Of the lots offered, the majority were from the collections of Bernie Ecclestone, Italian businessman Giuseppe Prevosti and Brazilian enthusiast/racer Aba Kogan , with eight lots from private consignors. The spacious exhibition venue allowed all cars to be displayed internally, with the Ferrari and Renault F1 cars greeting attendees in the reception, along with forthcoming lots at RM’s ’08 Maranello sale - a 250 California Spyder and helmets worn by piloti Gilles Villenueve and Didier Pironi, which, shown together, genuine tifosi might find a touch insensitive, if not in plain bad taste.

The well lit auction room had seating for 1,000 bidders complimented by four feature displays of cars – “Made in Italy” (Signor Prevosti’s Lamborghini Muira P400, Ferrari 275GTB/4 and Bizarrini Stradale), “Wilson’s Garage” (a Jaguar MK IX unused for over 20 years, complimented by a “barn find” Bentley 3 litre), “Flower Power” (Ecclestone’s two Fiat 500s, two VW Beetles and a Mini) and the central display either side of the auctioneers rostrum, which included two pre-war Mercedes and, a surprise no sale, the superb pre-war Grand Prix Delage.

With auctioneers Peter Bainbridge and Max Girardo reviving their highly effective double act the stage was set for a marathon six-hour auction and some surprising prices. A full copy of the results in sterling (including buyers premium) can be viewed on RM's website - here were my personal highlights:

• Star lot of the night and a simply stunning car, the ’37 Mercedes 540K roadster, rose to a crescendo of music to sit atop the auctioneers rostrum and was the evening's most expensive car at £3,905,000.

• One of my post war favourites has always been the late Albrecht von Goertz designed BMW 507, complete with powerful 3.2 V8. This well restored 1957 example demonstrated how this car has appreciated in recent years, knocked down for £423,500.

• The Iso Grifo Bizzarini successfully combined Italian styling with US muscle to produce a potent street legal GT (the Stradale) or a reliable racer (the America). A variant of each was offered in Battersea and whilst they were comparably priced, £253,000 and £247,500 respectively, the latter was the more versatile.

• On a night when 13 Ferraris were auctioned, the Prevosti-consigned 330 America (£148,500), 250PF (£154,000), 250 GTE (£121,000), 275GTB/4(£561,000) and 330GT MK2 (£71,500) were indicative of a strengthening V12 market. With detailing, the 330A, 250PF and GTE were definite concours winners, whilst I felt the Daytona Plexiglass (£137,500) was really bad value as it had multiple needs and was frankly tired.

• We are unlikely to see a collection of six pre war Mercedes all selling on the same night anytime soon - as well as the 540K Roadster Bernie Ecclestone consigned, a 540K cabriolet (£660k), 500K Special Cabriolet ( £687,500), SS Sports Tourer (£577,000), SSK (£1,210,000) and SSKL (£1,045,000) making this a night to remember for devotees of the three pointed star.

• There were cars to suit all budgets, the Avions Voisin (£19,250) was in excellent order and ready for touring, the Porsche 356B (£22k) could not have been replicated for twice the money and the 15,000 mile from new Ford Anglia (£5,500) just needed using.

Overall RM must be very pleased, setting several new European records, including Iso Grifo GL (£121,000) and Ferrari 250GTE (£121,000); judging by the bidding, the majority of the buyers were enthusiasts rather than trade; the equation, exceptional provenance + excellent condition + limited production = strong price remains and despite all this temptation, I managed to keep my hands in my pockets!

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