Arizona Auctions: New Records for Bonhams and RM Sotheby’s

It’s often said that perception takes effort. And that effort can turn into valuable experience - as demonstrated by the Bonhams and RM Sotheby’s auctions in Arizona, the two Scottsdale sales. When thinking about records, even recent ones, it’s easy to convince yourself that certain locations are more appealing than others in terms of revenue potential. A perception, let’s call it.

So let’s take a look at the Scottsdale numbers. Compared with last year, Bonhams offered 53 cars, of which 29 were no reserve (67%), a sharp drop from the 73 cars (43 no reserve) offered in 2025. RM Sotheby’s also slightly reduced its catalogue, bringing 82 cars, just over half of them (57%) without reserve - a little fewer than the 88 cars (55 no reserve) offered twelve months earlier.

Once the auctions concluded, the results were what we can fairly call surprising. Bonhams, which had estimated its cars at $13,075,000, ended up selling 88.70% of its lots (up from 68% in 2025) for a total of $10,936,580 - 97% more than the $5,563,000 achieved last year. And all this with fewer cars.