2017 - Top five sales
4 January, 2018
1956 Aston Martin DBR1 - $22,550,000 (£17.50M)
RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, USA – 18 August, 2017
RM Sotheby’s 1956 Aston Martin DBR1 achieved the highest auction price in 2017, making $22,550,000 at Monterey in August. Estimated to sell for more than $20,000,000, strong demand from two telephone bidders on the day saw the Aston also set a new record for the most valuable British car at auction.
Chassis DBR1/1 is the first of five legendary DBR1s produced and its period competition career included three Le Mans 24 hour races, plus an epic win for Stirling Moss and Jack Fairman at the 1959 Nürburgring 1000km – during which Moss broke the lap record no less than 16 times.
[ Aston Martin DBR1 results here ]
1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider - $17,990,000 (£13.43M)
RM Sotheby’s, New York, USA – 6 December, 2017
RM snatched the second spot with its final sale of the year on 6 December, where a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione beat its $14,000,000 – 17,000,000 estimate, changing hands for $17,990,000.
1451GT’s history included a fine 3rd in class and 5th overall at the 1959 Le Mans 24 hours race, while its most recent restoration by renowned Ferrari specialists Motion Products Inc. resulted in a platinum award at the 2011 Cavallino Classic.
[ Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider results here ]
1995 McLaren F1 - $15,620,000 (£12.12M)
Bonhams, Monterey, USA - 18 August, 2017
A one-owner 1995 McLaren F1 set a new record for the model, fetching an impressive $15,620,000 at Bonhams’ Monterey sale in August, eclipsing the $13,750,000 RM achieved for an F1 at the same event in 2015.
Chassis ‘044 has covered just 9,600 miles from new and is the thirty-seventh of the 64 road cars produced – being the first F1 to be imported to the US.
1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C - $14,520,000 (£11.27M)
Gooding and Company, Monterey, USA - 19 August, 2017
This year’s Monterey sales also provided Gooding and Company with the fourth and fifth highest auction results; its 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C realising $14,520,000 (estimate $12,000,000 – 16,000,000), while the ex-Jo Siffert 1970 Porsche 917K became the most valuable Porsche ever to sell at auction when it changed hands for $14,080,000 (estimate $13,000,000 – 16,000,000).
The Ferrari is one of just twelve 275 GTB/Cs produced and enjoyed at successful competition career between 1966 and 1970, after which it was retired from racing and resided in a number of notable collections in the UK and US.
[ Ferrari 275 GTB/C results here ]
1970 Porsche 917K - $14,080,000 (£10.93M)
Gooding and Company, Monterey, USA - 18 August, 2017
Gooding’s 917 began its life as a test and development car, with Brian Redman setting the fastest time at the 1970 Le Mans tests. Jo Siffert subsequently purchased the car, returning it to the track for use in the film Le Mans. Upon Siffert’s death the car passed to a French collector where it remained hidden in a barn outside Paris until 2001. Chassis ‘024 was sold in 2002, after which the new owner embarked on a well-documented and painstaking restoration.