Market Intelligence
When Opposites Meet: RM Sotheby's at Palm Beach Cavallino Classic, Barrett-Jackson in Arizona
From RM’s Ferrari-focused boutique sale to Barrett-Jackson’s 1,800-car spectacle, opposites proved equally successful.
They say opposites attract, and perhaps that is indeed true. This time the sales appear to sit at opposite ends of the collecting spectrum, and yet they sit rather well together. On one side we have the queen of Arizona week, the celebrated Barrett-Jackson sale. On the other, RM's new boutique auction, held at Cavallino Palm Beach. What does an 11 lot sale lasting roughly an hour before the gala dinner of the most prestigious concours d'élégance dedicated to Ferrari have in common with one featuring 1,826 cars spread over seven days (19–25 January), where the event offered a range of family-friendly shows as a backdrop?
The connection lies partly in the fact that both were held in the southern United States, where winter is no hardship, but above all because both were part of a much broader celebration — which means not every bidder was necessarily there to raise a paddle.
