Words: Ed Callow
Over the weekend of 25-27 November, RM Sotheby's sold the 'Duemila Ruote' collection in Milan – the largest ever event of its kind to be staged in Europe. The vast majority of bidders were new to RM – and perhaps to auctions in general - and many seemed to get carried away in bidding frenzies.
All lots were offered at no reserve, and many of the cars had next to no documentation. A 2003 Dodge Viper GTS-R was rare but otherwise unremarkable – and £207k was well over the odds for it.
Fever for old racing cars continued with a well-travelled Porsche 993 GT2 at £530k and an Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo Evoluzione IMSA at £289k.
Another Alfa, a 6C 2500 clothed in a replica 412 Spider Vignale body, found a surprisingly strong £260k, while the Ferrari Daytona at £751k and F40 at £886k were both average cars for big money.
There were some sensible results among the craziness, though; a tidy Fiat Dino Coupé found just shy of £50k, while a respectable 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 was £39k.
The star lots of the weekend were the Maserari MC12, hitting a scarcely believable - and new world record - £2.6m, and the delightful Ferrari 275 GTB/6C Alloy that was sold for just shy of £3m.