This 1929 Duesenberg Model J Sport Sedan with coachwork by the Walter M. Murphy Co. made $792,000 at Hersey in Pennsylvania in 2012. Photo Credit Darin Schnabel Courtesy of RM Auctions.
Sotheby’s has taken a 25% stake in RM Auctions, the world’s foremost collector car auctioneer. It will be known as RM Sotheby’s. The investment comes as the more than $2 billion market for the finest automobiles continues to grow. The two companies have collaborated on a number of successful sales in both the United States and Europe.
The first RM Sotheby’s sale will take place in Amelia Island, Florida on March 14, and sales in Fort Worth, Texas, Lake Como, Italy, Monterey, California, London and New York among others scheduled this year.
“Sotheby’s is thrilled to join the clear market leader in this field,” commented Bill Ruprecht, Sotheby’s President, Chairman, and CEO. “RM has established a formidable position that will only be strengthened by this new phase in our relationship. Just last year, RM set a new benchmark for a collector car auction with their flagship Monterey sale totaling more than $140 million”. Rob Myers, chairman and founder of RM Auctions said: “The partnership that has been formed between RM Auctions and Sotheby’s is undoubtedly the most effective way for us to reach the ever-growing worldwide audience of collectors who take a keen interest in the collector car asset class”.