Top star of this year’s Monterey auctions was RM Auctions, whose tighter, more exclusive, two-night event produced an astounding $125 million worth of sales achieved from 120 exclusive lots, with an 87 percent total sell-through rate.
Photo: RM Auctions
History was made on Saturday night when the ultra-rare and ultra-desirable 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4*S NART Spider rocketed its way into the record books, selling for an incredible $27,500,000 (including buyer’s premium). With all proceeds being donated to charity by the consigning family, the car established a new world record for a road-going car sold at public auction, while also lodging itself in the all-time record books as the second most expensive car ever sold at auction.
Friday night’s offerings had no less than 11 cars fetching more than $1,000,000 each, headed by the ex-Jim Kimberly 1953 Ferrari 375 MM Spider, a rare car with incredible racing history and a unique one-off pontoon fender body, which sold for $9,075,000. The 375 MM crossed the block shortly after an additional star lot, the 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster, another rare car sporting one-off coachwork by Sindelfingen, sold for a remarkable $7,480,000.
Photo: RM Auctions
In addition to the NART Spider, Saturday night witnessed another wonderful Mercedes-Benz, the 2012 Pebble Beach Best of Show-winning 1928 680S Saoutchik Torpedo Roadster, secure $8,250,000, rounding off the top four places in a list of no less than 26 automobiles that sold for $1,000,000 or more. Total sales of $125,000,000, a more than 30-percent increase over RM’s 2012 Monterey results, correspondingly establishes an average sale value in excess of $1,000,000 for each of the 120 lots sold.
With the benefit of the record-breaking NART Spider, RM’s 2013 Monterey sale now hold’s the distinction of being the highest grossing collector car auction of all time.
