This year’s Amelia Island auctions numbered three, as RM Sotheby’s took its sale to Miami. The four auctions together grossed over $186M. Gooding & Company had the highest gross and the top individual sale, a single-family-owned 1903 Mercedes-Simplex selling for $12.1 million. Next-highest were three super-rare Ferraris in the $4M neighborhood, with a 1930 Duesenberg close behind. Some interesting “pairs” or rare cars turned up across the auctions, too.
Could you imagine referring to a modern high-end luxury grand tourer as “Queen Mother” today? It happened to Ferrari 55 years ago with its 365 GT 2+2. After testing the model in 1969, Road & Track magazine called the car “The Queen Mother of Ferraris.” Ferrari buffs embraced the nickname for this car and use it to this day. RM Sotheby’s is offering one of the 800 built at its Miami auction March 1-2, with a pre-sale estimate of $225K-$275K.
Mercedes-Benz, through its Mercedes-AMG performance division, has launched a new AMG GT coupe, after discontinuing the successful original 2015-2023 model. The king of the hill in that original run was the AMG GT Black Series, a track machine with few peers. For those who put down a deposit for the hyper-limited $2.7 million AMG Project One hypercar, Mercedes also offered the opportunity to buy an AMG GT Black Series Project One Edition for nearly $400,000. Just 25 were believed sold in the U.S., and RM Sotheby’s Miami sale in March is offering one, with a pre-sale estimate of $550K-$700K.
