Porsches star at RM’s first multi-currency online event

The Canadians conducted another 10-day online sale that finished on 28 February. A new feature was a catalogue split into cars in North America (USD), Europe (EUR) and Switzerland (CHF).

It was an average affair with nothing notable offered or sold, and most cars were moved on below mid estimate.

At a glance:

* Gross: $11,440,484 (equivalent at on-the-day exchange rates)
* Percentage sold by number: 74%
* Top-selling car: 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder (pictured, top) 1,001,000 CHF gross, 910,000 CHF net
(est. 975k CHF to 1.1m CHF)  
* Well sold? The late-1990s AMG SL73 for €170,500 with 10% premium (est. €90k to €110k)
* Well bought? At €379.5k with premium, the rough red DB6 Volante automatic from Dubai still wasn’t cheap enough, but snapped up at €30k below low estimate it seemed a bargain. Expect a budget restoration by a dealer for resale

The top-selling Porsche was one of eight Swiss-registered Stuttgart cars all of which – bar the 911 GT2 RS – sold. The best performer was probably the paint-to-sample Gulf Blue 2016 911R with just 2,800km from new. Estimated at 330k CHF to 380k CHF, it sold for 375k CHF net, or 412.5k CHF with RM’s reasonable 10% across-the-board buyer’s premium.

Of the others, the European section featured an early (4-speed DB ’box) RHD Aston Martin DB5 with some good history with the right people that sold for €627k, the bargain basement red DB6 Volante and a thundering 2000 Aston Martin Vantage Le Mans V600, a LHD, 6-speed manual car ostensibly cheap at €253,000 but located in Dubai. All prices include premium.

On the other side of the pond, the US dollar entries were topped by a ‘hot rod’ 1962 Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 Series II formerly owned by the lead singer of Jamiroquai. It sold for $682k all-in. The rest of the cars were much of a muchness, though the 1984 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 S did well at $255k net against its cheap $125k to $150k estimate.

All three sub-sections of the 106-car catalogue, when converted to dollars, grossed around the same amount: $3.5m to $3.9m.

RM Sotheby’s Open Roads online auction, 19-28 February 2021 – results

Total gross cars: $11,440,484 (equivalent at on-the-day exchange rates)
Number of cars not sold: 28
Number of cars withdrawn: 2
Total number of cars: 106
Number sold: 78
Percentage cars sold by number: 74%
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 69%
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 86%
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 5%
Average value of cars sold: $146,673
Average year of cars offered: 1980
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 28%

Photo by RM Sotheby’s