The top result at the RM Sotheby’s Essen 2019 sale was €2,255,000 for a 1937 Mercedes Benz 540 K Cabriolet while a Lancia Delta S4 Stradale sold for a sensational €1 million.
A 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A by Sindelfingen was appropriately the top lot at the first RM Sotheby’s classic car auction in Germany when it achieved $2,550,000 at the Essen Techno Classica sale. A further Mercedes Benz, a 1959 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster also just achieved over a million dollar. However, the most sensational top result was $1,176,000 paid for a 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale – a new world record for the model. Youngtimers performed very well.
RM Sotheby’s Essen Techo Classica 2019 Sale
RM Sotheby’s held its first ever classic car auction in Germany on 11 & 12 April 2019 at Messe Essen during the renowned Techno Classica Essen fair.
RM Sotheby’s earned €18.7 million with 86 percent of all 229 lots on offer finding new homes. The two-day sale represented one of the most successful and significant collector car auctions ever held in Germany in terms of both total value and number of cars sold.
Top Results at RM Sotheby’s Essen 2019 Sale
The top ten results at the RM Sotheby’s Essen 2019 classic car auction were:
| 1. Lot 134 | 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A | €2.255.000 |
| 2. Lot 257 | 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale | €1.040.000 |
| 3. Lot 158 | 1959 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster | €893.750 |
| 4. Lot 256 | 1982 Lancia 037 Rally Stradale | €770.000 |
| 5. Lot 268 | 1970 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Berlinetta | €635.000 |
| 6. Lot 255 | 1975 Lancia Stratos HF Stradale | €545.000 |
| 7. Lot 132 | 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 Sc Coupé | €432.500 |
| 8. Lot 149 | 1962 Aston Martin DB4 Series IV | €387.500 |
| 9. Lot 267 | 1970 Ferrari Dino 246 GT | €331.250 |
| 10. Lot 131 | 1930 Avions Voisin C23 Conduite Intérieure | €275.000 |
| 10. Lot 274 | 2005 Ferrari Superamerica | €275.000 |
Top cars failing to sell included a 2013 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, estimate €1.5 million – €1.7 million, and a 2018 Italdesign Zerouno estimate €950,000 – €1.5 million.
Million-Dollar Cars at RM Sotheby’s Essen 2019
Three cars sold for over a million dollar at the RM Sotheby’s Essen 2019 collector car auction: a 1937 Mercedes Benz 540 K Cabriolet A, a 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale and a 1959 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster.
1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A
The top result of the RM Sotheby’s Essen 2019 sale was as expected a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A offered from a Private Swiss Collection that achieved €2.255.000 ($2,550,000) to fall squarely within its pre-sale estimate. Featuring outstandingly handsome coachwork by Sindelfingen, the supercharged 540 K was presented in Essen having underwent a high-quality restoration and retaining its original chassis, engine, gearbox and bodywork.
This Mercedes Benz 540 K, chassis number 154078, was ordered by Mercedes-Benz of London in August 1936, shipped by rail to the United Kingdom in light green paint set off by a pale-yellow top, brown headliner and seats upholstered in the finest pig skin. The chassis was delivered in right-hand drive in the sporty Cabriolet A body style, with integrated trunk and covered spare in the elegantly sloping rear deck. The Sindelfingen plant built 32 of these opulent cars and just 18 are believed to remain today.
A 1959 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster just crossed the million dollar mark when it sold for $1,010,000. This red example recently received over 170 hours of mechanical and cosmetic work by German 300 SL specialists Kienle Automobiltechnik and Walter Pusch. It was offered with its original factory hardtop and a set of matching fitted luggage.
Lancia Rally Cars at RM Sotheby’s Essen 2019
Several top Lancia rally cars were offered at the Essen 2019 sale with several selling well above estimate.
A a 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale, a very original, 2,200 km-example of Lancia’s iconic Group B homologation Special, shattered its pre-sale estimate of €450.000 – €550.000 to achieve a sensational final €1.040.000 ($1,176,000).
The 1982 Lancia 037 Rally Stradale, another exceptionally original car and one of the lowest mileage examples in existence with just 3,500 km from new, sold for €770.000, nearly doubling its high estimate (est. €350/400k).
Both the 037 Rally Stradale and Delta S4 Stradale achieved world-record prices by a significant margin with RM Sotheby’s, over any examples previously sold.
A remarkably well-preserved, Azzurro-painted 1975 Lancia Stratos HF Stradale showing a mere 11,800 km from new also sold for an above high estimate €545.000 (est. €480/520k).
Youngtimers at RM Sotheby’s Essen 2019
Another 85 modern and emerging collectibles from the much-buzzed-about Youngtimer Collection also starred at RM Sotheby’s Essen sale, with results demonstrating additional strong interest in this segment further to what was witnessed in Paris, Amelia Island, and Fort Lauderdale.
A highly desirable 1990 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEC AMG 6.0 ‘Wide-Body’ surpassed its pre-sale estimate to bring a final €149.500. Increasingly popular with collectors, a 1992 Land Rover Range Rover with only 24,000 on the clock, doubled its low estimate bringing €40.250. Continuing the trend witnessed in Amelia Island and Fort Lauderdale, a highly original 1992 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo from the Youngtimer Collection sold for a final €32,200 to eclipse its high estimate.
In the most highly anticipated lot of the Collection, a 1979 Mercedes-Benz 500 TE AMG, saw more than ten bidders raising their paddles for the pre-merger wagon, which eventually exceeded all expectations and made an astonishing €143.750, more than doubling pre-sale estimate of €60/70k and establishing a world record price for the model. Similarly, a 1984 Mercedes-Benz 500 SEC AMG 5.4 ‘Wide-Body’ also ignited a bidding battle, bringing a final €161.000, and far exceeding pre-sale expectations and establishing a new world record.
RM Sotheby’s continues its auction calendar with the offering of The Guyton Collection, 4-5 May in St. Louis, Missouri. This unrepeatable sale features more than 60 Veteran, Brass, and Classic Era automobiles alongside hundreds of pieces of automobilia and collectibles – offered entirely without reserve – from the collection of the late Mr. Fred Guyton, a prominent car collector, renowned architect, and well-known fixture of St. Louis. RM Sotheby’s European calendar continues with the company’s biennial Villa Erba sale on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, the official auction of the revered Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. The exclusive sale will lift the gavel on 40 of the world’s most sought after pre-war, sports, and racing greats.
