Market Intelligence
Large auction houses and marketing: RM abandons the bet and plays across the board
RM's strategy at the 2022 Amelia Island auction was to offer several top lots with limited estimates, and it proved successful with seven out of eight cars selling. The top lot was a red 2003 Ferrari Enzo, which sold for $2,782,500, followed by a Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet d'Ieteren that fetched $1,655,000. An interesting moment during the auction was the bidding war over a Lola T165 CanAm driven by Paul Newman, which sold for $665,000 after 55 raises. Despite the good results, RM was unable to match the sales from 2019, and it seems that the prices of the cars offered have a tendency to drop.
With Gooding betting everything on one lot, RM chose the opposite strategy; offering a series of top lots with limited estimates (albeit above $1 million) and close to one another.
It therefore auctioned 8 cars with estimates of between $1 million and $2.8 million. And sold 7 out of 8.
The top lot of the auction was red, with a prancing horse on the hood that neighs in Italian. I don’t think I’d surprise you if I say that the prize for the most expensive car of the evening went to a red 2003 Ferrari Enzo (really?) with a black interior. Purchased from the Lingenfelter collection in 2005, it was offered at Amelia with 1,700 miles from new on the clock and Tubi Extreme modified exhausts. When new it was about $800,000 but this won went for $2,782,500. If I had this amount, I wouldn’t let it pass by before it climbs the path that leads towards the numbers commanded by the McLaren F1.
