Market Intelligence
On the pitch with the B team, RM wins anyway.
RM Sotheby's saw a drop in total sales this year at their Scottsdale auction compared to 2018, stopping just short of $30m. They sold 90% of lots on offer but had only one blue chip for sale, a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet S1, which stalled at $5.5m and remained unsold. The auction was saved by a 2018 Huayra Roadster, which was sold for $2.37m, and a rare 1991 Vector W8 Twin Turbo, which was sold for $720,000. Other sales included a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTS and a 2002 Dodge Viper, both selling for more than their estimated value, but a 1967 Maserati Mistral 4.0 Spider sold for significantly less than expected.
RM Sotheby’s (and RM Auctions beforehand) is a time-honoured auction house in Scottsdale that’s been around for almost 20 years and, as such, has seen and participated in every stage of the market, from the moment when historic cars were a niche – and cost just a few tens of thousands of dollars – the era in which cars began being conceived as an investment – and their subsequent price boom – until the more recent settling that we are examining today.
In absence of any significant lots, RM failed to match its 2018 results: whereas last year they registered total sales of $36.9m, this year they stopped just short of $30m ($29,901,210 to be exact), dropping by almost 20%. Having said that, they sold 90% of the lots on offer (up from 85% in 2018) even if 73% of the cars were for sale without reserve. While just 6 cars passed the million-dollar barrier, that number was 6 less than the previous edition (12). It should be noted that auctions are like fruit and vegetable markets: sales are a reflection of the harvests and in this case, RM had only one blue chip for sale: a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet S1, presented in an unattractive (as well as not original) Rosso Ferrari and without the fundamental Ferrari Classic certificate. Optimistically estimated at $6-7,000.00, it stalled at $5,500,000 and the seller decided to take her home. Maybe he’ll certify it now?
