RM Sotheby’s, the world-renowned broker for buying or selling significant motor cars, held their very first online-only auction from May 21-29. The event was called “Driving into Summer” and set a record for the most valuable car sold in a dedicated online-only collector car auction.
A 2003 Ferrari Enzo sold for a whopping $2,640,000 making it the highest priced vehicle sold at an online auction ever! There was a total of 193 collector vehicles and 24 pieces of memorabilia sold to the highest bidders.
In total the auction brought in $16,385,738 in sales from more than 550 bidders from 35 different countries. It was a major success for RM Sotheby’s and just goes to show that the high-end collector car market is going strong. The second highest sale for the event went to a 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO that sold for $2,310,000.
“We are extremely pleased with the results of our first Online Only collector car auction curated specifically for the digital platform,” comments Gord Duff, Global Head of Auctions, RM Sotheby’s. “We saw continued momentum from our Online Only Palm Beach car auction, with considerable pre-sale interest from consignors and bidders, as well as activity throughout the auction with more than 550,000 total page views.”
Mr. Duff continued by saying “We also saw an abundance of bidding throughout the week and during the closing days with an increased average of 19.6 bids per lot, up to a total of 56 bids on a single lot. Stand-out prices resulted across the sale, demonstrating sustained demand from collectors for buying and selling a wide spectrum of quality cars online—including blue-chip collectibles. The sale of both the Ferrari Enzo and 288 GTO mark a significant milestone for what the RM Sotheby’s Online Only platform can achieve, as well as the confidence with which our clients can bid.”
There were many other collector Ferraris auctioned off including a meticulously restored, matching-numbers, one-of-50 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe with exceptional coachwork by Ellena, which brought in $671,000. A 2020 Ferrari 488 Pista Spider with only 90 miles went for $605,000; a 2019 Ferrari 812 Superfast sold for $335,500; and a 2001 Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina, built to U.S specifications, went for $308,000.
There were many other rare supercars auctioned off at the “Driving into Summer” event including 3 Ford GTs. A 2017 GT, a 2006 GT Heritage and a 2005 GT all found new homes. The 2017 pulled in $836,000, the Heritage GT $385,000, and the 2005 GT rounded out the Ford trio at $290,000.
Almost $5 million of the more than $16 million in sales came from only two vehicles. Out of the 193 up for grabs, a total of 115 were actually sold. You can see the results of the auction on the results PDF put out by RM Sotheby’s and you can view all the collector cars and trucks that were on the docket on the “Driving into Summer” results page of their website.