RM Sotheby’s tops €86m to close out two days of saleroom action at the 2026 Monaco Historics

RM grossed €85,919,825 for motor cars alone at its familiar Grimaldi Forum venue yesterday. This is the largest single-day total recorded at the Principality since 2014. Added to Bonhams’ positive €10.2m from Friday, it brings the combined total to in excess of €96.2m – another record – and that’s with fewer than half the entries catalogued in 2024.

The results were headed by a €16.655m 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, the third example of the model sold so far this year, following those at Amelia Island (Gooding, $16.505m) and Paris (RM, €14.1m). Delivered new to Germany in Bianco Saratoga with black leather, the car is now Blu Scuro with red, the subject of extensive work by best-in-the-business craftsmen in Italy. Some would argue it is the best of the three cars offered in Europe this year, and it comes with a rare hardtop.

The result (an on-the-day $19.5m) places the car as the highest-value short-wheelbase California Spider sold at auction, beaten only by Gooding’s alloy semi-competition example sold at Pebble last year for $25,305,000. Bidding came from the room and over the phones, but a telephone bidder clinched it at €14,800,000, comfortably beating low estimate.

Mecum will offer another on 16 May – chassis 4137 GT, the final car built – bought by the American modern car dealer vendor for $17,875,000 at Mecum’s Kissimmee sale only two years ago. It’s red – very red – the least-favoured option, and much traded in recent years, but based on this performance and the US outfit’s steamroller, hollering-and-hammering approach, expect it to sell.

Prior to the motor cars, auctioneer Sholto Gilbertson spent an entertaining hour selling automobilia, highlighted by several entries direct from the family of Argentine World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio. If the saleroom erupted when the great man’s 1955 passport (above) sold for €78,000, that was nothing compared to the reaction to his 1950 driving permit at €102,000, an Omega watch at €204,000 and, best of all, a well-worn pair of his Suixtil racing trousers at €132,000.

Not to be outdone, the Lotus Esprit S1 Film Prop Display, “believed to have been used during filming of the 1977 James Bond hit The Spy Who Loved Me”, sold for €852,000 after a seemingly endless battle. Est. €200k to €300k, pictured, bottom. 

At a glance:

* Gross: €85,919,825 (€39,127,15)
* Percentage sold by number, motor cars: 86% (2024, 80%)
* Top-selling car: 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider €16,655,000 gross, €14,800,000 net (est. €14.5m to €16.5m)
* Well sold? Fangio’s toppy trews aside, the 1964 Lamborghini 350 GT that was bought for €623,750 with premium. Aren’t these supposed to be a from a sector currently becalmed? Est. €400k to €500k
* Well bought? We liked the ex-Reutemann/Villeneuve 1978 Ferrari 312 T3 (above) and were surprised it did not race through its €4.5m to €5.5m guide. It finally sold for €4,336,250 all-in, a result likely affected by a ca. €1m+ bill for a new tub and race preparation

Eyebrows were raised when the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 (above) sold for €2,283,125 (ca. $2.67m). Blame first delivery to the US in red, a lifetime spent trading between the US and Europe, no mention of a matching transaxle (not uncommon) and second-rate period photography which, though well intentioned, did not aid its cause.

The slew of low-mileage modern – mainly Ferrari – supercars that opened the event did well, all bar the 2020 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ finding homes. It was not, however, the feeding frenzy that has characterised recent auctions held across the Atlantic.

The big-ticket Ferrari hypercars sold well over estimate, but not sensationally so: a silver 2004 Ferrari Enzo at €6,530,000; a green 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari at €5,067,500. Mercedes-AMG’s late-to-the-party attempt at limited-edition fame and fortune, the 2024 ONE, achieved €2,817,500.

Two F40s were catalogued. The standard ‘non-cat, non-adjust’ road car boasted just two owners and 1,799km. It sold for €4,336,250 ($5.1m), probably a record for a non-US F40 sold at auction in Europe. The other, race-modified example went for €3,183,125.

Much “would it… wouldn’t it?” discussion surrounded the fate of the DB3S. The customer car lacked period competition history, but as a result carried none of the death, crash or swapped engine and chassis baggage that can bedevil these cars. A pre-eminent UK specialist bought it on behalf of a client present in the room, dead on its lower estimate – €3,380,000 with premium, or around $4m. The car had sold for $5.5m in 2014, then the equivalent of €4.1m; the trend in the 1950s racing sports car market summed up in one sale.

Other results of note:

* 1986 Ferrari Testarossa ‘Monospecchio’, €342,500. Healthy result for a non-metallic black car delivered new – appropriately this weekend – to Princess Caroline of Monaco.
* 1991 Ferrari 642, €3,830,000. One of five built and used as a spare car for Alain Prost and Jean Alesi. A nice entry for Corse Clienti events – the “Prost seat insert” might not see much use.

* 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series II, €1,580,000. Lovely car in rare Verde Abete Savid that deservedly sold well and looked superb (above) next to the Cal Spider.

* 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Touring, Not Sold, above. Scruffy French-market (you can tell by rubber bumper-strip) car.
* 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’, Not Sold. Oddly presented with ‘hand-brushed’ race numbers for the 1957 Mille Miglia, an event it never started. Too many merely average Gullwings and Roadsters on offer at present. The shiny Roadster – alloy block, disc brakes – likewise failed on the night. The Kienle fake car scandal casts a long shadow over this market. 
* 1961 Aston Martin DB4 Series IV, €235,625. Ex-Kuwait car, so add extra taxes and fees, but as an LHD example delivered new to Copenhagen, rare and not expensive.

In summary, a terrific result for a European event, proving there is life in the Old World yet. Entries across all categories sold, many very well. A notable absence, however, was pre-war machinery – and it would likely have been punished.

The Prancing Horse, once again, remains the marque of the moment. Piero Ferrari, present in the front row throughout, will have been delighted.

All prices gross, dollar conversion on the day.

RM Sotheby’s at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco, 25 April 2026 – results (2024)

Total gross cars: €85,919,825 (€39,127,15)
Number of cars not sold: 8 (21)
Number of cars withdrawn: 0 (4)
Total number of cars: 57 (104)
Number sold: 49 (83)
Percentage cars sold by number: 86% (80%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 75% (55%)
Number of cars sold below low estimate: 16 (47)
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 33% (57%)
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 61% (77%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 22% (14%)
Average age of cars offered: 1992 (1980)
Average price of cars sold: €1,753,466 (€471,411)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 25% (49%)

The 2026 Monaco auctions, RM Sotheby’s and Bonhams – combined results (2024*)

Total gross cars: €96,156,800 (€74,212,009)
Number of cars not sold: 16 (39)
Number of cars withdrawn: 2 (6)
Total number of cars: 98 (197)
Number sold: 82 (158)
Percentage cars sold by number: 84% (80%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 72% (55%)
Number of cars sold below low estimate: 45 (91)
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 55% (58%)
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 74% (77%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 17% (15%)
Average price of cars sold  €1,172,644 (€469,696)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 26% (58%)

* Includes Artcurial in 2024 

Photos by K500