Saturday 26 September, Park Hyatt, Zurich. RM Sotheby's boutique Zurich sale offered 23 cars and grossed CHF16,302,075 in published results [1][2]. Eighteen sold, a 78 per cent sell-through, though only seventeen prices were published: a 2024 Mercedes-AMG One is listed as sold without a figure [2]. A small catalogue with sharp contrasts. A one-of-three Bugatti set a world record, while five cars went home unsold, led by a Pagani Huayra Roadster estimated at CHF2.5m–3m.
The preview was quiet, almost hushed, and gave little sign of what was to come. By the time the sale began the room was packed, helped, reportedly, by events RM Sotheby's had hosted for its invited bidders the day before. What stood out from the floor was the discipline. Bidding was precise and intense; people arrived knowing what they wanted and what it was worth, and the auctioneer's encouragement rarely moved anyone past their number.
The Wimille Veyron: CHF4.5m and a record
Chassis VF9SV25244M795063, the 2014 Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse 'Jean-Pierre Wimille', is one of three built and the first of Bugatti's Les Légendes cars, its two-tone Bleu Wimille finish drawn from the Type 57G Tank in which Wimille won Le Mans [1][3][5]. With 3,766 km and an estimate of CHF2.4m–2.8m [3], it hammered at CHF4m, more than 40 per cent above the top estimate, for CHF4,505,000 including premium, about $5.44m [2][5]. RM Sotheby's describes it as a world auction record for the model [1]. In the room it barely registered: the hammer fell, the next lot came up, and few seemed aware that a record had just been set.
Market check: the F40 and the Miura
The 1991 Ferrari F40, delivered new to Switzerland, Classiche-certified and with its matching-numbers engine and gearbox [1], is the sale's most useful market reading. It hammered at CHF2.95m, below its CHF3.2m–3.5m estimate, for CHF3,323,750 with premium [2][3]. At 38,725 km [3], that is roughly €3.45m: ahead of the €2,931,250 Broad Arrow made at Villa d'Este in May for a 40,000 km car, and level with RM Sotheby's €3,183,125 in Monaco in April [4]. Low-mileage cars trade in a different market: $5,230,000 in Miami in February and $8,365,000 for a 320-mile example at Monterey in August [4]. For the F40, the odometer now sets the price more than the badge.
The ex-René Arnoux 1969 Miura P400 S, chassis 4103, in Rosso Corsa [1][3], hammered at CHF1.6m, inside its CHF1.5m–2m estimate, for CHF1,805,000 [2]. A fortnight later Bonhams' no-reserve Keller Brothers P400S, which needed recommissioning, made €1,725,000 at Zoute [7]. Both sit close to the model's $2.15m benchmark, and a long way below the $4,075,000 Broad Arrow achieved for a restored 1968 car at the Quail in August [6].
Two cars cleared the estimate; the rest met the low figure
The 2023 812 Competizione A, a single-owner car in Blu Elettrico with 1,576 km, hammered at CHF1.64m inside its CHF1.6m–2m estimate, CHF1,850,000 with premium [2][3]. Besides the Veyron, the only car to clear its estimate convincingly was the 2018 488 Spider 70th Anniversary 'Tailor Made' in Livery 30, which hammered at CHF390,000 against CHF280,000–310,000 [2][3]. Elsewhere the room bid to the low estimate and stopped: the 2005 Superamerica and the 1970 365 GTB/4 Daytona hammered exactly at their low figures, CHF850,000 and CHF600,000 [2]. The 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage, restored by Aston Martin Works at a cost of more than £400,000 [3], hammered at CHF920,000 within its CHF800,000–950,000 estimate, CHF1,040,000 with premium [2].
Where the room held back
The Pagani Huayra Roadster, one of 100, single-owner and with 592 km, did not sell against its CHF2.5m–3m estimate, nor did a 2021 Ford GT Carbon Series estimated at CHF585,000–645,000 [2][3]. A 2016 Porsche 911 R estimated at CHF550,000–600,000 also went unsold; two weeks later Broad Arrow sold one at Zoute for a hammer price of about €475,000 [2][8], which suggests the Zurich estimate rather than the model was the obstacle. A 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 Cabriolet and a 2005 Ferrari 575M Maranello completed the unsold list [2].
The no-reserve cars all sold, mostly below estimate: a 2022 Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series hammered at CHF230,000 against CHF300,000–350,000, a 1977 Fiat 131 Abarth Rally Stradale at CHF100,000 against CHF120,000–180,000 and a 1976 Lamborghini Espada Series III at CHF62,000 against CHF100,000–120,000 [2][3]. The 1974 BMW 2002 Turbo was the exception, hammering at CHF82,000 inside its CHF80,000–120,000 estimate [2][3].
Reading Zurich
On hammer prices, only the Veyron and the 488 clearly beat their estimates, while the F40, the Testarossa 'Monospecchio', the 330 GT 2+2 and three of the no-reserve cars hammered below theirs [2]. Seen from the floor, that was not weakness but precision. Zurich's buyers bid to what a car is worth rather than to the current hype, which is why the Superamerica and the Daytona stopped exactly at their low estimates and why the rare and the specific, a one-of-three Bugatti and a Tailor Made Ferrari, were the only cars to run. A fortnight later at Zoute the same logic held: provenance, specification and condition, not catalogue estimates, set the price [7][8]. Broad Arrow's Zurich Auction on 7 November will test whether that discipline is a Zurich trait or a house one; AKC will compare the two.
Prices include buyer's premium unless stated; hammer figures are derived from RM Sotheby's published totals. The Mercedes-AMG One is listed as sold without a published price and is not included in the total. Euro and dollar conversions are approximate. RM Sotheby's next European sale is London on 31 October [4].
