Monterey 2021: RM wraps it up at the Portola

The headlining Gulf Porsche 917K failed to make the finish line in the saleroom, but nine out of ten of the rest of the catalogue found new owners at the Monterey Conference Center late last night.

With a likely $51m+ gross, the Canadians are looking at a three-day total of over $145m at 90% sold by number.

At a glance (provisional):

* Gross: $51,254,301
* Percentage sold by number: 90%
* Top-selling car: 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta 'Tour de France' $6,000,000 gross, $5,450,000 net (est. $5.75m to $6m)
* Well sold? The ex-Steve Wynn black Ferrari Enzo sold for $2m at Bonhams in August 2017. It made $3,360,000 last night
* Well bought? Hard to call – few bargains to be had
* One to take away? Steve McQueen’s 1970 Triumph Bonneville TR120 at $102k, the opening lot of the sale, leaving plenty of time for dinner

A successful sale of the 917K at that estimate ($16m to $18.5m) was probably a step too far for a car that had spent most of its life as a less-desirable Spyder. The bright blue Ferrari Tour de France pictured below, 3rd in class at Pebble in 2016, was probably well bought.

Big money has been following Ferrari supercars all week. After strong figures for F40s at RM and Gooding (and Bonhams post-saled its car for $1.6m), this time it was an Enzo that hit the jackpot. Seventeen thousand miles is nothing great, but the attractive combination of black over tan – one of only two – made Saturday night’s car stand out. And RM’s LaFerrari sold for a mid-estimate $3,250,000; its F50 $3,965,000 the previous night. All prices inclusive of premium.

Saturday night during Monterey Week usually throws up some surprises and 2021 was no exception. Let’s give a special mention to the buyer of the 2012 Lexus LFA ‘Nürburgring Package’, estimated at £900k to $1.1m, who paid $1.6m all-in.  RM sold one of the original Bond cars for $4.6m in 2010, perhaps the bidder on Lot 358, a well-restored DB6 Vantage, thought he was getting the next best thing. It achieved $808,000 with premium, surely a world record.

The march of the Miura continues. The bare-metal P400 S went for $2,095,000 gross. Now the novelty of that has worn off, perhaps the new owner will paint it Bianco Miura. With that interior, and interesting history, the car deserves it.

Expect K500 to sum the week’s auctions up as soon as the final figures are published. Unofficially it looks like an overall combined gross for the Big Three of $286m. Not bad for a world still struggling with a pandemic and the best since 2018.

RM Sotheby’s in Monterey, 14 August 2021, provisional results

Gross: $51,254,301
Number of cars not sold: 6
Number of cars withdrawn: 1
Total number of cars: 63
Number sold: 57
Percentage cars sold by number: 90%
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 30%
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 53%
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 35%
Average price of cars sold: $899,198
Average year of cars offered: 1970
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 56%

With thanks to Hammer Price

Photos by K500