As part of the Concours of Elegance on the Amelia Island, RM Sotheby’s auction house held traditional buds, the total profit of which amounted to more than 42 million US dollars (including more than 95% of the lots sold). There were 99 cars of 42 brands presented at the auction, the average age of which was over 56 years. The largest representation was by Porsche — 12 cars, 9 lots were represented by Ferrari, 8 and 6 cars from the auctioned ones were produced by Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac respectively.
Top sales were led by a pre-war Duesenberg Model J ‘Disappearing Top’ Torpedo coupe-convertible Murphy. A 1929 model with a polished and brushed aluminum body without coating, which has survived in a single copy, was sold for $5.725 million from a starting price of $4 million.
Ferrari cars were ranked second to fifth in the top-selling list. The second most expensive was a 1995 Ferrari F50. Ferrari’s 50th anniversary car and the world’s only supercar with a hardtop and manual transmission was sold for $3,772,500. At the same time, the oldest Ferrari of the trio, a 1968 Ferrari 275 GTB/4, found a new buyer for $2,810 million. In turn, one of 121 1971 Ferrari 275 GTS/4 Daytona Spiders that traveled less than 13.5 miles went under the hammer for $2.452 million. A Ferrari F40 of 1992, which closed the top five at the auction, failed to rise above 2.04 million US dollars.
Among the cars produced after 2000, a 2012 Lexus LFA is worth noting. One of the eleven cars produced in steel gray and less than 500 miles on the odometer was sold for 700 thousand US dollars.
Gord Duff, RM Sotheby’s Global Head of Auctions:
«For reasons that clearly don’t require explanation, the past twelve months have been a turbulent period for the collector car market, but during that time RM Sotheby’s has demonstrated that both our online and live sales have maintained very good energy, engagement and solid results. What our Amelia Island sale has demonstrated, is that the market really is remarkably strong, with exceptional cars achieving great prices. Perhaps the most striking aspect of this sale is the sell-through rate, which at 95 percent demonstrates that cars coming to market with attractive pre-sale estimates, will always find a new home.»