Even more than usual, Monterey was bursting at the seams with top-tier auction vehicles this year. This was more true at the Portola Hotel and Spa than anywhere. Over the course of three days, RM Sotheby’s sold 173 automobiles, highlighted by coachbuilt prewar cars from the Masterworks of Design Collection as well as historic race cars (particularly Ferraris) from the Oscar Davis collection. Average price was a staggering $1.3M, with total sales soaring past $200M.
Cars that would have been the undisputed stars at almost any other auction were also-rans at this auction, and nine of the top 10 sales of the record-breaking week were achieved at the RM Sotheby’s sale. The most excitement we saw all week, though, was for the Pixar/Porsche collaboration on the “Sally Special” 911 GTS. Styled after Sally Carrera from the movie Cars, the car fetched $3.6M for charity.
Bringing so many top-shelf cars to a single blowout auction (ten Mercedes 500/540Ks, anyone?) in a climate of global economic uncertainty, not to mention people wondering out loud how sustainable this super-heated collector car market can be, was a bold move. But however much of a risk it was it paid off, as the wealthy demand certainly met the rich supply here and elsewhere.
We outline the most interesting and significant sales from RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2022 on the pages below. Keep an eye on this space, as we’ll be adding more auction reports from this and all the other Monterey auctions over the next couple of weeks.