RM Sotheby's is a collector car auction company headquartered in
Blenheim, Ontario
Blenheim is a community in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada.
History
The Chatham-Kent region was settled as a British colony following Alexander McKee's acquisition of land under Treaty #2 ( McKee's Purchase) in 1790. Treaty #2 negotiations t ...
, Canada, with offices across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. The company specializes in the sale of classic, vintage, sports, and exotic cars, and is responsible for the sale of seven of the top ten most expensive cars ever sold at auction.
History
Company
RM Sotheby’s, formerly RM Auctions, began as RM Auto Restoration in 1976, founded by Rob Myers as a small restoration shop with a focus on pre-war classics in
Chatham, Ontario. In 1991, RM Auctions was formed, later hosting its first auction in Toronto, Ontario, in 1992. RM went on to host its first
Monterey
Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census.
The city was fou ...
auction in 1997—which remains its biggest yearly event—its first
Amelia Island
Amelia Island is a part of the Sea Islands chain that stretches along the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida; it is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, and the northernmost of the barrier islands on Florida's Atlant ...
auction in 1999, and its first Arizona auction in 2000, all of which became annual events.
In 2006, RM Auctions took its first international step, establishing operations in London, England; its new-formed European division later hosted its first sale in 2007 at the Ferrari factory in
Maranello
Maranello ( Modenese: ) is a city of Italy in the province of Modena, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, 18 km from Modena, with a population of 17,504 as of 2017. It is known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the Formula One racing team, ...
, Italy. Later in the same year, RM Auctions hosted its second European sale in London in association with
Sotheby’s
Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintain ...
—the London sale would go on to become an annual event. In 2023, RM Sotheby’s expanded its global reach further with an official launch of its presence in
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
.
Notable sales
In 2022, RM Sotheby’s set the record for highest-grossing collector car auction ever with their Monterey sale grossing $239,258,340. During their Monterey sale, RM Sotheby’s sold the world’s most expensive new
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...
: a 2022
Porsche 911 Carrera known as “Sally” for 3.6 million USD. Created by Porsche in collaboration with
Pixar
Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
, “Sally” is based on the
character of the same name: a 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera from the 2006 movie ''
Cars
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...
''.
In 2022, RM Sotheby’s set a world record for the world’s most expensive
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
car sold at auction at Sotheby’s Luxury Week in
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
with the sale of Michael Schumacher’s 2003 Ferrari F2003-GA for CHF14,630,000.
Description
Today, founder Rob Myers remains the Chief Executive Officer.
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Canadian auction houses
Retail companies established in 1991
Conservation and restoration of vehicles