While distracted by my preparations for heading to Florida next week for the Amelia Island Concours events, RM Sotheby’s held their Miami auction ahead of their MODAMiami event taking place this weekend. Sadly, I had to prioritize my travel and I couldn’t attend this year, but fear not: a report on RM Sotheby’s Miami 2025 sale results is the subject of today’s Market Monday.

The battle for auction supremacy during Florida’s Spring car events has begun, starting with RM Sotheby’s Miami 2025 Sale, which is affiliated with the new-ish MODAMiami car show taking place the same weekend. Next week, Broad Arrow Auctions and Gooding & Company will enter the ring by hosting their auctions at the well-established Amelia Island event. Last year’s Miami sale for RM Sotheby’s was pretty successful for an inaugural auction, with $48.3M in total sales from 114 lots and a 78% sell-through rate. Last year’s battle was between four auction houses all on the same weekend, so it will be interesting to see how the staggered sales and absence of Bonhams Cars affects sales for all houses this Spring.

RM Sotheby’s Miami event hosted fewer lots in 2025 at just 90, but consignments included some very significant and valuable vehicles from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection, significantly boosting total sales volume for this year’s event. Data is still coming in as of this writing, but it looks like RM Sotheby’s will see a dollar volume near $70M, a huge upswing. Sell-through rate appears to be a comparable 77%.

Nearly $40M of the total volume was driven by the top 5 sales at RM Sotheby’s sale in Miami. While 3 of the 5 were from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection, the other two were very special blue-chip consignments.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has held this car in its collection since its donation in 1968. Prior to that, it raced competitively at both Le Mans and the 12 hours of Sebring. Famous names who’ve gripped this car’s wheel include Mark Donohue and — for benchmarking at Le Mans — Ken Miles. Typically you’ll need to shell out around $7.5M for one of these famous racers, making this a pretty incredible sale and possibly a new record.

It’s always difficult to value a one-off car, but the house did a pretty good job at their estimation, pricing this car at around $8-12M. Another car that’s lived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum since the 60s, this car has an impressive provenance and winning race history.

Speaking of one-of-ones, here’s another. This purpose-built race car was a personal project of “Father of the Corvette” Zora Arkus-Duntov. Magnesium bodywork, used for lightness in racing, is just one unique attribute of the very special car. Going from drawing board to test track in five months, the Corvette SS is a standout accomplishment in Chevrolet’s history.

Selling for below the auction house’s low estimate but still above the market average, this Ferrari F50 is the 154th F50 built by the factory for the European market. Originally sold in Germany, it found its way to the UK and eventually Canada for its most recent service. Values have been on the way up for the F50, suggesting attention continues to shift to supercars from the 90s and 2000s.

Interestingly, the Ferrari that in many ways set the standard for the modern supercar is worth less than its successor. In general, F40s are valued between $1.5-2M less than a comparable F50 and this car’s higher mileage (for a Ferrari) relative to the F50 above also likely held it back. That said, the hammer price for this car is still around $1M above the average price for an F40. Like the F50, values for the F40 are tracking up, meaning this is likely still a good investment for the high bidder.

I find the “cheap” end of a sale just as interesting to look at as the top. In the list below, you’ll find the bottom 5 sales at RM Sotheby’s Miami, at least in terms of their hammer prices — ranked high to low.

Two cars tied for the best of the rest, but I know which one I’d prefer to have. While the 560SL sold from the Todd Blue LAPIS Collection is a low-miles beautiful example, I’d much rather own something rarer and more special like the Zagato-bodied Fiat Abarth 750.

This car has had only 2 owners since 1961, and would be a blast on any back road or any number of vintage rallies. The Fiat-Abarth sold for just a touch under market price, while the Mercedes went WAY beyond its average price of $31,000, mostly likely due to its low mileage.

I would’ve expected a little more love for this iconic American supercar, especially given its low mileage of just 6,844 miles. Average prices for a Viper GTS hover around $80,000, so this car comes close. Values are currently pretty stable, so I’d call this well bought.

Bidders must have been impressed by this Cadillac’s lovely blue color, because it sold for around $14K more than the average price for a Type 57. The hammer price is even more impressive given the car is a rebody from another car. It is a beautifully restored example, however.

The S2 was the final iteration of the 944, and featured a 208hp 16 valve 3-liter 4-cylinder engine. The Cabriolet version debuted in 1989, and was a very complicated build for the factory, with special construction done off-site before being returned to Porsche for completion. This example boasts very low mileage of just 16,431 and is said to be in good order. 944 Cabs aren’t particularly desirable and tend to trade for around $19,000. This car’s low mileage took it to a hammer price that’s quite high for a 944 drop-top, but less than the low estimate of around $44K.

The 400 microcar is built by the same company responsible for the popular Vespa scooter, Piaggio. This particular car is a 1959 model and finished in fetching colors of silver over red with a red convertible top.The most interesting aspect of this car is probably the custom fabricated replacement parts innovativley used as part of its restoration. Bidders liked this car too, but not enough to push it past its high estimate, though it’s important to note that the low estimate was still above the average price for a 400. 

I think no matter how you slice it, this year’s RM Sotheby’s Miami Sale was a resounding success for the auction house. While there was a smattering of low sales and no-sales, it would appear that performance was generally strong across the 90 lots on offer. British cars continue to suffer (an alloy XK120 sold for just $90,000, though it was a little rough) while 90s cars appear to be performing quite well (a Porsche 968 Cabriolet sold for a whopping $89,000).

In next week’s Market Monday, I’ll report on Amelia Island’s auctions with first-hand accounts of not only the sales, but also the vibe and tone of the gathered bidders. Based on the results from Miami, I am optimistic heading into the auctions taking place later this week. I don’t think we’re going to see a full-on rally, but rather a halt to 2024’s market softening with some sectors seeing gains.

See you for next week’s post, written from my desk in Amelia Island, Florida!

Wolf and Mare provides car finding, appraisals, and auction services for buyers and sellers of collector European cars. If you’re interested in acquiring an overseas car, give us a call or drop a line!