Report: Bonhams classic car auction, Arizona, 14 January

Bonhams’ third annual auction during the Scottsdale Car Week almost doubled last year’s sale total and quadrupling that of the first year, with a-near £15m total hammered away on the day. Highlights of the sale were the bidding wars for the top-selling Alfa Romeo 6C and Ferrari 212.

The 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Supercharged Zagato Gran Sport Spider (below) made a new world auction record for the model at £1,873,000 ($3,080,000), while the the 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Berlinetta (above) – was bought for £1,940,000 ($3,190,000) by an American collector seated in the audience after a long and bidding battle between other collectors in the room and on the phones.

Another Ferrari that attracted intense interest was the 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C – when it exceeded its pre-sale estimate and made £1,605,650 ($2,640,000), whereas the multiple award-winning 1968 Ferrari 330 GTC achieved a significant sales price of (£488,000) $803,000. A nicely preserved 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Supercharged Sports Phaeton unsurprisingly attracted bids from around the world and was sold to a well-known marque collector by telephone for £869,700 ($1,430,000).

James Knight, Group Motoring Director at Bonhams, said: 'Our US department delivered strong growth in 2013 and have continued the trend into 2014 with a tremendous Scottsdale auction. We are being entrusted with an ever-increasing volume of high-end cars and repaying our clients’ faith in us by achieving record results. We look forward to our next important auction at the magnificent Grand Palais in Paris next month.'

• For a complete list of Scottsdale results, please visit Bonhams.com/Scottsdale.