RM Sotheby's enjoyed a fantastic night at its fifth annual Paris sale, 7 February, bringing in a sale total of €23,745,225 with 83 percent of the 84 lots successfully sold. Demonstrating continued interest in low-production modern-era hypercars, the 2017 Bugatti Chiron was the night's top seller, achieving an incredible €3,323,750, while a 2005 Maserati MC12, one of just 50 ever built, took second billing at a final €2,001,875. Proving that blue-chip post-war classics also remain very much in demand, the beautiful and remarkably original 1958 BMW 507 Roadster Series II rounded out the top three, realizing €1,776,875.
Only 500 Bugatti Chirons are slated for production and worldwide delivery, so its position as a prized collector car will undoubtedly forever be cemented. Launched at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016, the Chiron is capable of an electronically limited top speed of 420 km/h, thrust by no less than 1,500 bhp. The car sold by RM Sotheby's in Paris had less than 1,000 km on the clock and was presented in beautiful Atlantic Blue over French Racing Blue and a brown leather interior. A lucky new owner took this ultimate hypercar home at a final €3,323,750, a world-record price for a Chiron offered at public auction.
An earlier supercar from the famed French marque, a 1993 Bugatti EB110 SS Prototype, attracted numerous bidders in Paris, selling for a final €1,152,500 to set a new record for the model at auction. Ultra-rare, sporting unique factory modifications and a mere 3,300 km from new, the SS is unquestionably one of the most significant of the 36 examples produced.
Supercars aside, the market for post-war blue-chip classics remains vibrant. Highlights from this segment were led by the 1958 BMW 507 Roadster Series II; highly original throughout and having had just two German owners from new, including single ownership for more than four decades. The Roadster made a very strong €1,776,875 to round out the top three places.
