RM raised ￡2,240,000 for its matching-numbers 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Tour de France Berlinetta at its annual sale in Battersea on October 26. Under the glittering lights of Battersea Evolution(‘London's most dynamic dining and event space’), 1039GT headed up a 125-lot sale, including 25 motorcycles, to reach a ￡13.3m total, with 79% of lots sold.

A perfect, matching-numbers 1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast, one of only eight right-hand-drive cars built, fetched ￡644,000, a 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso was ￡487,200 and the 1972 Autodelta Alfa Romeo 33/TT/3, with Le Mans and Targo Florio history made ￡588,000 – but the ￡1,500,000 needed to buy the 750 Monza was not forthcoming. A 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Cimier Coupé sold for ￡380,800, and RM had managed to find yet another ‘barn-find’ Mercedes 600 lwb Pullman, its third in three years, still covered in desert dust. Presented next to a pristine example, it fetched a realistic ￡22,500 on the hammer, rather than the dizzy prices of previous years. RM hit a new high for a 300SL Gullwing, at ￡560,000, however. Noted Ferrari fancier Chris Evans was in attendance again, with designs on the 2001 Scuderia Ferrari driver’s coach, the 10-year-old Iveco Domino yours for as little as ￡200,000.

The 2008 Force India Formula 1 car, hand painted by Dexter Brown, and signed by more than 40 Formula 1 drivers and other ‘names’, hit ￡168,000, with proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, and the newly-established Force India Formula One Team Academy, an initiative aimed at providing youth in Indian the chance to get involved in motorsport. Top-selling motorcycle, from ‘La Collezione due Ruote’was the 1973 MV Agusta F4 1000 which achieved ￡49,140.

‘The London sale is always a highlight of our auction calendar, and as ever, this year’s event has brought our 2011 auction season to a spectacular close,’ said Max Girardo, RM Europe’s Managing Director.