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| Selling the RM way: Max Girardo takes bids on the 1952 Allard J2X Roadster (Sold for $187,000) |
Grossing nigh-on $31m, RM’s two-day, 2011 Arizona sale was the best yet in the event’s 12-year history. Top-selling car - perhaps unsurprisingly - was a Ferrari; however, all the talk in hotels and bars post-sale was of the $1,375,000 1955 Mercedes-Benz ‘Gullwing’, a new auction record.
The grey-with-a-hint-of-brown Gullwing catalogued superbly, having been restored to probably better- (certainly shinier-) than-new condition. That said, it was steel, and lacked the all-important belly pans and Bakelite steering wheel for total authenticity. RM had another: a white 1954 version requiring restoration, which went for $544,500, and a $572,000 1960 300SL Roadster.
The grey Mercedes coupé had shared display space outside the Arizona Biltmore & Spa venue with the sale-topping 1949 Ferrari 166MM Barchetta. This achieved $1,870,000, at the lower end of its $1,900,000 – 2,400,000 estimate.
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| 1966 Shelby 427 Cobra - Sold for $643,500 | 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster - Sold for $52,250 |
The dark blue 1950 Ferrari 166 Inter Berlinetta was a popular choice among the cognoscenti (and at $412,500, perhaps a canny purchase for future investment), while other ‘big’ Ferraris garnering big totals included one of the earliest, ‘show’ F50s, a 1995 car selling for $742,500, and baseball legend (present at the sale) Reggie Jackson’s 1973 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ Spyder going for $880,000 – bang-on mid-estimate.
The event had started on the Thursday evening with The British are Back!, a reprise on last year’s The British are Coming! I look forward to 2012 and the They’re Still Here, But We Kinda Like 'Em! tag.
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| 1964 Dodge Hemi Charger Concept Car - Sold for $715,000 |
Significant cars hammered down that night included the 1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Newmarket Sport Sedan ($440,000) and another pre-War Rolls, this time a ‘Maharaja-era’ , polished bodywork 1921 Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost Phaeton, built for the Calcutta Motor Show, realising $379,500.
More up to date, the attractive, silver, one-digit-away-from-a-Bond-car, LHD (important!) 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Series IV Vantage went over its pre-sale estimate, selling for $352,000. There were some nice XK Jaguars there, and we liked the green, steel-wheels-and-spats 1952 Jaguar XK120 Roadster (which sold for $88,000). One of the highlights of the British day for this first-time visitor was the wonderfully ‘used’, 1952 Allard J2X Roadster, at $187,000.
Whoever was the lucky bidder on this one, please, please don’t restore it more than vital safety and reliability measures necessitate – it looked terrific as it is.
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| 1923 'Tweedy Pie' Show Roadster - Sold for $176,000 | 1995 Ferrari F50 - Sold for $742,500 |
Classic car auctions held in the USA, understandably, include a high percentage of home-grown product, ranging from the pioneering days of the Model T and Winton wooden-wheeled ‘earlies’ through Hollywood-era Cadillacs, Duesies and Packards, to everyone’s favourite, the all-American Corvette.
The Gullwing and the 166 MM were joined in the million-dollar club by a 1933 Packard Twelve Sport Phaeton by Dietrich ($1,760,000), closely followed by a 1929 Duesenberg Model J Dual Cowl Phaeton, driven by Elvis Presley - no less - in the film ‘Spinout’, which achieved $1,237,500. The car that featured on RM’s catalogue, the 1931 Marmon Sixteen Coupé, was one of only six survivors and sold for $687,500, comfortably over upper-estimate.
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| 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/435 Roadster - Sold for $165,000 | 1949 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta - Sold for $1,870,000 |
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| 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL 'Gullwing' - Sold for $1,375,000 | 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 'Daytona' Spyder - Sold for $880,000 |
In our preview, we tipped the ex-MGM 1949 Cadillac Series 75 Custom Limousine. As the Arizona sun dipped down to the horizon, it looked even better than in the catalogue, prompting the British contingent to consider its effect on a Goodwood Revival paddock. It sold for $297,000.
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| 1949 Cadillac Series 75 Custom Limousine - Sold for $297,000 | A selection of early Corvettes |
Looking elsewhere in the results of a typically robust RM sale, we note a car famously celebrated in scale-model form, the 1923 'Tweedy Pie' Show Roadster, selling for $176,000, a 1967 Lamborghini 400GT which made $341,000, and an attractive 1967 Maserati Sebring achieving an affordable $77,000. Nice car, that one, in its silver-grey paintwork.
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| 1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast Series I - Sold for $935,000 |
RM’s next sale will be on March 12 at Amelia Island, Florida, and of course its European arm will be holding an exclusive auction at the Concorso D’Eleganza at Villa d’Este, on the banks of Lake Como in Italy on May 21. Some truly fabulous cars are entered for this one; and we’ll be there for what’s likely to be a stellar event.
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| 1967 Lamborghini 400GT Coupé - Sold for $341,000 | 1964 Cooper Monaco Race Car - Not Sold | 427 Shelby power |
Please click HERE to see the full results.
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RM Auctions
One Classic Car Drive Blenheim Ontario N0P 1A0 Canada Telephone: +1 519 352 45 75 Fax: +1 519 351 13 37 Website: www.rmauctions.com Email: [email protected]. |
Text: Steve Wakefield
Photos: Classic Driver
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