RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2019 auction preview

RM Sotheby’s, along with other auction houses like Gooding & Co or Mecum, has a big event coming up on its calendar in the form of the 2019 Monterey Car Week auctions.

Some of the rarest, most prestigious cars go under the hammer during the glamorous gathering of enthusiasts in the coastal California town of Monterey, a couple of hours south of San Francisco.

Rare McLaren F1 LM in RM Sotheby's Monterey 2019 auction

We’ve had a look at the RM Sotheby’s catalogue for this year and picked out a short, and by no means exhaustive, list of some of the cars that caught our eye. Price estimates have been converted to AUD$.

2006 Ferrari FXX - AUD$4,125,000 to $4,704,000

One of the 30 original Ferrari FXXs is the crown in the group of cars to be offered from ‘The Ming Collection’ at this year’s Monterey auction, all of which are from Maranello.

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Impressively, the FXX is in ‘as new’ condition, with none of its accessories having been unwrapped or opened and has been kept in the private collection – undriven – since being shipped to the US from Maranello after its owner’s initial test drive.

Meet the Ferrari FXX-K Evo

Photos of FXX by Karissa Hosek.

1990 DeTomaso Pantera Si - $398,000 to $470,000

Did you know the De Tomaso Pantera has a younger, much rarer sibling? Only 41 units of the Si were built, with one living in De Tomaso’s collection and two having met their fate as crash test cars.

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RM Sotheby’s says this is the first of the other 38 to go up for a public auction, so it’s probably going to also be the first many people have seen in the metal.

Photos of Pantera by Si Erik Fuller.

1974 BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA - $2,171,000 to $3,184,000

IMSA driver Henry Schmitt – also the owner of a BMW dealership, has offered up a few of his own cars to cross the block. Perhaps the most prestigious of these is his CSL IMSA racer, which is also the car that’s set to fetch the highest dollar amount of the four.

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RM Sotheby’s says this car was driven by Sam Posey, Brian Redman, Hans-Joachim Stuck, and Allan Moffat, and used during the 1975 IMSA season.

Photos of CLS by Courtney Cutchen.

2005 Saleen S7 Twin Turbo - $796,000 to $1,013,000

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One of Steve Saleen’s V8-powered creations is going under the hammer, this S7 being a pristine example and one of only a couple of dozen with two turbochargers in its engine bay.

'Saleen 1' ditches the V8

1996 Vector M12 - $362,00 to $434,000

The 1980s called, it wants its stereotypes back. There’s nothing about the whole Vector brand that doesn’t seem like it belongs in the original RoboCop film.

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From its name, to the design, to the Lamborghini V12 nestled in its body. This one’s number 5 of only 14 M12s built.

M12 photos by David Bush.

1965 Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake by Radford - $1,447,000 to $2,026,000

Saving arguably the best until last, we bring you this factory DB5 shooting brake, one of only 12 built and only four exist in left-hook.

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Since new, it has remained in Switzerland where its first owner lived, and has been under the custody of two others since.