RM Sotheby's Results - $13.5 Million Sold in New York
RM Sotheby’s closed out their 2023 live auction schedule in New York at the end of Sotheby’s December Luxury Week. A limited and specially curated group of cars were on offer and resulted in $13,610,200 in total sales. Multiple records were set at the sale including a record price for a 25th Anniversary Edition Countach, the most famous of the cars on offer due to its appearance in the film The Wolf of Wall Street.
1989 Lamborghini Countach
The 1989 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Edition was a special model launched to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Lamborghini brand. It was the last and most refined version of the Countach, featuring a 5.2-liter V12 engine that could reach a top speed of 183 mph. The car had a distinctive wedge-shaped body designed by Marcello Gandini and Horacio Pagani, with scissor doors, large air intakes, and a rear wing. Only 657 units were produced, making it a rare and coveted classic.
This particular Countach was featured in The Wolf of Wall Street and is one of the two used to film that movie, although this is the only one to survive production. This 1989 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Edition set a new record when it sold for $1,655,000 in New York, almost doubling the previous record of $880,000.
1953 Fiat 8V Supersonic by Ghia
The top seller at RM Sotheby’s New York auction was the 1953 Fiat 8V Supersonic by Ghia. A phenomenal example of 50s-era Jet Age design applied to an Italian sports car, only 14 examples of the 8V chassis were completed in the Supersonic style by Ghia. It made its debut at the Paris Auto Show in 1953 and in the ensuing years has become a highly desirable classic car. This 8V Supersonic sold for $2,425,000, a new world record for this model.
The one offered by RM Sotheby’s spent its life in the hands of just four owners since new, originally sold to Alessandro Sarti of San Marino. It was finished in blu medio metallizato paint, the same color it’s been restored to today, with terra cotta leather and is believed to be the only Supersonic completed in this color combination. It changed hands twice before being parked for more than 30 years by its third owner.
The consignor acquired the car in 2001 knowing full well the significance of the 8V Supersonic, even if the rest of the automotive world hadn’t quite caught on to it. Another decade passed before Quality Cars of Vigonza, Italy was commissioned to restore the body and interior. Thanks to remnants of the original paint and leather still present on the car, they were able to restore it to its factory color combination, as documented by more than 2,500 photographs of the restoration.
As the bodywork and interior were being sorted, Roberto de Checchi’s Motor Holding was entrusted with the mechanical restoration, including a rebuild of the matching-numbers engine and transmission. This process saw the use of upgraded connecting rods and pistons along with a crankshaft engineered to reduce and practically eliminate vibration from the drivetrain. The engine produced 135 horsepower on a dynamometer, 30 horsepower more than it originally generated as well as increased torque production.
The car remained out of public view even after the restoration was completed in 2014 and was recently treated to a basic service to ensure it remains in near-perfect mechanical condition. The new owner will have their choice of world class concours to show their new car.
1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Coupe by Bertone
Another car from the 1950s that broke new ground on the auction block is the 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Coupe by Bertone. The only coupe built of the seven Bertone-bodied DB4/2s, this Aston Martin is fully documented as a numbers-matching car and took First in Class at the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, after which it was invited to appear at the 2024 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, setting its new owner up for a very fun first year of ownership.
Selling for $1,105,000, the Bertone-bodied Aston Martin set a new world record for that model and more than lived up to expectations.
All told 78% of all lots were sold by RM Sotheby’s in New York, six of which sold for more than $1,000,000. This was a strong close to their 2023 live auction schedule and hint of things to come in January of 2024.