Europe’s Largest Car Collection Raises $55 Million [52 Images]

To say that RM Sotheby’s Duemila Ruote auction was big would be like saying that Donald Trump’s election was a bit of a surprise. In other words, a huge understatement.

“Record-breaking” is how the auction house describes it, and with good reason. It was the largest private collection ever sold in Europe, and raked in a massive €51.26 million (nearly $55m) in sales spread across 817 lots sold through 30 hours across three days.

The highlight of the 423 cars sold was an 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C – alloy-bodied with a long nose, six carbs, and a torque tube – which sold for over €3.416 million. Close behind was a low-mileage 2014 Maserati MC12 that went for a record-breaking €3.024 million.

That Lancia Ferrari LC2 we gushed over? €851,200. And that wasn’t even in the top five, which were made up of a Ferrari Daytona (€873,600), Porsche 959 (€1,008,000), Ferrari F40 (€1,030,400), and the aforementioned Maserati and Ferrari 275.

Many other lots far exceeded their pre-sale estimates by a wide margin, including a Bugatti EB110, a manual Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, and a pair of Lancia Delta HF Integrales.

And that’s before even taking into account the hundreds of motorcycles, bicycles, boats, and pieces of automobilia. What’s even more impressive is that RM Sotheby’s put the whole thing together in just ten weeks, from the time the collection was consigned to the final gavel.