RM Sotheby’s ModaMiami sale 2025 proved to be an enticing precursor to Miami’s classic car season. Not only did all the lots from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum find new homes, with several above-estimate results, but there were strong results and records broken among the other cars.
The results at the sale, held at the Biltmore Hotel Coral Gables (Miami) on February 27 and 28, provided interesting reading. The sell-through rate was strong, with only 16 cars still up for grabs at the time of writing – although there doesn’t appear to be a broad theme to the reasons why these cars failed to hit their reserve, even if it’s notable that six of them were set at $1 million-plus. Overall, the auction was a positive one going into the rest of the Miami sales week, given the amount of cars offered for sale during this time.
A total of 90 lots were up for grabs, and the leading lot was, unsurprisingly, the now-ex Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum 1966 Ford GT40 MkII taken to second place at Sebring in 1966 by Walt Hansgen and Mark Donohue, and later entered into Le Mans that year. You can read more of that car’s history here; against a pre-sale estimate of $8m-11m, it reached $13.205m.
There were other notable above-estimate results among the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum cars, such as the 1957 Chevrolet SS Project XP-64 pictured above. The first purpose-built racing car from General Motors, it was the pet project of Zora Arkus-Duntov and was raced at the 1957 Sebring 12 Hours by John Fitch and Piero Taruffi. Against an estimate of $5m-$7m, it sold for $7.705m.
Elsewhere, the 1965 Spirit of America Sonic 1 sold for $1.325m against an estimate of $500k-$1m, a 1911 Mercedes 22/40 HP ‘Colonial’ Double Phaeton went for $268,800 against a $150k-$250k estimate, and a 1911 Laurin & Klement Type S2 Sportswagen sold for $1,279,200 against a $100k-$150k estimate.
There were also well estimated results for the ex-Michael Schumacher/Martin Brundle 1991 Benetton B191 F1 car, which went for $775k against an estimate of $600k-$1m, the 1908 Mercedes 17.3-Litre 150HP ‘Brooklands’ Semmering Rennwagen, which sold for $8.255m against a $7m-$9m estimate, and a 1930 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix, which sold for $1.38m against a $1m-$1.8m estimate. The 1907 Itala 120HP disappointed, however, selling for only $1.325m against a $2m-$3m estimate.
Away from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum lots, the big news was another record-breaking result for a Ferrari F50. This particular 1996 car, the 154th out of 349 built, sold for a record $5,532,500 against a $5.5m-$6.5m estimate. Other Ferraris of the post-1970 era had mixed results; a US-spec 1991 Ferrari F40 went for $3.58m against a $3.25m-$3.75m estimate, but a 1992 512 TR sold for $268,800 against a $275k-$325k estimate, and a 1983 Ferrari 512 BBi went for $302k against a $300k-$350k estimate.
More modern Ferraris appeared to struggle. A rare-spec blue 2004 360 Challenge Stradale sold after the auction for an undisclosed fee, while a 2003 Enzo is marked as currently available with price on request.
In the Porsche and Porsche-adjacent world, there were strong within-estimate results for much of the Todd Blue LAPIS Collection cars, with the above 2019 991 GT2 RS causing some consternation online with its $940k result, although this was comfortable within the $800k-$1.2m estimate. However, it not only had the Weissach pack but also came with minimal mileage and a unique specification.
There were a few disappointments, though, A 1988 Porsche 959 SC fettled by Canepa fell just shy of its $3m-$3.5m estimate, and a one-of-29 1988 959 Sport didn’t sell against a somewhat lofty $5.5m-$6.5m estimate. The optimism here was clear, because the last Sport offered that actually sold went for €1.96m in 2017. Even allowing for inflation, that estimate was quite a jump – especially as the 1988 Sport offered by Gooding & Co at Pebble Beach in 2019 failed to sell at $2m-$2.4m.
This year’s Florida car season is dominated by the modern-classic cars that aren’t from the supercar/hypercar class. While RM Sotheby’s didn’t have any pre-merger AMGs, there were indicators that the broader movement towards 1980s and ’90s cars was having an effect on other marques. For example, the above Lotus Esprit V8 sold for $151,200 against a $75k-$125k estimate, while a 1991 DeTomaso Pantera 90/Si – a car not originally sold in the US – went for more than double its low estimate ($150k-$200k) to find a new owner for $313k. However, the opportunity to pick up one of the rarest Porsches ever made – the one-of-13 968 Turbo S – went begging at $550k-$750k estimate.
Other than the aforementioned Itala, one of the biggest disappointments was the above 2015 McLaren P1 GTR, which sold for $1.435m against a $1.6m-$1.8m estimate. Elsewhere, a 1908 Pierce-Arrow Model 36-UU went for $145,600 against a $200k-$300k estimate, while a 1948 Veritas RS estimated at $400k-$500k sold for just $168k.
Other notable no-sales at RM Sotheby’s ModaMiami 2025 sale included the above 1966 Ferrari 330 GTS (chassis no. 9369), which failed to find a new owner against a $1.6m-$1.8m estimate, and a 1970 Maserati Ghibli Spyder 4.7 ($600k-$700k estimate), while a 1961 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Coupé Aerodinamico also failed to find a new home with a $2.8m-$3.2m estimate. The 1931 Duesenberg Model J ‘Disappearing Top’ Convertible Coupe by Murphy didn’t sell against a $4m-$4.5m estimate; rather tellingly, it’s now listed as up for grabs for $3.85m.
Further details
For more information on RM Sotheby’s ModaMiami sale, head here.
