union and its rival Mercedes dominated European motor racing from 1934 until the start of World War II.

The auction house said the Auto Union had top finishes in the 1939 Grand Prix season and was driven by Rudolf Hasse and Hans Stuck, two well-known German drivers. Bonhams described it as nothing less than one of the most charismatic Grand Prix racing cars ever to come to public auction.

Simon Kidston, a Geneva-based classic car adviser, said in an interview when the sale was announced in March that he could not remember a single-seat racing car fetching more than $5 million.

Banner said there was incredible demand for most of the antique automobiles. The auction house charged a commission of 17 percent on the first $100,000 of the hammer price and 10 percent above that.

The California-based series of classic car events also included a three-day sale in Monterey held by RM Auctions. On Aug. 15 a Jaguar C-Type that the 25-year-old Phil Hill drove to victories in sports car races in North America in 1952 sold for $2.5 million, a record auction price for the model.

Designated XKC-007, the car was one of the first C-Types delivered to the U.S. and had been in the U.S.-based collection of Jerry and Kathy Nell since 1993, the Canadian-based specialist auctioneers said in an e-mailed statement before the sale. Only 53 C-types were built by Jaguar, RM said. Hill went on in 1961 to become the first American to win the Formula One World Championship.

The Monterey auction took $34 million, with 85 percent of the 239 cars selling, said RM. A 1955 Aston Martin DB3S took $2 million and a 1935 Duesenberg Model SJ Disappearing Top Convertible Coupe a further $1.4 million.