Auction house RM Sotheby’s traditionally held the first auction of the year in Arizona. 200 lots were put up for sale, 95% of which found new buyers.
The total sales value reached US$43.3 million. Sales were led by the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Alloy Gullwing, which went under the hammer for 6,825,000. The high cost in this case is due to the rare model, the surviving 3 liter engine and ownership for more than 30 years by the president of the Gullwing Group and MBCA Hyatt Cheek.
In second place was Derham’s 1931 Duesenberg Model J Tourster, which sold for $3,415,000 million. One of the eight cars produced at the Auburn plant has twice in its history won the best in class at one of the most prestigious competitions of elegance in the retro world, held on Pebble Beach.
Closed the top three is another Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, but in the back of a roadster, released in 1964, which found a new owner for 2,315,000 US dollars. After a two-year restoration in 2017, the car has driven less than 16 km, and the total mileage was 81 km.
Fourth and fifth at the Arizona auction were two Ferraris — the Ferrari 330 GTS by Pininfarina (1967) and the Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider by Scaglietti (1971), sold for $1,957,500 and $1,875,000 USA.
Gord Duff, Global Head of Auctions at RM Sotheby’s, said: «The Arizona auction was an outstanding success thanks to our amazing team and a client base which is the finest in the industry. Our specialists consigned a great offering with high-quality examples. The whole team worked tirelessly to maintain the quality RM Sotheby’s is known for. When you bring some of the best and rarest examples of collector cars to market, you know that those cars will find willing new owners prepared to pay strong prices to secure exceptional examples. Our 95% sell-through in Arizona is a testament to that. The Alloy Gullwing was a once in a generation opportunity, as was the Cizeta-Moroder, which saw us break new ground with its associated NFT».