RM Sotheby's Paris Auction Sets New Record
On January 28, 2026, beneath the vaulted halls of the Louvre Palace’s Salles du Carrousel, RM Sotheby’s turned its annual Paris sale into a night to remember. The auction brought in an incredible €81 million, making it the highest-grossing European collector car sale in the company’s history and keeping 2026’s momentum rolling in a big way.
Held alongside the buzz of Rétromobile Week, the auction gathered 77 lots that ran the gamut from mid-century icons to cutting-edge hypercars. A 78% sell-through rate underscored how strong the bidding was, with blue-chip classics and modern supercars all drawing serious money.
The Star of the Show: 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider by Scaglietti
The evening’s headline lot was an extraordinary 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider by Scaglietti, which commanded €14,067,500 (about $16.6 million), making it the most valuable automobile sold at the auction and the tenth California Spider to achieve a result in the $15 to $20 million range.
Chassis 1915 GT holds a special place in Ferrari history as the third of only 56 short-wheelbase California Spiders ever built and one of just 39 examples originally configured with the desirable covered headlamps. Delivered new to Paris in October 1960, this exceptional automobile arrived at auction from 30 years of meticulous single-owner care, having passed through only four documented keepers throughout its 65-year existence.
The provenance of this California Spider is impeccable. Its first owner was Pierre Liechti, an industrialist from Alsace, France. The car changed hands through a series of discerning collectors before arriving with its most recent custodian in 1996 – a sophisticated German collector of significant Ferraris, Maseratis, and Alfa Romeos. Under this ownership, the Ferrari underwent a comprehensive two-year restoration by Carrozzeria Campana Onorio in Modena, Italy, at a cost of approximately 40 million Italian lire.
Factory certified by Ferrari Classiche with a Red Book in 2008, the certification was reissued in late 2025 and confirms the presence of matching-numbers engine, rear axle, and original coachwork. The car was offered with extensive documentation, including build sheet copies, history reports from marque experts Marcel Massini and Cyrille Jaquinot, and a detailed 91-page assessment by engineer Klaus Kukuk. An alternative 3.8L engine completed by specialist Piet Roelofs in 2019 and original Borrani wire wheels accompanied the sale.
Ferrari's "Big Six" Flagship: The 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO
The collector car world has witnessed renewed enthusiasm for Ferrari’s legendary hypercars, and the Paris auction reinforced this trend when a stunning 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO hammered at €5,855,000 (about $6.9 million). This result marked the second-highest price ever achieved for a 288 GTO at public auction, trailing only the model record of $8.525 million set just weeks earlier at Mecum Kissimmee 2026.
Chassis 52727 is approximately the 18th of only 272 production examples built, making the 288 GTO the rarest model in Ferrari’s vaunted “Big Six” hypercar portfolio, which includes the F40, F50, Enzo, LaFerrari, and the F80. The car was specified for the European market and distributed through Sa.Mo.Car Spa of Rome before being sold to the principal of a successful manufacturing concern who also happened to be a preferred Ferrari client.
What makes this particular example especially remarkable is its single-owner provenance from new – an almost unheard-of occurrence for 288 GTOs offered at public auction. The odometer displayed just 24,244 kilometers at the time of cataloguing, with documentation indicating only one additional kilometer added in the previous 15 years. In December 2025, the car received its Ferrari Classiche Red Book certification, confirming the presence of matching-numbers engine and gearbox/transaxle.
The 288 GTO remains a touchstone for Ferrari enthusiasts, representing the marque’s transition into the hypercar era. Its race-bred, twin-turbocharged 2.8L V8 engine produces 400 horsepower and 496 Nm of torque, propelling the lightweight GRP and carbon compound bodywork to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds with a top speed of 305 km/h.
Italian Exotica: The 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV
Among the evening’s most visually stunning offerings was a 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV that achieved €3,717,500 (roughly $4.38 million), ranking sixth among the top ten results. The Miura SV represents the ultimate evolution of Lamborghini’s groundbreaking mid-engine supercar, and this particular example is one of just 150 built to SV specification.
Chassis 4840 departed the Sant’Agata factory on June 25, 1971, finished in Rosso Corsa over a striking Bleu leather and cloth interior. Dispatched to Italian dealer Righetti, the car was sold new to its first owner in Germany the following May. Its history traces through a series of documented owners, including a period in the prestigious Dr Oetker collection, where it appeared at the 2012 Essen Techno Classica.
The Miura underwent an interesting chapter when, between 1972 and 1977, it received an aesthetic conversion to resemble the legendary one-off 1970 Miura “Jota”. However, when the car was acquired from the Dr Oetker collection in 2015, its new owner commissioned a comprehensive cosmetic restoration to return it to June 1971 factory specifications. Carrosserie Battaglia-Bolognesi in Ferrara stripped the bodywork to bare metal, removed the Jota elements, installed original retractable headlights, and refinished the car in its original Rosso Corsa.
The Miura was certified by Lamborghini Polo Storico and retains its matching-numbers V12 engine. It benefitted from a major service performed by Mythic Motors in April 2024 and was offered with its Lamborghini leather folio, owner’s manual, tool kit, and original German Fahrzeugbrief documenting the chain of ownership back to 1972.
Modern Classic: The 2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss
The sale also showcased the breadth of collecting interests when a 2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss achieved €3,070,625 (about $3.6 million), securing seventh place among the top lots. This dramatic open-top supercar represents one of only 75 examples built to honor Sir Stirling Moss’s legendary triumph at the 1955 Mille Miglia.
The Stirling Moss variant pays tribute to one of motorsport’s most celebrated victories. Driving the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR famously bearing race number “722,” Moss and navigator Denis Jenkinson dominated the 1955 Mille Miglia road race, finishing with a staggering 32-minute winning margin over teammate and five-time Formula 1 World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
Production was strictly limited to 75 units available exclusively to existing SLR McLaren owners. The variant featured restyled carbon fiber body panels and deleted the windscreen and roof, shedding approximately 200 kilograms while retaining the supercharged 5.4L V8 producing 641 horsepower. Performance remained extraordinary: 0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds and a claimed top speed of 354 km/h.
The example offered was completed on December 16, 2009, in Crystal Laurit Silver Metallic over Black and Anthracite Exclusive leather featuring Silver Arrow Leather 300 SL Red accents. Initially retained by Daimler as a demonstration vehicle, it was acquired by its first private owner in March 2012. The odometer displayed just 1,935 kilometers at cataloguing, and the car benefitted from a major service at Mercedes-Benz Köln in September 2025. Accompanying accessories included two leather driving caps and goggles – evoking the spirit of Moss and Jenkinson – along with tonneau covers, a car cover, and a scale model.
Market Implications
The Paris 2026 results reflect several important trends in the collector car market. The exceptional prices achieved for Ferrari supercars – with the Enzo, F50, and 288 GTO all commanding multi-million-euro sums – continue a pattern observed at earlier January auctions, including RM Sotheby’s Arizona and Mecum Kissimmee. The 288 GTO and F50 results from Paris represent the second-highest auction prices ever for their respective models.
The robust demand for both pre-war and golden-era classics alongside modern hypercars suggests a healthy market with diverse collecting interests. The after-the-block sale of the 1956 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta “Tour de France” – the actual car that won the 1956 Tour de France Auto and established the model’s nickname – for €12 million (around $14.15 million) further underscored appetite for historically significant competition Ferraris.
For collectors and market observers, the Paris sale signals that the appetite for exceptional provenance, matching-numbers authenticity, and documented single-owner histories remains insatiable. Cars that can demonstrate unbroken chains of custody and factory certification continue to command premiums over comparable examples with less distinguished backgrounds.
As RM Sotheby’s builds on its record-setting 2025, during which the company achieved over $1 billion in total global sales, the Paris result positions 2026 as another potentially historic year for the collector car auction market.