Missed Shift: RM Sotheby’s Shift Online: North America
Sean Rooks | June 9, 2025

The summer solstice is still a couple of weeks away, but I consider the official start of summer to be the first 90 degree day in Virginia. Under that definition, summer arrives this Thursday. In my May 30th Good Find Friday, I featured a summer-friendly drop-top Range Rover up for sale at RM Sotheby’s Shift Online: North America Auction. In today’s Market Monday, I’m covering the results from this auction as well as my prediction for the 4×4 Land Rover ‘vert.
RM Sotheby’s Shift Online: North America
Just one of several traditional live auction houses to embrace online sales, RM Sotheby’s has held a number of regional collector car online auctions. From May 28-June 4, RM Sotheby’s Shift Online: North America auction featured cars from my home continent. The 43 consignments included a mix of predominantly European marques, but also featured some special domestic muscle.
Of the 43 total lots, just 4 were offered at no reserve, meaning most of the cars had a minimum threshold to meet in order to sell. Based on immediate post-auction results, there were 24 no-sales and 19 successful sales. The sell-through-rate for the event was a remarkably low 44%.
Standout Sales
As of today’s writing, only one lot managed to best its high estimate. The following cars represent buys that were able to do more than just squeak by the reserve.

The estimate felt a bit low on this 6-speed Ferrari 550 Maranello. A number of other examples with more mileage have bested this car’s performance leading up to this sale. I consider this well-bought.

I admittedly know nothing about American muscle cars, but I do recognize the value in a low-miles, unrestored survivor. Claimed to have just 9,765 miles and matching numbers, this hemi-powered bruiser in a pretty killer Ivy Green Metallic finish sold for its high estimate.

This 3-liter Porsche 911SC was said to have traveled a scant 13,228 miles over the last 40 years. Additional bonus points are awarded to this one for being a factory “slick-top” non-sunroof car. Given the prices for G-bodies of late, this feels like a remarkable bargain for a near-new 80’s 911.

High miles for a Ferrari is delivery mileage for most cars (I’m exaggerating). 30,619 miles on any other 30-year old car would be astounding, but for this Ferrari 512 TR the mileage was likely a factor in its estimate and final bid price. Typically, these cars average at $260K and up.

I featured this wild conversion in the Good Find Friday before last, and in that post I suggested this car would either result in a no-sale or sell for near its low estimate. While I admittedly hedged in my prediction, I was right.
Disappointing Results
Almost half of the cars on offer failed to sell, and I was surprised to see the following lots fail to inspire bidding for some reason.

Though it’s always represented a particular bargain in the world of V12-powered 60’s Italian GT cars, I was surprised to see this car barely hit $100,000 in bidding. My guess? One man’s “patina” is another man’s “just worn out.”

The average value of this iconic Ferrari is around $268,000 making the bidding on this car disappointingly low. Its being the highest-mileage 512 BBi offered in the last 6 months or so probably has something to do with it. As an online-only sale, perhaps parking it in what appears to be the local truck stop may not have helped either.

The estimate for this car was pretty reasonable given the average prices for Lagonda has seen a boost from the pandemic era that hasn’t, at least until now, seen much decline. Low mileage and an attractive aubergine color should have resulted in spirited bidding for even this polarizing car, but it didn’t materialize.

The GTC/4 is a bit unloved in the world of vintage Ferraris, being usually overshadowed by the Daytona. Even still, this is a rather low high bid for a supposedly all-original car with 30 years of ownership. Maybe the Ferrari guys don’t love originality like the Porsche guys.

I know as much about Ford Mustangs as I do about modern pop music, but I do know that custom and resto-mod cars have been performing rather well this year, so a high bid of just $55K for this car was rather surprising. I think this is probably just a case of consigning with the wrong auction house and venue. This car would likely have pulled much bigger money at Mecum or Barrett-Jackson.
Final Thoughts
RM Sotheby’s Shift Online: Europe and Middle East sale had a rather low 54% sell-through rate, which bests the North America auction by 10%. The number of listings for that sale was almost double, and it took place back in late April.
It’s a possibility that challenging macroeconomic conditions had an impact here. Whether this uncertainty will persist for upcoming summer auctions remains to be seen. Financial optimism from US-China trade negotiations could boost late Q2 results, but civil unrest in Southern California, the car capital in the USA and surely the home of many bidders, may dampen enthusiasm a bit. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Now is still a good time to sell, as there’s plenty of summer driving ahead.
Wolf and Mare provides appraisal services for sellers and buyers of collector European cars. If you’re interested in acquiring a professional appraisal, give us a call or drop a line!
The opinions shared above do not represent financial or investment advice.