RM Sotheby’s London 2025 auction saw a total sales gross of £23,703,910 at its one-day event at The Peninsula London hotel on November 1.
The auction covered the entire spectrum, from motoring’s very earliest days to present times – the sale was held at around the same time as the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2025, and featured a great number of early cars. Interest in these was scattered, with no one clear theme. Widened to pre-war models in general, the mood was a bit chilly – most obviously demonstrated by the result for the below 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B Spider in the style of Carrozzeria Alfa Romeo and Zagato.
The omens were good: not only did the car have a detailed ownership history and single-family stewardship since the 1980s, but the previous lot at RM Sotheby’s London 2025 – a 1932 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Series V Spider by Touring – sold for a mid-estimate £972,500. However, when it came to the 8C, the bidding stopped at £2,817,500. While this was enough to make the 1937 Alfa the second-highest-selling car at the auction, it was a long way short of the £3.5m-£5.5m estimate.
Top billing at RM Sotheby’s London 2025 went to the above 2015 Ferrari FXX-K Evo. One of 60 built, it had covered less than 6000km across two owners. It achieved £4.73m against a £3.7m-£5.2m estimate.
Elsewhere, a 2015 McLaren P1 GTR achieved £1.31m against a £950k-£1.15m estimate, while a 2024 Aston Martin Valkyrie achieved £2,226,875 against a £2.25m-£2.75m estimate. There were no sales for 2023 Ferrari 812 Competizione Aperta estimated at £1.3m-£1.5m and a 2021 Ferrari SF90 Stradale estimated at £270k-£300k.
Other than the aforementioned McLaren P1 GTR, one of the stand-out results from RM Sotheby’s London 2025 was the above 1954 Maserati A6GCS. Chassis number 2065 was one of two cars ordered new in 1953 by Garage Mirabeau of Paris, Maserati’s French importer. Delivered in early 1954 to racing driver Armand Roboly, and finished in French Blue, it debuted at the Marrakech Grand Prix, finishing third. Roboly and his business partner Jean Simone campaigned their respective A6GCSs extensively across France that season.
The Maserati was later sold to André Loens, a competitive privateer who raced it throughout Europe in 1955-56, including the Goodwood Easter Meeting and the Tourist Trophy at Dundrod, where he and co-driver Jo Bonnier won their class. Loens continued to race the car into 1957 before trading it back to Maserati for a newer 200S. He was tragically killed later that year at Montlhéry while leading a race in his new car.
Chassis 2065 is believed to have remained at the Maserati factory following Loens’ trade-in. Rediscovered and restored in Italy during the 1990s, it was shown publicly in 2001 and subsequently raced in Historic events. More recently, the car underwent detailed mechanical restoration and forensic examination confirming its originality. Against an estimate of £1.25m-£1.45m, it sold for £1,748,750.
Elsewhere at RM Sotheby’s London 2025, other above-estimate highlights included a 1979 Porsche RUF 3.4 CR (est £120k-£150k) that sold for £172,500, a 1924 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Silver Ghost Tourer (est £80k-£100k) that sold for £115k and a 1949 Bentley 3/8 Litre Competition Special by Racing Green Engineering that sold for £230k against an estimate of £160k-£200k.
Of the 13 cars that failed to sell at RM Sotheby’s London 2025, four were in the £1m-plus realm: the aforementioned Ferrari 812 Competizione Aperta, and also a 1959 Aston Martin DB4 GT (est £1.85m-£2.15m), a 1991 Ferrari F40 (est £2.4m-£2.8m) and the above 1996 Porsche 993 GT. We’ve previously discussed the lustre starting to diminish from these homologation-special 911s. While arguably the ultimate air-cooled turbo 911 from Porsche, cars are staying at dealers for longer and auction interest has started to slow; perhaps they’re just too hardcore for mainstream tastes? Estimated at £1.1m-£1.3m, the 993 GT is currently available for £1.15m.
For the most part, the more mainstream cars at RM Sotheby’s London 2025 were sensibly guided and landed within their estimates. The above 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 sold for £1,298,750 against a £1.2m-£1.4m estimate, while a 1980 BMW M1 sold for £398,750 against an estimate of £350k-£450k and a 1969 Ferrari 365 GTC sold for £443,750 against an estimate of £400k-£450k.
One of the most storied cars prior to the RM Sotheby’s London 2025 sale was the above 1985 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16. Bought new by Ayrton Senna, and driven home from the Mercedes-Benz factory alongside fellow Brazilian Formula 1 driver Maurício Gugelmin, it remained with Ayrton for two years (more details on the car can be found here). Against an estimate of £220k-£250k, it sold for £230k.
Further details
For more details on RM Sotheby’s London 2025 sale, head here.
