$22M D‑Type and $7M LaFerrari cap RM Sotheby's record‑breaking 2016

It was 12 months of record bids and big sales – none bigger than the Duemila Ruote sale in Milan, the largest automotive-themed collection sale ever held in Europe. But the boost the market was looking for came earlier, in September, at the firm’s 10th anniversary London sale. “It was a game-changer for a number of reasons”, says Peter Wallman, RM Sotheby’s Europe managing director.

“The single-owner Porsche Collection generated some remarkable results, however, there was an energy that hasn’t been seen in European auction rooms for a while. This year’s auction tally is within a whisker of RM’s best ever, peak-of-the-market, London sale totals.”

The sale in Battersea Evolution realised £21.65 million with 76 per cent of all lots sold. Lots spanned 117 years and ranged from £5000 to the top price of £2.4 million for one of just 45 right-drive Aston Martin DB4GTs ever made, a world record for a factory-bodied car at auction. RM Sotheby’s says that bidders from 33 countries took part and that half of them were new clients.

Then there were the Porsches, collectively generating £4.7m and far exceeding pre-sale estimates. Says RM Sotheby’s: “While the Aston Martin proved to be the night’s biggest seller, it is the game-changing prices achieved for some of the Porsches which will prove to be the sale’s most potent legacy.”

Among the Porsche auction sales records that tumbled were: £1,848,000 for a 1995 911 GT2; £974,400 for a 1993 911 Turbo S Lightweight; £716,800 for a 1993 911 Carrera RS; and £403,200 for a 1995 911 Carrera RS Clubsport.

Other highlights of the London sale included a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series II (sold for £1,288,000), a 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Cabriolet (£952,000) and a barn-find 1967 Iso Grifo with a pre-sale estimate of £30-50,000 that sold for £128,800.

There were plenty of records too at the Duemila Ruote auction in Milan. The three-day sale saw 5000 people attend, more than 3000 bidders from 57 countries take part and all 817 no-reserve lots (motor cars, motorcycles, bicycles, boats, and automobilia, all from a single private collection) sold for a total of €51.26 million.

“It feels like we achieved the impossible,” says Augustin Sabatié-Garat, RM Sotheby’s car specialist. “The logistical challenges involved with putting on this sale were mind-boggling, but we rose to the challenge and achieved results that nobody could have anticipated.”
 
For enthusiasts, the collection’s 423 motor cars, many of which were on the open market for the first time in decades, presented a wide range of ownership opportunities at every level.

In a field dominated by rare Italian machinery, top sales honours went to the 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C Alloy; the first of just seven long-nose, six-carburettor, alloy body, torque tube 275 GTBs, its rarity, provenance and freshness to the market propelled it to an impressive €3.4m.

Another star of the show, the 2004 Maserati MC12, with fewer than 6000km, stormed into the record books at just over €3m, smashing the previous auction record for the model.

Other big prices went to 1992 Ferrari F40 (€1,030,400), 1988 Porsche 959 ‘Komfort' (€1,008,000), 1969 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Berlinetta 'Plexi' (€873,600), and a 1991 Lancia-Ferrari LC2 Group C car (€851.200).

As a category, rally cars of the ’80s and ’90s proved particularly hot, as reflected in outstanding prices for the 1992 Lancia Delta HF Integrale Group A ‘Jolly Club’ at €336,000 (against a pre-sale estimate of €160–€180,000) and the 1989 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16V ‘Ufficiale’ at €246,400. Among the racing boats, the 1984 Lamborghini Offshore Class 1 boat ‘Miura’, powered by two Lamborghini V12s, dominated the fleet at €117,000.  

Towards the end of the year, history was again made when RM Sotheby’s in association with Ferrari sold the very last LaFerrari coupe for $7m – with all proceeds going to benefit the reconstruction of central Italy following devastating earthquakes in 2016.

Prospects for the coming year? “Good cars, well presented with sensible estimates are selling strongly, and that is good news for the market as a whole,” says RM Sotheby’s Europe managing director Peter Wallman.

What's coming up from RM Sotheby's in 2017

January 19^th-20^th: Arizona Concours d’Elegance Sale, Phoenix, Arizona. Highlights include a 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster by Sindelfingen (estimate: US$7.4-8.4 million), 1939 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet by Letourneur et Marchand ($1.25-1.5m), and 1930 Cadillac V16 Roadster by Fleetwood ($1-1.25m).

February 8^th: Rétromobile Sale, Place Vauban, Paris.
 
March 10^th-11^th Amelia Island Sale, Official auction of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
 
May 27^th: Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d’Este Sale, Villa Erba, Lake Como, Italy.

July 29^th: Motor City Sale, Plymouth, Michigan. Official auction of the Concours d'Elegance of America.
 
October 5^th-6^th: Hershey Sale, Hershey, Pennsylvania. Veteran, Brass Era, and CCCA Classic automobiles cross the auction stage during the world’s largest antique car swap meet.