Way back in 2000, Rob Myers’ RM Auctions held the first high-quality collector car catalog auction in Arizona during January. It was conducted at the stately Biltmore Resort Hotel in the posh Camel Hills section of Phoenix. Myers’ pioneering efforts have paid off, and though a couple of snags have occurred along the way, notably a temporary relocation in 2021 due to COVID, the show and the sale continue to draw top-shelf collector cars and some of the most elite collectors in the hobby industry.
This year, starting in the early afternoon of Jan. 24, RM Sotheby’s presented a total of 84 vehicles on the auction block at the Biltmore to a capacity crowd of bidders, consignors and spectators. Ferrari, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz were among the star attractions with a number of later model “halo”cars, or Supercars, having also been consigned. The condition of most of these vehicles was impressive. Throughout the afternoon and early evening, bidding was quick and moved at an unbroken pace with 63 of the 84 cars being called sold on the block. In addition to the public sale, another four vehicles were reportedly sold in post-block negotiations for a total of 67 cars finding new owners for an impressive 79.8% sell-through rating. By our numbers, sales before commission totaled $24,093,00. For those cars sold on the block there was a 12% commission to $250,000 and 10% fee thereafter; we calculated a sale total of $26,337,000!
Taking the top spot was the catalog cover car, the 2020 McLaren Speedtail Hybrid coupe called sold with a bid of $1,825,000. Several other RM Sotheby’s cars garnered
