Disappointment for RM at its 2018 London sale

By Steve Wakefield

5th September 2018

Well, you could not fault them for trying. Despite a goodish selection of cars, top-notch presentation and a full saleroom, earlier this evening in Battersea RM sold just 50 per cent of its 94-car catalogue. Working on strictly provisional figures, we estimate the gross to be £8.7m, up on 2017 but way short of the £21m+ recorded in 2014 and 2016.

Neither the ex-Sellers DB4 GT nor the ex-Rod Stewart Miura sold on the night, with few meaningful bids in the room on either.

One out of three ain't that good: only the matronly 1953 Ferrari 212 will go to a new owner

At a glance from provisional figures:

* Gross: £8,728,388 (2017, £7,063,500)
* Percentage sold by number: 50% (2017, 55%)
* Top-selling car: 2003 Ferrari Enzo, £1,973,750 gross, £1,750,000 net (est. £1.85m to £2m)
* Well sold? It wasn’t that sort of night
* Well bought? The 2006 Aston Martin Vanquish S. One could spend around £95k at Aston Martin Works for restoration and sensible upgrades to a Vanquish S (THE one to have) including fitting a manual gearbox. This one sold for… you guessed it, £95k plus premium against an estimate of £180k to £220k. Ouch
* One to take away? The Lightweight E-type clone was another bargain. Estimated at £350k to £450k, it was snapped up for £184,000 all-in

Jolly green Ghibli – unsold, but one of the stars of the night

Of the Maserati collection, the big-hitting 5000 GT and Ghibli Spyder failed to find new owners. Neither did the RHD green 1970 Ghibli SS 4.9 Coupé that was much fancied in the saleroom, but the dark red, LHD example was sold just under low estimate for £218,500 with premium.

A rare glimmer of light was generated by the LHD 1957 Porsche 356A 1600 Speedster which went for £320,000 (say $410k), spot on its low estimate of £280k hammer. The barn-find RHD Dino 246 GT (top) generated much pre-sale interest, but in the end sold for bang-on low estimate at £172.5k gross. That’s around $220k at today’s rates.

Rod might not seem impressed, but RM pulled out all the stops

So, after a positive long weekend in Monterey, what went wrong tonight? Take your pick from Brexit uncertainties, ‘ambitious’ estimates, a generally subdued environment in Europe and the limited appeal of right-hand-drive cars in a worldwide market, particularly for Italian marques such as Ferrari and Lamborghini.

Next stop Bonhams this Saturday, where the recently sold British company will present 155 cars at the Goodwood Revival.

Maserati 5000 GT could well sell post-sale

The 7-litre Iso Grifo S2 impressed all and sold for £500k gross

RM Sotheby’s in London, 5 September 2018 – Provisional Results (2017)

Total gross cars: £8,728,388 (£7,063,500)
Number of cars not sold: 47 (32)
Number of cars withdrawn: 3 (0)
Total number of cars: 94 (71)
Number sold: 47 (39)
Percentage cars sold by number: 50% (55%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 23% (31%)
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 77% (59%)
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 96% (87%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 2% (13%)
Average value of cars sold: £185,710 (£181,115)
Average year of cars offered: 1976 (1976)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 30% (32%)

Photos by K500