’81 Motor Fair Ferrari – sold!
All three Ferraris consigned by Anglia Car Auctions for its King’s Lynn season opener found buyers, including the ex-1981 London Motor Fair 308GTBi – one of 42 right-hand drive cars made – which sold for £50,400 including five per cent premium.
The 456M GTA owned by the Sultan of Brunei from 1996 to 2006 bettered its top estimate to make £53,550, while a restored 1980 308 GTB with 86,433 miles sold within estimate for £71,400.
Most of the Historic Automobile Group International (HAGI) indices that chart the classic car market experienced a rather lacklustre start to 2017 – Porsches fell by 2.15 per cent and Mercs by 1.47 per cent – but those tracking Ferrari transactions recorded a 1.57 per cent gain.
‘The prancing horse enjoyed a good gallop in 2016, too’
HAGI’s number crunchers reckon that this latest spike in Ferrari fortunes was achieved through a number of rare and high end Ferraris changing hands for higher prices. For instance, there were five Ferraris in the ‘Overall Top Ten’ at last month’s seven sales during Arizona auctions week, led by the 1952 340 America Competizione Spider sold by Bonhams for $6.38m (£5.17m).
Six more Ferraris occupied the RM Sotheby’s leader board, with a 1969 365GTS Spider selling for $3.60m (£2.92m), a 1995 F50 $3.14m (£2.54m), a 1961 Superamerica Coupé $3.08m (£2.49m), a 2003 Enzo $2.70m (£2.18m), a 1967 330 GTS $2.48m (£2.00m) and a 1966 275GTB/2 $2.12m (£1.72).
The Prancing Horse enjoyed a good gallop last season too. It was during last year’s Paris Rétromobile sales that Artcurial sold a 1957 335 S for €32.08m (£25.7m), a record for any car ever sold at auction in Europe. In the same sale only the previous year, Artcurial sold a 1961 250 GT California SWB Spyder for more than €16.29m (£11.80m).