London prepares for an evening of automotive theatre as RM Sotheby’s flagship UK auction returns to The Peninsula London on 1 November 2025. Staged on the eve of the iconic London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, the event promises not only a spectacle of engineering and design but also a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire some of the most coveted cars in history. Leading the lineup is a 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B Spider, one of the most celebrated pre-war sports cars ever built, presented entirely without reserve. Alongside it, a 1932 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Series V Spider by Touring, also offered at no reserve, underscores the auction’s remarkable depth of heritage.
The Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 has long been revered as the pinnacle of the marque’s pre-war craftsmanship. Only 32 examples were ever produced, its twin-supercharged straight-eight engine and advanced chassis defining the zenith of pre-war racing technology. The car offered here, a B Spider first delivered to Germany in 1937, bears a fascinating provenance. After decades of journeys across Europe and America, its body was reimagined in the 1980s with a Zagato-style Spider coachwork believed to have graced the Brussels Motor Show. Accompanied by its original Nowack bodywork and a freshly rebuilt engine by Jim Stokes Workshops, this Alfa represents an extraordinary opportunity to own a machine of mythic status.
Its stablemate, the 1932 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Series V Spider, carries equal weight in the pantheon of motorsport. With a racing pedigree that includes victories in the Mille Miglia and the Brooklands Double Twelve, the 6C became synonymous with speed and endurance. This Touring-bodied Gran Sport is one of only 30 examples built and retains a wealth of original components, including its numbered supercharged engine. Having spent 45 years with a single family before meticulous care under Jim Stokes Workshops, the car offers its next custodian an entrée into the world’s most exclusive historic driving events.
If the Alfas embody the romance of the pre-war era, the Ferrari F40 delivers the thrill of modern legend. Offered from 31 years of single ownership, this 1991 example has covered just over 5,000 miles and was recently entrusted to marque specialists for a comprehensive service. Its appeal lies in its purity: a twin-turbocharged, stripped-back machine that epitomises Ferrari’s rawest expression of speed, made even more desirable by its continuity of provenance. For collectors, it represents one of the most unrepeatable opportunities to acquire a true icon of late 20th-century motoring.
Other headline consignments include a Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV finished in the dramatic Blu Acapulco, a delivery-mileage Lamborghini Diablo in Rosso Diablo, and a Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta Lusso once dressed in the rare Avorio over Rosso combination. Ayrton Senna’s personal 1985 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16, a car of extraordinary provenance purchased directly from the factory, further elevates the catalogue’s allure, while a 1980 BMW M1 and a 1967 Iso Grifo GL Series I enrich the offering of Continental rarities.
The auction also embraces its historical setting with a parade of veteran and vintage automobiles, from a 1928 Bugatti Type 44 Profilé by Gangloff to a 1904 Talbot Brougham, alongside Humber, Cadillac, and De Dion-Bouton pioneers. Each car is steeped in narrative, a reminder that automotive history is as much about human ambition as it is about engineering ingenuity.
