RM Sotheby’s Paris 2023 Review

Retromobile is slowly becoming one of the greatest classic car shows in Europe, with millions of pounds worth of supercars, hypercars, racing cars and classics attending the Paris Expo Centre. As the show has grown, three auction houses have entered the picture being Artcurial, Bonhams and RM Sotheby’s and with that has come hundreds of millions of car sales. RM Sotheby’s, in my opinion, has the best auction line up of the three auction houses and as the auction is complete, a review of the auction and some of the stand out lots. 

2022 Bugatti Chiron Profilee

Is this Bugatti Chiron Profilee worth the exuberant price or is it not unique enough? – Photo Credit @RMSothebys

The first standout lot is definitely the 2022 Bugatti Chiron Profilee given its bizarre start to life and origin story. The Profilee began life as a Bugatti Chiron model that would have reached full production as a mid point car between the standard Chiron and the Chiron Sport, however by the time the Profilee would have been ready for production, all 500 slots for the Chiron as well as all the special editions and limited run cars had been allocated and sold and therefore, without expanding the 500 car limit, the Profilee had no place in the Chiron legacy. This therefore was offered by Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S to RM Sotheby’s to be sold as an absolute one-off and the final new Bugatti car to be offered for sale with the legendary 8.0 W16 engine. This is because from now on, due to the merger with Rimac finalised in 2021, Bugatti-Rimac as it is to be known will produce electric and hybrid hypercars. The shape of the Profilee is different to the standard Chiron as it was meant to be produced as an aerodynamic model and removed the electronically adaptable wing, in place fitting a fixed wing sculpted in a wind tunnel. This is also the fastest accelerating of all the Chiron models despite it being a one-off as the engine was modified to rev to 6900 rpm rather than the standard 6700 rpm which means it can achieve 60mph in 2.3 seconds and 186mph in a truly mindblowing 12.4 seconds, a near incomprehensible figure. The colour was also specifically designed for the Profilee, finished in a paint shade called ‘Argent Atlantique’ and acts as a tribute to the legendary Type 57 Atalante. This is over Bleu Royal Carbon details. Considering this is a one-off car, the estimate for this car was higher than any other Chiron model at £5,000,000. However, watching live, I could not have expected the bidding war I was ready to see. It quickly exceeded the modern Bugatti record at auction being the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ which sold with Sotheby’s in 2022 for £4.2m, and then reached territories unknown for modern Bugattis. The final sale price, including taxes, was £8,731,825 making it by far the most expensive modern Bugatti ever sold at auction and rivalling Type 57Cs and Type 55 Roadsters which is unheard of. Without a doubt this was the star of the auction but it was not the only high seller of this auction. 

1991 Ferrari 643 F1

Though not a Prost, Mansell or Schumacher car, a Ferrari is a Ferrari – Photo Credit @RMSothebys

Formula One cars have had a rocky reputation crossing the auction block in the past, with only the very legendary cars reaching the prices that people believe that they deserved. With this in mind, the next car was one of the few examples of the perfect Formula One car. The early 1990s was an era of Formula One that provided many changes to the sport as well as providing some of the most iconic and best looking cars. Usually when people think of the early 1990s in Formula One, they usually think of the Williams driven by Nigel Mansell or the McLaren of Senna but Ferrari is not often spoken about as they were in a transitional phase but still provided some beautiful looking cars. The example given here is the 1991 Ferrari 643 which was campaigned by Jean Alesi and Gianni Morbidelli, chassis 127 being the sale car which raced at the Australian, British and French GP where it finished 4th at Magny-Cours. Powered by the 3.5 litre, naturally aspirated V12, the 643 produces 700hp and also produces one of the best sounds to ever echo around a Formula One circuit, with high pitched screams and vicious downshifts. The season was one to forget for the Tifosi, with Alain Prost’s firing in the middle of season and replacement by the young Morbidelli, the passion for the car was exemplified by the hard charging manner that Alesi piloted the car. Despite this it was a McLaren and Williams dominated season with Bennetton taking the only other win at Canada and so the 643 is remembered purely for the V12 sound rather than the race results. In terms of previous F1 cars at auction, the car most similar to this would have been the 1991 Jordan 191 which is famously known as Michael Schumacher’s first F1 car and therefore the price was £1.4m. A more comparable car however is the 1990 Ferrari 640, the predecessor to the legendary 641 and later the 643 offered here. This was sold at the 2022 Monaco RM Sotheby’s auction for £3,605,000 but this was a Mansell driven car and was driven to a victory for Ferrari. Despite all this though and the fact that more successful cars had sold for these high prices, this 643 sold for £3,661,250 which is one of the more expensive F1 cars ever sold at auction. 

2020 McLaren Senna LM

A worthy tribute to an already legendary car – Photo Credit @RMSothebys

The next car that took my eye was a car I don’t believe has ever crossed the auction block before this weekend. The McLaren Senna was an exceptionally special car when it first launched in 2018, with incredible aerodynamic styling and mind-blowing performance, as well as having one of the most meaningful names of any car. After the Senna was released, it came to 2020, the 25th anniversary of McLaren’s legendary 1995 win at Le Mans with the F1 GTR, and plenty of special edition cars had come before such as the McLaren 720S LM and the P1 LM, and therefore it was time to reveal to the world the 2020 McLaren Senna LM. Built to very limited numbers with only 20 being built and to an exceptional level of detail such as having the same wheel rim design as the F1 GTR racing cars as well as having gold leaf weaved into the exhaust tips as a tribute to the golden engine bay on the F1s. The car also shares some components with the track only Senna GTR making it the half way mark between the standard road car and the racing variant, much like where the McLaren F1 LM sat. Colour wise it is true to history as well, as seven of the Senna LMs, including this example, is finished in Papaya Orange, the same colour as the F1 LMs (excluding the Sultan of Brunei’s collection). Not only is this possibly the first Senna LM to cross an auction block, but it is one of the lowest mileage cars of all the cars Sotheby’s was selling with only 43km on the odometer at the time of sale. This could be why it sold for £1,602,500, but whoever the lucky buyer is, is driving home in a piece of Le Mans memorabilia a bit more special than most. 

2005 Ferrari Superamerica

The best Ferrari to own at this time for market profits – Photo Credit @RMSothebys

The final car I have decided to highlight in this sale is without a doubt one of the fastest climbers in value I think I have ever seen in a luxury car auction. This car is a 2005 Ferrari 575M Superamerica and is a car not many people are familiar with. Before the Ferrari F12 and even the 612 Scaglietti, the main GT cars that Ferrari made were the 456 and the 550 Maranello. They were both popular sellers but at the time there was a lack of roofless/convertible Ferraris for customers and so they began with the 550 Barchetta which was a roofless 550 GT car with only 448 examples produced. Soon the 550 model was replaced by the 575 and so there were expectations of a 575 Barchetta, however it instead took the name Superamerica as a nod to the 400 and 410 Superamerica’s of the 1960s. With only 559 built, this example was one of only 43 fitted with a manual gearbox as well as the rare GTC package which cost £20,500 from new as a handling package. This specific car is finished in the beautiful colour of Argento Nurburgring with Bordeaux red leather interior. The Superamerica used the same 6.0 front mounted V12 as the standard hardtop 575M with 533hp and for a while it was marketed as the world’s fastest convertible car with a top speed of 199mph. The manual gearbox certainly has an impact on the sale price of 575 Superamerica’s as in the last three months, two automatic cars have been sold for £189,000 and £224,000 respectively. This manual example though sold in Paris for way above its estimate at £736,000, making it one of the most profitable Ferraris to own in the current market. 

The RM Sotheby’s Paris sale took place on February 1 2023 and has ended with sales which have truly affected the future sales prices of many important collector cars. Other special cars to feature in the auction would include both a McLaren P1 and Speedtail, a pre-series Ferrari F12tdf, a Nero Ferrari Enzo, a Ferrari 275 GTB/4 and a trio of Iso Grifos. To view a full collection of the sale results, follow the link here to RM Sotheby’s results page. 

Opinion – Are supercars getting uglier?

Despite many countries signing deeds to stop the sale of all petrol and diesel cars as of 2030, this has not slowed down the production of some truly incredible supercars, spaceships in the modern age of performance and speed. But has this focus on speed taken some of the shine away from supercars and the luxury and beauty that the term ‘supercar’ truly stands for?

An opinion of the true meaning of the supercar cannot be tackled without returning to the very origin of the supercar, which is a contentious issue among petrolheads and automotive journalists alike. A lot of people suggest that the Lamborghini Miura was the first proper supercar as it focused on its performance over the luxury and comfort elements, however we weren’t blessed with the original Miura until 1967, by which point, Ferrari were already an established sports car brand with such legends as the 250 series and the jaw-dropping 275 GTB. Often the Mercedes-Benz 300SL throws its hat into the ring, though like the 275 GTB and early Aston Martins such as the DB4, these were more GT cars than actual supercars. A few interpretations of the meaning of a supercar includes that it has to be faster than the status quo, have sleek and often eye-catching looks and price wise has to be in a league of its own. The only early car to possess all of these qualities would be the Lamborghini Miura, which is why it holds the crown of the Genesis of the supercar. The term itself was fairly loosely defined up until the early 2000s where it seemed every high performance car was a supercar, and the trio of factors was slightly forgotten. This trifecta of automotive factors still does remain in play today which can cause some problems with the modern supercar.

The Lamborghini Miura SV showing it had all the drama and flair to be the world’s first supercar.

So with the origin of the supercar debunked and dissected, the three key details of the supercar can now be applied to modern supercars, but this leads to a slight problem, in that if these factors are applied, half of the cars defined as supercars will be unfitting to the criteria. Using an example from this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, comes the Eadon Green Zeclat, a completely bespoke supercar styled to look like the aero cars of the 1930s, and therefore has cues of Bugatti, Bentley and Figoni & Falaschi in the unique design. Applying the triage of defining supercar factors, is it fast? Well, powered by a 6.2 V8 and a 0-60mph time of 3.6 seconds, it certainly seems that way, despite only having a top speed of 155mph, the same as many modern BMW, Audi and Mercedes super saloons. The next factor of the supercar, is it expensive? You could say that, as they plan to make 25 per year with a base price of £520,000, but more recently Eadon Green have said they only plan to make 5 Zeclats and they will be priced at £1,000,000 each. Then comes the final piece of the puzzle, its looks. If it is seen to be beautiful and eye catching, that fits it to the definition of supercar, but I’m not so sure it does. To me, it is very unique and interesting in its own right but against what is typically seen as beautiful it does not fit. This is but one example of a trend of many over-expensive supercars and even hypercars that, to the eye of the beholder, does not have the beauty to stomach the price.

The Eadon Green’s chassis base is the Rolls-Royce Wraith as seen in the headlamp, but powered by a Chevrolet Corvette V8.

This article is not to say that every modern supercar is either ugly or not seen to be a supercar within the grounds of the Miura SV being a supercar, as there are plenty of modern supercars which do not follow the rules and still are works of art. To speak more positively about supercars, some new cars from the country of the original supercar, are true works of art. Rival cars of the Maserati MC20 and Ferrari 296 GTB are two prime examples of modern supercars which are simply stunning in every way. Beginning with the MC20, it is Maserati’s first go at the supercar since their last rivalry with Ferrari with the V12 MC12 (which fought the Ferrari Enzo) and it shows Maserati haven’t lost their touch with creating supercars. Powered by the new Nettuno V6, built entirely in-house by Maserati producing 630bhp and taking its top speed north of the fabled 200mph bracket. The styling of this car is utterly incredible with an understated visual impact but with a seductive edge when observed closer. It remains one of the most successfully reviewed supercars of the last 5 years and at a snip of £190,000 base price, worth every penny of its value. Two years later, Ferrari fought back and unveiled their first V6 powered road car, the 296 GTB. Similarly to the MC20, this is a truly beautiful car, taking styling cues from the 1963 Ferrari 250 LM, and without a doubt Ferrari’s best looking road car possibly since the LaFerrari. Powered by a 3.0 V6, the 296 produces an insane 819bhp as it incorporates an electric motor onto the V6 much like the unit on the V8 of the SF90 Stradale. These are the initial steps Ferrari are taking to ease out their internal combustion engines and if this means creating cars like the 296 GTB, I for one am all for their moves because the 296 is truly a spectacular drivers car as well as being a stunner to look at. Both of these cars are case and point examples that modern supercars do not need to look sharp with angles and canards to look incredible, sometimes a simple design can work. However some cars, which have controversial and extreme visual impact, do look brilliant and others, less so.

The Maserati MC20 sitting pretty in launch spec

The Ferrari 296 GTB with the Assetto Fiorano package

As mentioned previously, there are some cars which are styled in very extreme ways but do work as a piece of unique beauty. Where cars such as the Pagani Zonda Revo Barchetta and Koenigsegg Jesko may come to mind, these are not the kind of car I’m referring to. While they have wild styling, they are from established manufacturers who know that a wild styling portfolio is what sells cars for them. This final section will be a comparison of two cars, one of which does use extreme styling to its advantage and one which does not. To begin with the negatives, Ariel, famous for the Atom and Nomad sports cars and the Ace bike, have decided to start producing a hypercar and so have called it….the Hipercar. Along with the unoriginal name, the Hipercar has come under some killer reviews eluding to the styling of this car. It appears to have taken a slight inspiration from the lightning fast McMurtry Automotive Spierling, a small electric car which uses ground effect and incredible electric motors to be one of the fastest cars in the world. However, Ariel have not followed McMurtry’s design palette of simplistic design as it features massive carbon canards on the bonnet, carbon rear fins and massive wide arches for no apparent reason. It allegedly has 1180hp and will be on sale next year but a lot of people believe their ideas may fall through. On the other end of the scale is US-based car manufacturer Czinger, and their 21C hypercar. This is the world’s first 3D printed car, the whole body is completely 3D printed and the only components that aren’t are the engine, gearbox, brakes and wheels. It’s design, though extreme has masses of beauty. While the Ariel just looks a bit like the McMurtry with carbon stuck to every body panel, the Czinger looks like a road legal Le Mans car, with raised front lights, reminding me of the 2010-2014 era of LMP1 cars. While it still has aero features, the wing and front bumper canards of the Czinger, give it incredible cornering grip and using the SR71 Blackbird as an inspiration, its no surprise it is insanely fast. It holds the production lap record of Laguna Seca and Circuit of the Americas, has a 2.8 litre twin turbo V8 and produces upwards of 1250hp.

Ariel may have missed the mark here

The Czinger gets it just right

In conclusion, I do not think that supercars are getting uglier as such, but as developments in aerodynamics has advanced, and racing car technology has made its way to road cars, in some cases there has been an overindulgence and reliability in these technologies when often there is no need. Simple supercar designs such as the Maserati MC20 and Ferrari 296 GTB are still as beautiful as the Czinger 21C is but simple, in my opinion, is the best way to make a very beautiful car.

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