Second day at the Duemille Ruote RM auction in Milano

Well today as at least as interesting as yesterday for sure...

The room certainly came alive with the 2.7 million (plus comission) achieved by the 2004 Maserati MC12. Immediately followed by the Ferrari 275 GTB/6C whic was hammered down at 3.050.000€

Here are the results for the Maseratis: (hammer prices, not including 12 percent comission nor 22 percent VAT on that comission):

1975 Khamsin, l blue, slight rear damage, honest car, matching (see below): 100.000€
(the 61.191 USD figure posted before is incorrect)
1971 Ghibli SS, silver, "driver" quality, paint defects, matching, 270.000€
1964 Sebring II 3500, white, for restoration, 80.000€, unable to see if matching
1975 Merak SS, blue, beautiful car, 65000€
1968 Mistral 4L, cracked gold paint, matching, bad chrome, 140.000€
2004 MC12, as new, 2.700.000€
1973 Merak 'group 4", blue, 92.000€

2 Maserati 6 cylinder engines 32000€
5 Maserati V8's (2x Mexico 4.2, Mexico 4.7, Indy 4.2, Bora 4.7) 34000€

The result for the Khamsin was disappointing (except for this one guy in the room that is): it was not helped by the fact that the auctioneer explained that the chassis number stamping was "not original..." Thanks to our friend and expert Marc we Khamsin owners know that this is car 032, and yes sir that made it matching numbers.

So a bargain it was. The fact that it was "damaged' (a 250€ dent) during transport probably cost it 30.000€+ with the bidders who had no clue that the car was originally oro kelso, and bring ing it back to this superb color for a Khamsin would mean this damage is irrelevant I would have bought it if I did not already own 078.

The 2.7 million Maserati MC12 had without doubt the worst day of its entire 12 year life yesterday with hundreds of idiots climbing in and taking selfies with a a big grin or urging their kids to climb in and manipulate all the switches. Only today did RM Sotheby's think of fencing off the valuable cars for the herds of tourists. A little late since the one owner superb Ferrari Dino (320.000€ today) had already lost its gearknob, a Ferrari 330 its chrome ashtray, and numerous other knobs/gearknobs that I noticed missing today as compared to yesterday...

For the rest the hype was even stronger than yesterday, with strong psychological support advised for some bidders inevitably sobering up after the weekend. (44.000€ sucesful internet bid for the orange Alfa Romeo Montreal... really? An airplane ticket to Milano to see the car -or what was left of it - would have been advisable maybe)

Plain motorcycles (BMW GS80, Honda XR, ...), from the 90ies are al of a sudden worth many thousands. Damn - should have kept those, I had dozens!

A very tired Lambo Jarama went for 120.000 (when were those 12000? 3-4 years ago?). A Countach anniversary (the ugly one) went for 390.000€. Everything with racing or rally pedigree went for strong money. 300.00 for a tired and rusty Lancia Aurelia with the steering wheel on the wrong side. 62.000e for an Alfa Romeo Giulietta sprint normale needing restoration. When did these jump from 30 to 60k? Must have missed that...

And I am going to check my garden shed upon coming home in case my grandfather could have lift his rusty incomplete bycicle there, I know now it is worth many thousands!


Tom, Belgium from Milano fiera


Finally I know what to do, going to leave my classic cars outside in the woods for the winter, burn all the paperwork and records, get rid of some parts, let the air out of one tire,... just to make some easy money.