Auction Results: RM Auctions’ 2013 Monterey sale

RM Auctions secured top honors on the Monterey peninsula with its 2013 auction in the Portola Hotel, held Aug. 16-17. In fact, the two-day sale set a record for the highest-grossing collector car auction in history at $ 125.1M, including buyer’s premium, and was 33% higher than the company’s 2012 total. In all, 105 of 120 lots sold for an 88% sell-through rate and an average price of nearly $1.2M.

Setting every public auction record save for one (namely, the record for most expensive car ever sold at auction, which was set in July by Bonhams with the sale of a Mercedes-Benz W196R) was the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4*S NART Spyder, which sold for $27.5M. This single-owner NART was one of 10, had a great story, and was expertly marketed. Bidding opened at $10M, jumped to $16M, and swiftly moved up to the $25M hammer price. Admirably, the family is donating all of the money to a host of charities.

Three more cars topped the $5M mark, including a 1953 Ferrari 375 MM Spyder ($9.075M) and last year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Best In Show-winning 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S Saoutchik Torpedo Roadster.

Aside from the 26 million-dollar sales, prices overall were incredibly strong. A 1961 Mercedes-Benz 190SL convertible sold for $269,500 — pushing the ceiling for this once-neglected model ever skyward — an alloy-bodied 1965 Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada coupe set a public record for the model at $693,000, and a 1969 Alfa Romeo 1750 Veloce Spider astonished at $121,000.

Overall Top 10 Sales:

1. 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4*S NART Spyder sold for $27,500,000
2. 1953 Ferrari 375 MM Spyder sold for $9,075,000
3. 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S Saoutchik Torpedo Roadster sold for $8,250,000
4. 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster sold for $7,480,000
5. 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Spyder sold for $4,070,000
6. 1955 Jaguar D-Type Roadster sold for $3,905,000
7. 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial SI 3.8 Spyder sold for $3,520,000
8. 1974 McLaren M16C Indianapolis Race Car sold for $3,520,000
9. 1950 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta sold for $3,080,000
10. 1961 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Aerodinamico Coupe sold for $2,750,000

Next up for RM is its annual London auction, now held a month earlier than usual on Sept. 8-9, 2013. The company’s next North American sale will be held Oct. 10-11, 2013, in Hershey, Penn.