Recession? Downturn? Weak Global Trade? NOT Here (Autoweek)

RM auction in Monaco rakes in $45.1 million

By GREG MIGLIORE

This 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Cabriolet Pininfarina SWB sold for $3.8 million, the top seller at the RM auction in Monaco on Saturday.

RM Auctions

Call it the Feast of Ferrari.

Led by a stunning lineup of rare and classic automobiles wearing the Prancing Horse, sales at the RM auction in Monaco on May 1 totaled more than $45.1 million.

The highest seller at the event was a 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Cabriolet Pininfarina AWB, which sold for $3.8 million, a record for Superamericas, RM said. A 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta sold for $3.6 million, and a 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Tour de France went for $3.2 million. Also of note was a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder, which garnered $2.8 million.

Breaking up the Ferrari fest was another noted Italian marque: A 1960 Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage set a record for a Maserati Birdcage when it sold for $3.3 million.

RM Auctions

A vintage shot of the 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Cabriolet Pininfarina SWB.

An interesting wrinkle came after the final gavel. A 1937 BMW 328 Mille Miglia Bügelfalte was sold less than 24 hours after the end of the event for a confidential figure. It had reached a high bid of $5.8 million. This was the cover car of the sale.

If the amount for that BMW had been included in the final figures, RM would have beaten its own single-day sales record, set in 2007 at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy.

The prices include a buyer's premium and are converted from euros to dollars at the time of the sale.

RM Auctions

MYSTERY in MONACO: This 1937 BMW 328 MM Buegelfalte sold for an unknown sum after the RM uaction in Monaco. It reached a high bid of $5.8 million.

RM says that bidders from 33 countries were present over the phone, via the Internet or in person at its first-ever event in Monaco, held in conjunction with the Historic Grand Prix in that city.

Other notable sales included at 1938 Delahaye 135 MS Competition Cabriolet ($2.4 million), a 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II “Special Town Car” by Brewster ($2.0 million) and a 1963 Shelby 289 Cobra Roadster Le Mans racer ($1.0 million).

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100503/CARNEWS/100509979#ixzz0myoEdXuN