RM goes for gold in Atlanta: 2018 all-Porsche sale

Dubbed ‘The Porsche 70th Anniversary Auction’, the Canadians’ debut event held at the Porsche Experience Center Atlanta was – bar the odd high-profile miss – a success: 53 cars sold on the day; a gross of $25.2m.

Sell-through was a healthy 84% by number. The big-ticket racing cars (956 Gp C car, ’73 and ’75 RSRs) were the main casualties. Had they sold, the RM team might have been looking at a $30m+ gross.

At a glance:
 
* Gross: $25,224,640
* Percentage sold by number: 84%
* Top-selling car: 1985 Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar sold for $5,945,000 gross, $5,400,000 net (est. $3m to $3.4m)
* Well sold? Other than the 959 rally-raider, how about $307.5k all-in for the 1958 Porsche 356 A 1600 'Super' Speedster estimated at $125k to $150k?
* Well bought? The market for more recent, limited-edition Porsches can be patchy. Some might consider the 1994 Speedster ($190.4k gross) ‘cheap’. Its estimate was $200k to $250k
* One to take away? Either of the ‘chrome bumper’ Targas. ‘Soft-window’ cars divide opinion, so we’ll go for the ivory 1971 911 E Targa that went for $67.2k incl. premium (est. $125k to $150k)

The headlines will be all about the 2018 Porsche 911 Turbo Classic Series ‘Project Gold’ (pictured, top), a brand-new 1990s 993 Turbo S handbuilt by Porsche using a new-old-stock shell and off-the-shelf parts from Porsche Classic. Estimated ‘On Request’, the gold car sold for a 24-carat $3,415,000, all profits going to the Ferry Porsche Foundation, a German charity dedicated to education, social issues, and youth development.

The ex-Factory 1985 959 Paris-Dakar (pictured, above) did have an estimate: $3m to $3.4m. One of only three Works 959 Rally-Raid development cars not retained by Porsche, the winning bid for the ex-René Metge Rothmans-sponsored car was $5.4m, that’s $5.945m with the RM Sotheby’s split 12%/10% buyer’s premium.

Overall, prices vs. estimates were soft: over half the catalogue failed to meet lower estimate. However, in a pragmatic North American environment, they still sold; in Europe, things might have been stickier.

Three 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7s raised their heads above the parapet in Atlanta. All moved on, top honours going to an early prototype at $1.325m with premium, a whisker under its lower estimate. The Touring ($698k gross) and $1.02m all-in Lightweight were sold pretty well on guide prices. The picky market for early 1970s racing cars meant the hard-core RSRs failed to find new owners on the day.

Conclusions? The ever-effective RM Way was always going to triumph, even if most prices were weaker than forecast. The return of 1973 Carrera RS 2.7 road cars achieving respectable figures is notable – racers face a tougher ask. Recent, limited-edition 911s sell when presented in small numbers in a broad catalogue.

And the evergreen 356 Speedster just motors on – a real ‘gold standard’ classic if ever there was one.

RM Sotheby’s Porsche Sale at Atlanta, Georgia, 27 October 2018

Total gross cars: $25,224,640
Number of cars not sold: 10
Number of cars withdrawn: 1
Total number of cars: 63
Number sold: 53
Percentage cars sold by number: 84%
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 55%
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 57%
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 77%
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 15%
Average value of cars sold: $475,937
Average year of cars offered: 1983
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 56%

Photos by RM Sotheby’s