RM Auctions held its Automobiles of Arizona 2011 event on January 20-21 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix, resulting in a record $30.8 million in sales and 96% of lots sold.
“We are thrilled with the results from this week’s Arizona sale. The offering attracted strong interest from collectors around the globe, with numerous lots exceeding expectations,” says Rob Myers, Chairman and Founder, RM Auctions. “It is a great start to the New Year and paints a very positive forecast for the auction season ahead.”
The two-day Automobiles of Arizona sale presented 180 automobiles, with four exceeding the million dollar mark, headlined by the 1949 Ferrari 166MM Barchetta that sold for $1,760,000. The Barchetta, chassis 0024 M, is a matching-numbers Mille Miglia veteran and the 10th of just 25 examples built. A superbly-restored 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing also garnered attention, spurring a bidding war between Europe versus the Middle-East to well-exceed its presale estimate at $1,375,000 – a new auction record for a steel-bodied 300SL Gullwing.
Bidders represented 21 countries from around the world, including as far away as Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Monaco and Australia.
Following the success of last year’s ‘The British Are Coming’, RM’s 2011 Arizona sale kicked off on Thursday, January 20 with ‘The British Are Back’ – a sale dedicated to the best of British marques. Rolls-Royce claimed the top two sales of the night with a 1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Newmarket Sport Sedan, one of just three original Brewster-bodied examples, bringing $440,000, while a 1921 Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost Phaeton, built for the Calcutta Motor Show, realized $379,500. Rounding out the top three sales from the evening, a 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Series IV Vantage exceeded its pre-sale estimate, selling for $352,000.
Friday’s top-sellers list was dominated by a series of Ferraris and the ‘best of the best’ of the Classic Era. The sale featured no less than 11 examples from the Modenese Prancing Horse. Led by the sale-topping 166 MM Barchetta, other highlights included a 1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast, one of just 32 built, for $935,000; a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder, offered from the personal collection of Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, for $880,000; and the ex-Jacques Swaters 1995 Ferrari F50 Show Car, showing less than 1,000 miles, for $742,500.
The American Classics category was headlined by a 1933 Packard Twelve Sport Phaeton by Dietrich which realized $1,760,000, followed by a 1929 Duesenberg Model J Dual Cowl Phaeton driven by Elvis Presley in the film ‘Spinout’ for $1,237,500. The sale’s cover car – a 1931 Marmon Sixteen Coupe, one of only six survivors – also attracted spirited bidding, achieving $687,500 to set a new price level for Marmons.
RM Auctions Automobiles of Arizona 2011 – Additional Sale Highlights:
— 1939 Bugatti Type 57C Three-Position Drophead Coupe for $913,000;
— 1930 Cadillac V-16 Roaster for $577,500;
— 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Biarittz Convertible for $286,000; and
— 1926 Duesenberg Model A Dual Windshield Phaeton for $275,000
Click for RM Auctions Automobiles of Arizona 2011 – Complete Results
RM Auctions continues its 2011 calendar in Florida, March 12 with the return of its annual Amelia Island sale held in conjunction with the famed Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. The international auction house kicks off its European auction calendar, May 21 with a new sale at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on the banks of Lake Como in Italy.
For more information, visit www.rmauctions.com.
[Source: RM Auctions]
