Hot off the press: RM Sotheby’s in London 2015, news from the sale

Working on unofficial figures, we can report a likely gross of around £16.5m for RM’s latest London sale. Top selling car was the 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta 'Tour de France', which made £4.25m hammer – that’s £4.76m with premium, or around $7.3m, a fair market price for that model.

On the night, 21 cars failed to find new owners, giving a figure of 72% sold by number. Around three-quarters of those that did sell did not meet lower estimate – and that’s despite Max’s sterling efforts over nearly four hours at the rostrum.

The presence of F1 supremo and former car trader Bernie Ecclestone just before matters started in earnest might have been some sort of portent:  with a high percentage of cars from the trade (the Italian Stratos, the English Maserati 3500 for example), plus many traders in the saleroom, it had all the appearance of an auction for car dealers.

Which is how it always used to be.

In truth, close inspection of many of the cars did not flatter them. And though the estimates were more competitive than of late, clearly there’s some way to go. The market seems to be polarising: unique cars, be it for condition or historical significance, sell well. Witness RM’s Monterey C-type and Bonhams’ Festival Ulster. Others less so, and the usual crimes of wrong colour – sometimes just being ‘red’, even if it’s correct – or a quick glossy repaint for a fast sale no longer go unpunished.

Despite its glamorous yet unusual Marrone Colorado paintwork, the ultra-low-mileage ‘Daytona’ Spider failed to sell, bid to £1.7m against an estimate of £2m to £2.4m. Perhaps another £200k might have clinched it. Which may of course happen post-sale. It’s been no stranger to the showroom, and we’d love to see someone drive it and enjoy it.

We wonder if the ‘split-screen’ 1963 Corvette will head across the Atlantic, as its £72.8k/around $110k gross price might be a two thirds of what a similar car could achieve in the US.

Simon was taken with the Pastel Green 1952 Jaguar XK 120, its subtle colour losing something in catalogue photography. It sold for £80k hammer (£89.6k gross, around $140k).

“Well bought, a good choice of elegant car,” said Simon, who also loved the ex-Ken Adam, £218.4k 1959 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I Drophead Coupé Adaptation by H.J. Mulliner. Rather than retreating to a Bond lair of his own design, the 94-year-old vendor, 007 set designer Adam himself, was sitting in the front row of the sale.  As the saying goes, the purchase price is only a down payment on a much larger bill for a car that needs restoration. We envy the car’s new owner and trust the journey will be worth it – when completed, do park it in Montpelier St, Knightsbridge again, for old time’s sake.

The Dino 206 GT went below low estimate for £310k hammer, which is probably the right place for it. 1980s Porsche Speedsters have been stuck round the $220k mark in recent months. RM’s red one beat that by some margin, going for £173k or say $265k – although that figure was under estimate by some way.

Moving quickly through the significant non-sellers on the night, we can list: the Bizzarrini; the 300 SL Roadster; the Maserati 3500 GT; the LHD DB4; the 365 GTC; the 2.7 RS; the Mistral; the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16. Quite how the ‘Queen Mary’ very red Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 failed to sell at £130k amazes us. The strident (close inspection does not improve it) yellow/red 1995 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport sold for an all-in £627.2k. Perhaps the £40k saved on lower estimate can go towards a repaint and retrim in blue/black…

Both 4-cam 356s sold, which was nice, although once again under estimate. By the time the 250 GT TdF came up the saleroom had thinned out to just a few rows. The car presented well and Max and Peter got it away at the right price, so well done. And congratulations to the new owner of the little ex-Le Mans MG PA/B, one of the successes of the night, one that sold over top estimate for £135k hammer.

Next year, the Concours of Elegance will move to a new venue. The wisdom of partnering with an event held so far away (Edinburgh) this year might be another reason for the lacklustre - by RM’s high standards - sale tonight. We wait to see the schedule for 2016.

All photos by K500 - Copyright