by Mike –
The RM Sotheby’s Driven by Disruption auction in New York on December 10 was a success as far as I can tell. They sold 21 cars out of a total of 31 for a sell rate of 68%.
This is not their highest sell through rate but they sold some big dollar cars and maybe set a record or two.
Here are some of my favorites (the sales price includes the buyer’s premium).
1972 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV by Bertone
Sold for $2,420,000
1964 Porsche 356 C 1600 SC Cabriolet by Reutter
Sold for $1,760,000
Janis Joplin’s “History of the Universe” Porsche 356 Cabriolet.
1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato
Sold for $14,300,000
I wrote about this Aston Martin Zagato before and I have seen this car in person many times.
I estimated the sales price would be $12 million – $15 million and the hammer price was $13 million – close to the middle of my estimate. The RM estimate was much higher but I believe this is a record price for this model.
1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Touring
Sold for $918,500
1956 Ferrari 290 MM by Scaglietti
Sold for $28,050,000
This was the highest price of the auction.
RM wrote,
1956 Mille Miglia, Juan Manuel Fangio, 4th-overall
Extensive and documented racing history
An irrefutable piece of automotive history
Ferrari Classiche certified
1963 Pontiac Bonneville “Roy Rogers” Nudie Mobile
Sold for $308,000
Part of the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum for over 45 years
1981 Lamborghini Countach LP400 S Series III by Bertone
Sold for $962,500
1969 De Tomaso Mangusta by Ghia
Sold for $297,000
I wrote about this Mangusta here.
1981 BMW M1
Estimate $800,000 – $1,000,000 and a no sale at at high bid of $675,000.
I wrote about this BMW here.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
Read all the results at the RM Sotheby’s auction here.
Connecting Buyers With Sellers Of Classic Cars – All On-Line
Imagine what a 1956 Ferrari race car is worth a few years after it isn’t competitive. I am think it wasn’t worth very much. Possibly sold cheap to a private team. I wonder how low that 56 Ferrari’s value fell before eventually climbing to $28 million.
Thom,
In Dec. 1963 you could have bought a successful Ferrari 250 GTO race car for $14k as seen in a classified ad in Road & Track (now about $50 million) – here: https://mycarquest.com/2011/10/the-ferrari-250-gto-mystery-is-solved.html
And in 1966, also in a classified ad in Road & Track, you could have bought the Shelby Cobra Daytona prototype for $12,500 (now worth at least $10 million) – here: https://mycarquest.com/2014/02/shelby-cobra-daytona-csx2287-then-and-now.html
To answer your question, I used to sell used Ferraris for $4,000 to $5,000. Race cars were not more valuable then, as they tended to be more difficult to drive, and were usually clapped out. A 250GTO sold for $5,500 back in the day. This was in the 60’s and early 70’s. In the 80’s prices started to sky-rocket, with a big collapse around 1990, as I recall. After a few years, the sky-rocket re-ignited, and hasn’t stopped yet. Mind-boggling to one with my perspective.
Ed,
Thanks for sharing your unique perspective. I am amazed just by reading the old classified ads I mentioned above and knowing what those cars go for today.