RM Sotheby’s Just Had Its Best Year Yet, With Over $1 Billion in Sales
It looks like RM Sotheby’s will retain pole position in the collector car market.
The auction house just had its best year yet, achieving over $1 billion in total sales in 2025. Throughout 44 live, online, and Sealed auctions, as well as private sales, 1,024 automotive lots were offered to collectors worldwide. The events attracted bidders from 82 countries and buyers from 54 countries, with 46 percent of bidders and 47 percent of buyers participating for the first time. The 15 live auctions notched a 92 percent sell-through rate, underscoring the caliber and coveted nature of the rides on the block.
Some 135 cars sold for more than $1 million each at RM Sotheby’s in 2025, with 75 auction records set across marques and models. The top 10 auction performers collectively realized roughly $225 million, with each car fetching an astonishing eight-figure sum.
In first place is the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen—or Streamliner—that hammered down for just over $53 million at a special one-car sale at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, in February, becoming the second most expensive car ever sold at auction. The open-top racer (pictured top) was famously driven by the legendary Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio, with the latter taking it to victory in the 1955 Buenos Aires Grand Prix.
The 1964 Ferrari 250 LM by Scaglietti that sold for over $36 million.
Ferrari/RM Sotheby’s
In second place is the Le Mans-winning 1964 Ferrari 250 LM by Scaglietti sold for over $36 million at an event in Paris in February. One of only 32 examples built, the 250 LM competed in six 24-hour races, securing victory in 1965 with Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt at the wheel. In third position is the final Ferrari Daytona SP3, the one-off “Tailor Made,” which sold for $26 million in August, in fourth the 1994 McLaren F1 that fetched $25.3 million in December, and in fifth the Gordon Murray Special Vehicles S1 LM supercar that hammered for $20 million in November.
Rounding out the top 10 is Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2001 ($18.1 million), a 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II ($13.2 million), the upcoming 2026 McLaren F1 racer ($11.5 million), a 1993 Ferrari F40 LM by Michelotto ($11 million), and a one-of-a-kind Pagani Zonda ($10.1 million).
Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2001 Race Car that sold for $18.1 million.
Pawel Litwinski/RM Sotheby’s
“2025 marked the strongest year in RM Sotheby’s history,” Gord Duff, president of RM Sotheby’s, said in a statement. “We had a strong start in Arizona, delivered a great sale in Paris, handled one of the most special cars ever to cross our podium, the Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Streamliner, and then headed to ModaMiami with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum Collection, setting the tone for a truly global run of success.”
Let’s see if RM Sotheby’s can best itself in 2026.
