Online auctions: the market continues to shine

Let me start by saying that I have never actually been to Essen. Despite this, it is all too easy to form a preconceived idea of it. Since it is home to a huge steelworks and to two of Germany’s most important electricity companies, and, according to Wikipedia, counts a coal mine among its few visitor attractions (!?!), I, for one, find myself picturing it as a large industrial city with a constantly gray sky, even in summer, and cold and unfriendly people. Obviously, this isn’t a true picture at all, quite the opposite! But whatever the place is like, there is no doubt that, for one week every year, Essen is heaven on earth for motorheads. This is because it is the city that hosts Europe’s largest classic car show (surely reason enough for the sun to peep out from behind the clouds!). Like all major events in recent months, the RM Sotheby’s sale that had been scheduled to take place at the end of March, during the Essen Car Show, underwent a change of plan. When the pandemic exploded in Europe, the catalog was already complete, and many of the lots were already on their way to Germany. What was to be done? Initially there was talk of postponing the sale, and the show itself, to the end of June, but as soon as it became clear that the health emergency was far bigger than anyone had imagined, it was decided to move the whole thing online. 2020 Porsche 935 'Martini' sold For €1,320,000