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Record $30.8M Arizona Sale Kicks Off 2011 Auction Calendar Following the success of last year’s ‘The British Are Coming,’ RM’s 2011 Arizona sale kicked off on Thursday, January 20 with ‘The British Are Back’ – an exclusive evening sale dedicated to the best of the British. Rolls-Royce claimed the top two sales of the night with a handsome 1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Newmarket Sport Sedan, one of just three original Brewster-bodied examples, bringing $440,000, while an extravagant 1921 Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost Phaeton, built for the Calcutta Motor Show, realized $379,500. Friday’s top-sellers list was dominated by an exciting series of Ferraris and the ‘best of the best’ of the Classic Era. The sale featured no less than 11 examples from the Modenese Prancing Horse, led by the sale-topping 1949 Ferrari 166MM Barchetta, a matching-numbers Mille Miglia veteran and the 10th of just 25 examples built, which achieved $1,870,000. Other highlights included a stunning 1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast, one of just 32 built, for $935,000; a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder, offered from the personal collection of Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, for $880,000; and the ex-Jacques Swaters 1995 Ferrari F50 Show Car, showing less than 1,000 miles, for $742,500. The American Classics category was headlined by a rare 1933 Packard Twelve Sport Phaeton by Dietrich which realized $1,760,000, closely followed by a 1929 Duesenberg Model J Dual Cowl Phaeton driven by Elvis Presley in the film Spinout for $1,237,500. The sale’s cover car – a spectacular 1931 Marmon Sixteen Coupe, one of only six survivors – also attracted spirited bidding, achieving $687,500 to set a new price level for Marmons. A stunning, superbly-restored 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Coupe also garnered significant attention, spurring a lively bidding war to well-exceed its presale estimate and sell for $1,375,000 – a new auction record for a steel-bodied 300SL Gullwing. Held at the prestigious Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, the two-day sale presented 180 quality automobiles, spanning a diverse range of automotive marques. The sale provided a strong start to the 2011 auction season, posting a record $30.8 million in sales, with an impressive 96% of lots sold and four automobiles exceeding the magic million dollar mark. With an average price of $293,090 per car sold, the Arizona sale provided an excellent and optimistic jump-start to the 2011 auction season. Full sale results are now posted, and event photos can be viewed on our Facebook page. Visit RM Auctions at RÉtromobile The RM Europe team will be at Rétromobile in Paris, Porte de Versailles from 2nd to 6th February. Visit us at stand K112 in Hall 7 where we will have a 1955 Ferrari 375 MM Berlinetta by Pinin Farina and a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Teardrop Coupé on display. See you there!