Collectors spent RM1.5 billion on vintage cars auction last weekend
STRONGER than expected. That’s the takeaway after four days of vintage car auctions during Monterey Car Week. Across six companies, preliminary numbers show sales totaling US$ 327 million ( RM1.5 billion) at Pebble Beach over the weekend, down three per cent from last year but 12 per cent better than predicted at the beginning of the week.
According to car insurer Hagerty, the bump came because the week’s biggest consignmentsa US$ 6.7 million 1959 Aston Martin DB4GT Prototype Coupe and a US$ 1.089 million 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 R& P Roadstermet estimates and sold, as opposed to not meeting reserve prices at all. In fact, while numbers this year were down from 2016, the sell-through rate ( 58 per cent) and median price of car sold ( US$ 88,000) matched the previous year’s performance.
“At the moment, the market favours buyers, but prices have stabilised for most models, and those sellers who are realistic with their expectations are receiving fair prices,” said Jonathan Klinger, the spokesman for Hagerty. “We expect ultra -high- end cars to continue to perform well.”
The top seller of the week was Aston Martin’s 1956 DBR1, a green roadster that sold for US$ 22.5 million Friday night, via RM Sotheby. The car is widely considered the most important Aston Martin ever made-it was the first of a series of five racing cars, one of which won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race- and it set a record for the most expensive British car ever at auction. Of the five that were made, this is the only one that has ever been offered for public sale.
Bonhams sold a 1995 McLaren F1 Coupe sold for US$ 15.6 million, while two Ferraris also were in the top five- a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C sold for US$ 14.5 million, and a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB sold for US$ 8.3 million.
Meanwhile, Porsche’s 1970 917K sold for US$ 14 million at the Gooding & Company auction Friday night. That car was the one featured in Steve McQueen’s famous film Le Mans.
Among the strongest performers this week were cars valued at more than US$ 250,000, a segment that had the highest sell-through rate of any other.
But the other strong sellers were cars from the 1980s and ‘ 90s. “In this area, you have a lot of Silicon Valley money come here, and that’s what they like,” said Craig Jackson, the chairman and chief executive officer of the Barrett- Jackson Auction Company. “Bidders are tracking much younger, which is a healthy thing for the hobby. But younger bidders have different tastes, and you see it reflected here.”
Cars in the ‘80s and ‘ 90s were much more likely than those of other decades to be bid at premiums above conditionappropriate amounts. Sotheby’s 1991 Ferrari F40 (it sold for US$ 1.54 million) and Gooding & Co’s 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Speedster (it sold for US$ 297,000) are prime examples of this strong spot. Multiple Ferrari Testarossas made from 1984 to 1996 also exceeded expectations on the auction block.
“There’s a lot of money, a lot of enthusiasm,” Jackson said. — WP-Bloomberg