LONDON.- RM Sotheby’s London sale achieved total sales £36,550,950, making it the highest grossing UK collector car sale of all time. Held at London’s prestigious Peninsula Hotel in partnership with The Royal Automobile Club and the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, a remarkable selection of car and memorabilia lots were sold in a packed auction room, with 87.5% of all lots offered successfully sold. The top ten sellers all achieved prices in excess of £1,000,000. The incredible 2022 Daytona SP3 proved to be the top seller, achieving an excellent £8,161,259.
The SP3 is unquestionably one the most desirable Ferraris ever created, and the car sold was a designated development car was retained by Ferrari SpA to fulfil an important role as the company’s factory press car, featuring in many important media reviews and an episode BBC’s Top Gear.
The 2023 Aston Martin Valkyrie Coupé is one of only 150 coupé examples of Aston Martin’s ultimate road-legal hypercar and boasts single ownership from new. With
just 300 kilometres from new and an incredible bespoke specification, it was the night’s second biggest seller, bringing an auction record £2,761,250. Rounding off the top three sellers in London was the 1988 Ferrari F40, a desirable early production F40 fitted with lightweight Lexan sliding windows and retaining its matching-numbers twin-turbocharged V-8 engine and five-speed transaxle. Modified to resemble an F40 LM prior to current ownership, the car presents a prime candidate to be fully restored back to factory road specification, it achieved an excellent £2,591,500.
Other notable sales include the 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB Alloy with Coachwork by Scaglietti, one of approximately 80 long-nose, two-cam 275 GTBs factory-fitted with lightweight aluminium coachwork, which brought £2,041,250. The 2017 Ferrari F12tdf, one of 799 examples built, achieved £1,928,750, while the 1965 Ferrari 275 GTS by Pininfarina, the 61st of 200 examples built, brought an auction record-setting £1,186,250.
Many eyes were on the 1991 Honda NSX, which had been retained in period by three-time Formula 1 Drivers' World Champion Ayrton Senna for his personal use. Sometimes referred to as the famous ‘hosepipe’ car, it also featured in the Ayrton Senna: Racing Is In My Blood documentary and was driven by Senna to the 1991 Portuguese Grand Prix. This remarkable piece if Senna history sold for a remarkable £871,250, establishing a world record for a Honda NSX.
Top 10 sales
1. 2022 Ferrari Daytona SP3 £8,161,250
2. 2023 Aston Martin Valkyrie Coupé £2,761,250
3. 1988 Ferrari F40 £2,592,500
4. 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB Alloy £2,041,250
5. 2017 Ferrari F12tdf £1,928,750
6. 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta £1,861,250
7. 1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8 £1,242,500
8. 1963 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster £1,045,625
9. 1965 Ferrari 275 GTS £1,186,250
10. 1964 Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta Lusso £1,028,750
