RM Sotheby's sets several records at Monterey auction

RM/Sotheby's pebble beach auction (photo: Matt Bubbers/Autofocus)

Canadian auction house RM Sotheby's moved $67 million in cars across the block this past week at an event during Monterey Car week in Monterey, California, breaking several auction records in the process, including the record for biggest single-day auction of a private collection. (see photos)

The sale of 25 exotic cars from a collection billed the 'Pinnacle Portfolio' fell short of its $80 million estimate, but did eclipse the previous single-day private collection record of $66 million, set by Bonhams last year.

Highlights of the RM Sotheby's Monterey sale include a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM – one of 32 made – that sold for $17.6 million, a record for the model; an LM-spec 1998 McLaren F1 that hammered at $13.8 million, making it the most expensive British car sold publicly; and the last Ferrari Enzo ever built, a 2005 model originally gifted to Pope John Paul II, which fetched a record-for-the-model $6.1 million at the auction.

The collection included eight other Ferraris, as well as examples of essentially all of the most desirable supercars from the late '70s to today. All but three of the 25 cars found buyers, though RM Sotheby's was still working out post-event deals on the cars that did not meet their reserve.

The auction in Monterey, part of an annual classic car event centered around the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, kicked off a weekend-long sale for southern Ontario-based RM Sotheby's. Auction houses Gooding & Co. and Bonhams also hosted public sales during the event.