From the Auction Desk: Autobahn Missiles Soar at Amelia Island

It’s fun to scroll through the results after the major auction gatherings — probably why I’m have this position in this company — to get a feel from each individual company on how they fared.

As I scrolled through the RM Sotheby’s results, one particular caught my eye.

A 1990 Mercedes-Benz 560SEC AMG 6.0 Wide-Body sold for $390,000. That’s nearly double the pre-auction estimate of $220k–$260k.

I think this model, with that body kit, is the most-badass/best-looking Mercedes ever. (Hey wife, you can bury me in that cabin.) It doesn’t seem that I’m the only one that has an interest in these AMG-tuned Autobahn missiles.

A few of these cars have sold for bonkers money in recent years. Last October RM Sotheby’s sold a ’91 edition of the AMG for $207,631 at their London sale. At their Essen sale last April, RM Sotheby’s (there is a theme developing here) sold a ’90 Wide-Body at $168,397. And just one year ago at Amelia Island, they sold another ’89 edition for $179,200. All three of those came from the Youngtimer Collection, but our newest sale did not.

You can see that this most recent one is far and above the most expensive we’ve ever tracked at SCM.

So, is this a bubble on its way to bursting? Or, are we watching an incredibly fast maturation of a newish market right in front of our eyes?

We’ll only find out if we keep on watching.