Why Did So Many Hypercars Fail To Sell In Dubai Auction?

Dec. 07, 2019 7:20 AM ET by Manoli Katakis Supercars / 8 Comments

Should the collector car market be worried?

The RM-Sotheby's auction in Abu Dhabi has come and gone, and the list of vehicles that crossed the block definitely lived up to expectations. There were 40 absolutely stunning blue-chip collector cars, ranging from some of the rarest supercars to championship-winning Formula One race cars. Total sales generated from the auction came in at $31.3 million USD, with one-third of the bidders hailing from the Middle East. Historically, the auction represented the very first international collector car auction to be hosted in the UAE, and the first auction to ever take place at an F1 Grand Prix race track, at Yas Marina Circuit.

Except that there happens to be an unsettling detail: 17 of these hypercars, supercars and race cars didn't sell.

RM Sotheby's

RM Sotheby's

RM Sotheby's

RM Sotheby's

Here's an eye-opening list of the no-sale vehicles:

1965 Ferrari 275 GTS by Pininfarina

1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Touring

1990 Ferrari F40

1992 Benetton B192 Formula One race car driven by Michael Shcumacher

2001 Lamborghini Diablo GT

2005 Maserati MC12

2006 Lamborghini Concept S

2010 Mercedes-Benz SLR Sterling Moss

2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic

2011 Porsche 911 Speedster

2015 Jaguar C-X75 from the 'Spectre' 007 movie

2015 Porsche 918 Spyder

2016 McLaren P1 GTR

2017 Ferrari F12 TdF

2017 Ford GT

2019 McLaren Senna GTR

2019 Porsche 911 GT2 RS Club Sport

RM Sotheby's

RM Sotheby's

RM Sotheby's

What does this mean for the collector car market? Investment confidence? The global economy? We don't have all of the answers. We're just pointing out that it's just more than a little peculiar that these highly rare and sought after supercars couldn't meet the reserve price in an area of the world that has a Bugatti Veyron in the police fleet.

Maybe it's all a matter of circumstance, as the vehicles that did end up selling are arguably just as, or even more, impressive than the ones that didn't. Such as the 2017 Pagani Zonda Aether, which sold for an utterly absurd $6,812,500. Or Michael Schumacher's championship-winning Ferrari F2002 Formula One race car, which sold for almost as much, at $6,643,750. The gavel also slammed on a Ferrari FXX K for over $4 million.

Maybe the bidders ran out of money?