New World Record Set at RM’s London Auction

Okay, we are in a recession with Europe getting hit just as hard as the US right? After seeing the results of from the Automobiles of London event on October 29th, you gotta wonder.

RM Auctions, in association with Sotheby’s, sold a 1997 McLaren F1 for a record breaking $4,058,120 - more than double its estimate. The high bidder is taking home one of the world’s fastest road cars and McLaren’s former Park Lane showroom model, with less than 300 miles on the odometer - basically a brand new car!

There were several avenues RM Auctions took get excitement brewing over the cars coming up on the block for their London event. One was teaming up with Octane to present the auction catalog online. The other was posting video clips of some of their most exciting cars on YouTube. We watched the 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta more than once and I don’t think we were the only ones as the car sold for over $3.6 million.

Some of the other cars that we enjoyed looking at included the 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante selling for $1,058,640, the 1950 Talbot-Lago Type 26 Grand Sport Coupe selling for $500,000, and the 1954 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spyder America selling just shy of $300,000.

Surprisingly, the RM catalog included entrants from the Andy Saunders Collection “Art Car” collection in the sale. These cars were interesting to look at, but we didn’t feel they conveyed the high quality standards RM is known for, and the hammer price they took in reflected that.

The biggest shocker of the day was when a 1955 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible State Limousine sold for less than $32,000. The car was estimated to sell for at least $140,000 because of its historical past. This Cadillac was first used on July 2nd, 1959 in Brussels, for the wedding of Prince Albert II and The Princess Paola. It was then used for various important functions, such as visits of other heads of state to Belgium such as Queen Elizabeth II and President Eisenhower. It was also used for the King’s wedding to Queen Fabiola in December of 1960 and has been kept in its original condition remaining as it was when it was used by the Belgian Royal family.

You can see all the sales results from RM Auction's Automobiles of London on their website.

Photo © RM Auctions