Collectors gain upper hand over speculators

Including provisional bids that have successfully converted into post-sales, ACA’s classic car sale total has topped £2m with premium for the first time. With 224 of the 278 cars auctioned in last Saturday’s drive-through now sold, the sale rate, an all-important barometer for whether vendors’ reserves are realistic or unachievable, rose to a market confidence-boosting 81 percent.

The amount spent per classic also increased, to an average spend of £9184 per car. The 1985 Audi quattro pictured below had reportedly done 103,000 miles and had a recent cambelt change before being hammered away for £15,100, costing £15,855 including ACA’s five percent buyer’s premium – the lowest rate charged in the UK.

Simultaneously Coys auctioned 130 lots during a Saturday afternoon session at Techno Classica in Essen. The following sales have been declared by the Richmond firm – 1987 Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV €370,000 (£296,000), 1936 BMW 328 Roadster €260,000 (£208,000), 1959 Facel Vega Excellence €182,015 (£145,612), 1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 SS €107,000 (£85,600), 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL €103,685 (£82,948), 1966 Maserati Quattroporte ex-Karin Aga Khan €86,900 (£69,250), 1977 BMW 2002 Turbo €64,000 (£51,200) and 1939 Fiat 1100 508C Convertible €32,998 (£26,398).

Coys’ next sale begins at noon at the Royal Ascot Racecourse, Berkshire. The top 10 runners are: 2007 McLaren-Mercedes SLR 722 Edition (£330,000-380,000), 1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II Drophead Adaptation by H J Mulliner (£330,000-360,000), 1985 Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV (£320,000-380,000), 1968 Aston Martin DB6 (£300,000-350,000), 2009 Ferrari 16M 7500m (£300,000-320,000), 1932 Bentley 4-Litre Saloon by Thrupp and Maberly (£130,000160,000), 1936 Bentley-Royce 8 Litre V12 Supercharged Special (£130,000-160,000), 1959 Jaguar XK150 (£100,000-120,000), 2000 RollsRoyce Corniche Convertible (£90,000-105,000) and 1964 Gordon-Keeble (£90,000-105,000).

In his ‘Forward’ message in H&H’s 19 April Duxford sale catalogue, I see the Rt Hon Sir Greg Knight MP reckons that classic cars have outpaced the stock market as investments and continue to outperform art, watches and gold.

New figures from the Historic Automobile Group International shows the classic car market recovered some lost ground during March, but ended the first quarter of 2016 down 0.16 percent.

HAGI also reports that European classic car trade shows in Europe and across the globe showed a trend to more selective buying with a strong emphasis on quality, though high seller expectations based on unrealistic price trends resulted in numerous unsold auction lots.

In HAGI’s view collectors have upper hand in this market as speculators go in search of untaxed profits elsewhere.

Richard Hudson-Evans has been reporting on classic car sales for more than 25 years.