RM opens its account in Monaco with ca. €14.4m+ auction

Jody Scheckter’s 1979 Championship-winning Ferrari 312T4 and other single-seater gems from his collection come up at RM later today. Last night’s sale, day one of a two-day event for the Canadians in Monaco, was all about the European-specification ‘Daytona’ Spider selling for €3,436,250. Working on provisional figures, we forecast a gross for the 51 cars offered yesterday in excess of €14.4m.

It was not always easy going for auctioneer Sholto Gilbertson. The room was busy but not full and there were odd runs of two or three lots in a row failing to sell. Non-sellers on the night were mostly sometimes flawed recent competition machinery, and also the 1953 Siata 208S Spider, a model from an increasingly less fashionable era.

At a glance (on the night):

* Gross, motor cars: €14,409,350
* Percentage sold by number: 78%
* Top-selling car: 1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider €3,436,250 gross, €3,050,000 net (est. €2.8m to €3m)
* Well sold? The dusty LHD Middle East Aston Martins placed outside the Grimaldi Forum attracted much attention. One, the 1960 DB4 Series II (€150k to €200k) sold for €297,500 and, according to saleroom rumours, like others could well be the basis for a DB4 GT Zagato replica
* Well bought? After years of being shopped around the yellow 1981 Porsche 917 K-81 (above) found a new owner at last at €2,648,750. It’s a historically significant car built by Kremer, one of the great Porsche teams, and could prove a wise buy in years to come,  an event-eligible 917 finally purchased at the right price.

The ’Daytona’ Spider was tucked away in a corner looking a little sorry for itself with non-standard wide wheels, modern German numberplates, incorrect colours, a low-riding stance and bizarre pained (and lacquered-in) Ferrari shields. Its Ferrari Classiche certificate is dated 2010. Once bids reached €2.8m the car was on sale and the hammer dropped at €3,050,000. That is €3,436,250 gross or roughly $3.75m. The two North American-spec cars sold in Florida in March went for $3.6m and $3.3m.

Other results of note (all prices gross):

* 1981 BMW M1, €342,500. A repaint from Blue, change from a kilometre odometer to one measuring miles and a spell in Singapore had their effect on the price of this M1. And not a good one.
* 1959 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I Drophead Coupé Adaptation 'Prototype', €97,750. A mad thing to buy and restore but it and its rusty ilk fresh off the boat from Kuwait had charm.
* 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Passo Corto Super Sport Cabriolet, Not Sold. The definition of ‘unfashionable’.
* 1967 Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada Alloy, €736,250. Solid price for a model swimming in shark-infested waters.
* 1976 Porsche 934, Not Sold. Unless these have unimpeachable well-known and colourful period liveries – Vaillant, Jägermeister, Gelo, Brumos – and ‘no (bad) stories’, increasingly difficult to sell.
* 2020 McLaren Senna GTR 'LM 25' by Lanzante, €1,450,625. Gilbertson sounded as surprised as the saleroom when this went on sale at €1.275m, some way off its €1.4m lower estimate.

Next stop tonight is the Scheckter Collection crossing the block. RM already has an informal sweepstake on what the Monaco-winning 312T4 will sell for and we forecast a figure nearer €8m+ than its €5.25m to €6.5m estimate.

RM Sotheby’s at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, 10 May 2024 – provisional results

Total gross cars: €14,409,350
Number of cars not sold: 11
Number of cars withdrawn: 3
Total number of cars: 51
Number sold: 40
Percentage cars sold by number: 78%
Percentage by value average low/high estimate:
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 43%
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 70%
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 18%
Average age of cars offered: 1979
Average price of cars sold: €360,234
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 45%

Photos by K500