RM Sotheby’s in Miami: Full Sail in Florida

For those of us who, like me, follow international auctions with faithful attention, the RM Sotheby’s press release made quite an impression — announcing an estimate of nearly $85,000,000 for the late-February Miami sale, both for the figure itself and for the fact that the catalogue did not seem to contain any particularly exceptional lots. And yet today, with over $73 million sold and more than 90% of the cars finding buyers, one cannot help but marvel at the distance the market has travelled in these years!

Twenty years ago, in January 2006, it was Barrett-Jackson who for the first time surpassed $60 million in sales. One must remember, however, that there were over 1,000 cars in that auction, spread across an entire week. That very same year, all the Pebble Beach auctions combined exceeded $100 million for the first time. It is therefore right to introduce this auction keeping in mind the growth dynamics of the market. Nor can one ignore a fact now firmly established: auctions today feature a very large number of recent or very recent cars which, by their very nature, tend to occupy the high or upper-mid price range of the offerings.

Now let us look at today’s RM Sotheby’s Miami: 90 cars offered last year and 86 this year. Sales were higher in 2026, with 78 lots finding buyers — 10 more than in 2025 — and the sell-through rate climbed accordingly from 75.56% to 90.61%. The estimated value of the 2026 offering was $83,860,000, confirming the impression of a slightly weaker catalogue compared to the 2025 estimate of $87,775,000. And yet the hammer total rose. The estimated value, in truth, actually fell from $87,775,000 twelve months ago to $83,860,000 this year, while the total achieved rose from $67,459,220 to $73,133,350. There were 36 no-reserve cars instead of 38, and the average price was $937,608 against $992,042 the year before.