• Mecum Auctions was in Portland at the end of June with an impressive lineup of 461 classic and collector cars. The two-day auction at the Portland Expo Center achieved $7.9 million in overall sales totals, topped by a 1968 Chevrolet Yenko Camaro that brought $395,000.
• Bonhams Motoring Department has announced the inaugural Italian auction of collectors’ motorcars at Auto e Moto d’Epoca, Italy’s most widely attended classic car show, on October 28, 2017. Since its debut in 1983, the show, held in Padua, near Venice, has become known as the quintessential Italian event for motoring fanatics. It has grown in popularity year over year, with a record 90,000 visitors attending in 2016 and a remarkable 4,500 vehicles on display.
• RM Sotheby’s celebrated the fifth annual Santa Monica sale in June—held for the first time in partnership with sister company Auctions America—with more than $9.3 million in total sales. The single-day auction, held at the historic Barker Hangar, featured a more boutique selection of 175 vehicles and an array of automobilia, while, as evidenced by the event’s top ten results, still catering to diverse Southern California tastes at a variety of price points. Top billing for the sale went to a fully-restored, matching-numbers 1960 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster. A perfect coastline cruiser, the 300 SL narrowly missed its reserve on the auction podium, though was sold immediately following the sale for $1,100,000.
• Mecum Auctions took its collector-car auction action to the Mile High City in July with 591 vehicles on offer at the Denver Convention Center. In just two days, 411 vehicles hammered sold for a 70-percent sell-through rate and an overall sales total of $11.4 million. The eclectic mix of cars at the auction was demonstrated by the variety among the top 10 sellers. Complete with Shelbys, Corvettes, a Mustang and a Land Rover, the top sellers were led by a 2016 Ferrari California T Convertible that demanded $165,000 and a 1960 Volkswagen 23-Window Samba Bus that brought $120,000.
