Ferrari 400 Superamerica sells for £2.3 million

The 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Cabriolet Pininfarina SWB - record price

R.M. Auctions inaugural Sporting Classics of Monaco sale made a record €33 million, with a 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica making €2.8 million

The world’s in the depths of the worst recession in a generation (or three). Banks aren’t lending to anyone who needs it – just to those who don’t. The Greeks are up in arms at the prospect of actually paying any tax and the Euro is on the edge of collapse (actually, the Euro was always an accident waiting to happen).

But despite all the financial doom and gloom in the world – or maybe because of it – R.M. Auctions has just sold a Ferrari 400 Superamerica Cabriolet Pininfarina SWB for a record €2.8 million at its Sporting Classics of Monaco auction in – you guessed – Monaco.

But it wasn’t just the Superamerica that sold, it was a whole shed full of desirable classics. €33,235,917 worth of classic cars to be exact, a record amount for a single day auction. The €2.8 million the Ferrari 400 Superamerica fetched – a record for the 400 Superamerica – wasn’t the only high priced sale, with a number of other Ferraris – and other marques – fetching serious money.

There was a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta which went for €2.6 million and a 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Tour de France which fetched €2.35 million. A 1960 Maserati Tipo 61 “Birdcage” went for €2.5 million and a 1938 Delahaye 135 MS Competition Cabriolet by Figoni & Falaschi went for €1.8 million.

Of the 105 cars on offer 88 sold – many well above estimate – to make for a hugely successful inaugural sale in Monaco for RM. And not only was the day’s total an auction record but the auction’s headline car – a 1937 BMW 328 MM ‘Bügelfalte’ – didn’t sell on the day but changed hands through RM by private contract 24 hours later.

If this is what a classic car sale looks like in tough times, Max and the boys at RM in Europe must be dreading the end of the recession.