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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Next week, car collectors will gather on the California coast for the 2005 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

It's a car show that, every year, features some of the most impressively restored, expensive and desirable collectible cars in the world.

During the weekend prior to the Concours opening on Monday, well-heeled collectors who don't yet own the car of their dreams will have the opportunity to buy it at one of several auctions taking place nearby.

At most car auctions -- even ones featuring highly collectible cars -- automobiles costing hundreds of thousands of dollars would be considered very expensive.

At a Concours d'Elegance, though, Ferraris, Shelby Cobras, Jaguars, Plymouth Hemi 'Cudas and other cars valued at six figures are relatively run-of-the-mill.

Some of those cars are still very special, of course. For example, Bonhams & Butterfield will be auctioning a 1910 Mercedes originally owned by John Jacob Astor IV.

Thanks, at least in part, to Astor's fame as a member of one of America's wealthiest families who died on the Titanic, his car is now valued at about $300,000.

The really eye-popping prices at these auctions, though, will be paid for ultra-rare cars valued at several million dollars each.

One sale alone, RM Auctions' Monterey Sports and Classic Car Auction on Friday, will offer 12 cars each valued at seven figures.

One of the most highly prized cars at that auction will be a 1964 Ford GT 40 Prototype race car. It is valued at $2.3 million to $2.6 million. That car won the 24-Hour Daytona race in 1965. The Ford GT40 was the model for the current Ford GT supercar, which currently sells for over $200,000 new.

The auction house Christie's will also be holding an auction Thursday, Exceptional Motor Cars at the Monterey Jet Center. Among the cars offered there will be the strange-looking 1961 Ferrari 'Breadvan.' The high-backed race car with a V-12 engine is valued at $3.5 million to $5 million.

For a photo sampling of the cars expected to sell for $1 million or more, see our gallery.