Following the momentous (telephone) sale of the DP215, the Canadian auction house saw fit to announce that it will officially partner with Aston Martin and hold a single-marque sale during Monterey Car Week in 2019, 50 years after the British manufacturer’s maiden victory at Le Mans. 

Another of RM’s ‘big three’, the Ford GT40 MKII that came third at Le Mans in 1966, also sold well, fetching 9.8m dollars all in. The final and most anticipated car in the trilogy, the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, will cross the block this evening and no doubt every eye in the collector car world will be on the Scaglietti-built stunner when it does. 

Elsewhere on day one of RM’s flagship auction, limited production modern supercars continued to garner strong results. An Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato made 841,000 dollars while a Liquid Silver McLaren P1 sold for 1.82m dollars, both inclusive of premiums. 

Other notable results included the Pebble Beach ‘Best of Show’-winning Packard Twelve Individual Custom Convertible, which sold for 3.745m all in, and an immaculate Rosso Corsa Lamborghini Miura P400 SV (2.18, incl. fees). 

It wasn’t all plain sailing for RM, however – star cars that failed to find new homes on the night included the Porsche 908 prototype (its history was somewhat muddied) and a brace of 1950s Ferraris comprising a gorgeous dark blue 250 MM and a quirky looking 375 America Coupé bodied by Vignale. The latter was bid to 3.25m dollars, just 250,000 dollars short of its lower estimate. 

Tonight’s the night, though, the ‘big one’. Check back on Classic Driver later to find out whether the GTO will indeed become the most expensive car ever to be sold at auction… 

Photos: Stephan Bauer for Classic Driver © 2018