“Stop the auction, I want my cars back”

Masters of the Collecting Universe might be disappointed, but bargain-hunters probably won’t. Simon asks what there is to interest K500 subscribers at RM’s highly unusual Milan sale in November:

"Italian businessman Luigi Compiano put up a combative defence in the press, but nearly 40 million euros of clients’ cash missing from the vaults of his armoured transport and security business proved hard to explain. The courts prevailed, and now his entire 400-car collection – you can guess how they were paid for – stands ready for a final reckoning under the auctioneer’s hammer.

"RM Sotheby’s got the call, and the organisers of Milan’s AutoClassica fair have created a special Winter Edition to host the ‘maxi auction’, as the Italian newspapers are dubbing it. It’s hard to imagine how else the tribunal of Treviso, prosecuting the case, could have shifted quite so much metal. There’s even an auction of 2,000 seized adult movies, although RM presumably didn’t pitch for that. Mr Compiano obviously liked Living Big.

"So what’s there to interest K500 insiders? Masters of the Collecting Universe might be disappointed, but bargain-hunters probably won’t. Headline lot is a plain-looking red Ferrari 275 GTB, but at a humbler level you’ll be spoilt for choice: a track-only Lancia LC2, five Maserati Ghibli coupés, a scattering of 1990s-2000s Ferraris and Porsches (although none of the ultra-exotic models), various modern Lamborghinis, Mercedes and Bentleys. The hoard doesn’t suggest Mr Compiano was a fastidious connoisseur who hand-picked every car, but trade and quick-flip buyers are likely to have a field day.

"Will it affect the market? We believe not. The unique circumstances of this sale, the sheer quantity of cars being offered, all without reserve (and many without documents), in largely unknown condition, in a foreign country and far from most major collectors, means that even if prices are low as we expect, they are unlikely to be taken seriously by others as representative (opportunistic buyers excepted).

"RM is really the only firm that can pull off a job this size, and the team will no doubt do it efficiently. We’ll be there for the ride."

You can CLICK HERE for a lotlist of the motor cars.

Photo by RM Sotheby's