Rare 1995 Ferrari F50 smashes records in Miami

RM Sotheby’s ends 2022 on a high with a blistering Florida sale

There’s seemingly no stopping Ferrari F50 prices, with yet another record smashed at the final RM Sotheby’s sale of 2022, when a 625-mile early production car sold for $5,395,000. Although the Singapore-delivered car had been estimated at a punchy $5.5-6.5m, the result still represents another milestone for this sought-after model.

The Miami sale, RM’s first at Herzog & de Meuron’s famed ultra-modern 1111 Lincoln Road, focused on the more recent end of the market but worked well, with a 98% sell-through rate and $40,261,160 raised by 55 lots. Other Ferrari results were largely below pre-sale estimates, but generally sold for marketcorrect money (see Top 10 Prices, right).

Perhaps the most fitting car for the location was a full Miami Vice-spec widebody 1987 Mercedes-Benz 560SEC AMG 6.0. This achieved an incredible final price of $720,000 against an estimate of $225-275k. The third Porsche 959SC ‘Reimagined by Canepa’ (the first to come to market) sold for $2,920,000.

Although pretty much everything was bought, one notable exception was the 1994 Bugatti EB110 GT, which failed to find enough interest at $1.6-1.9m. Bonhams also announced relatively healthy £6.5m and 77% results for its end-of-season sale at the flagship Bonhams saleroom in London. Top seller was the 1969 Lamborghini Miura P400 S (below) at £1,067,800, offered alongside a 1981 Lamborghini Countach LP400 S from the same estate for £460,000. Further proving the healthy appetite for Lamborghini V12s was a 2001 Diablo VT 6.0 SE. This run-out special finished above estimate at £276,000.

At the more affordable end of the market, Classic Car Auctions’ December sale saw a good spread of results and an 80% sale rate. ‘Humble’ classics attracted plenty of bids, with a 1985 Ford Fiesta Mk2 Popular Plus making £8775, and an early 2CV raising £8325. Not often seen at auction, a restored 1983 Vauxhall Astra GTE Mk1 set a benchmark at £25,650. Rounding out its second year of auctions, Manor Park Classics recorded a 63% sale rate, with one of the star cars – a 1969 Ferrari 365GT 2+2 – selling for £190,000 in a post-sale deal. While a few bargains slipped through, affordable and quirky classics remain very much in demand.