RM Sotheby’s Milan Sale Sets Record

RM Sotheby’s staged its Duemila Ruote sale last weekend in Milan, Italy, coinciding with the classic and sports car show the Milano AutoClassica, and was rewarded with the largest automotive-themed collection sale ever held in Europe. During approximately 30 hours of bidding, 817 lots of motor cars, motorcycles, bicycles, boats and automobilia — all from a single private collection, reportedly a government seizure — were sold before a packed house at the Fiera Milano, with sales totaling €51,263,270 million (US$54.85 million).

“It feels like we achieved the impossible here in Milan this week,” commented RM Sotheby’s Car Specialist Augustin Sabatié-Garat. “The logistical challenges involved with putting on this sale are mind-boggling, but we have risen to the challenge and achieved results that nobody could have anticipated. The auction venue alongside the Milano AutoClassica was busier than we have ever seen in a sale room.”

The collection’s 423 cars, many of which were appearing on the open market for the first time in decades, offered a range of ownership opportunities, driving countless bidding contests over the course of the three-day auction. Top sale honors went to a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C Alloy (above, Simone Caldirola photo courtesy of RM Sotheby’s), the first of just seven long-nose, six-carburetor, alloy body, torque tube 275 GTBs that generated an impressive winning bid of €3,416,000 (US$3,192 million). The top 10 sellers, with prices in Euros, are listed below: