Despite its platinum award-winning restoration, the Bond Street auction house’s wonderfully original 1962 Ferrari 250 GT ‘Short Wheelbase’ fell short of its reserve, garnering a high bid of 8.7m US dollars. We wonder how RM’s alloy-bodied Competizione will do this evening. 

Other notable no sales included the Shelby Cobra 289, Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider America, and the virtually brand-new Bugatti Chiron. We’re somewhat surprised about the latter – limited production modern hypercars have fared well so far at the Monterey sales this year and you’d think the Chiron would be a real talking point given that the new Divo was revealed at same venue as the auction. It was bid to 3.1m dollars. 

That left the fabulous 1948 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Competizione to claim the spoils for the day – it hammered away for a bang-on-estimate 3.2m dollars (that’s 3.525m including the buyer’s premium). A veteran of the Mille Miglia and the Targa Florio, it is the only original survivor of the three Competizione Berlinettas built. 

Other cars to sell above one million dollars included the exquisite 1953 Siata 208S Spider, a car which is highly eligible for both Pebble Beach and Villa d’Este (1.655m dollars), the Mayfair-bodied 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Roadster (3.278m dollars), and the younger 1996 Porsche 911 GT2 Clubsport (1.105m dollars). 

The biggest bargain? It’d have to be the gorgeous Dove Grey Jaguar XK120, which was estimated to fetch 110,000–140,000 dollars but sold for 84,000 dollars all in. The perfect California classic! 

The biggest surprise? In a sale where they were few and far between, we’d probably say the Violet Blue Metallic 1991 Porsche 911 Carrera 4, which soared above its 75,000-dollar high estimate and sold for 156,800 dollars all in. A single-owner car with low mileage and in an unusual colour, it’s exactly what the modern collector wants. 

Photos: Stephan Bauer for Classic Driver © 2018