Collector car auctions and online sales surged 10 percent to generate $4.8 billion in 2025, according to a recent CNBC article citing classic car insurance company Hagerty. And apparently, over $1 billion of that impressive yield came from RM Sotheby’s events.
The premier classic car auctioneers announced that it exceeded the 10-figure threshold across 1,024 lots for the first time since it began selling automobiles under consignment as RM Auctions in 1992.
Of the many multi-million-dollar cars that came across an RM Sotheby’s auction block in 2025, a one-of-four 1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen took the single-highest hammer price—an eye-watering $53,112,190, making it the second-most expensive car ever sold at auction behind only the $143 million Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe prototype.
An early Formula One racer, this W 196 R Stromlinienwagen (German for streamlined car) features gaze-commanding curved bodywork. This exact chassis was driven to victory by five-time Drivers’ Champion Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1955 Buenos Aires Grand Prix and achieved the fastest lap at the helm of Sir Stirling Moss at the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.
Coming in second with a $36,072,245 final bid is what RM Sotheby’s billed as the “most important” of the 32 Ferrari 250 LM racecars manufactured—and for good reason. This example not only won the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, but did so with a private team, making it history’s only non-factory-supported Ferrari to win the famed endurance race. Additionally, it’s the only Prancing Horse built in Enzo Ferrari’s lifetime to compete in six 24-hour endurance races—three times at Le Mans and three times at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
The preeminent Italian automaker was also responsible for RM Sotheby’s third-highest-selling automobile of 2025. A Ferrari Daytona SP3 “Tailor Made” became the most expensive new car sold at auction when it fetched $26 million. As the “599+1” serial number indicates, this adds one more example to the sold-out 599-car production run.
What’s more, the halo hypercar is the only Ferrari in history to feature the brand’s logotype on the beautiful two-tone livery, fashioned by Ferrari’s exclusive Tailor Made personalization division. All proceeds from the vehicle’s sale benefitted the Ferrari Foundation, which is dedicated to providing “meaningful financial support to nonprofit organizations and research initiatives that are actively improving the quality of life for individuals living with paralysis.”
With 2025 in the books, we’ll have to see if RM Sotheby’s can break $1 billion again in 2026.
