THE MARKET
Sales, previews, plus Venturi buyer’s guide
LOTS OF SALES this month, too many to report. So here’s our pick of the most interesting, beginning with a Bonhams sale at the Simeone Foundation Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and some very early cars.
Earliest was a 1900 Locomobile 5½-horsepower steam runabout that brought $35,200. The one other car from the 20th Century’s first year was a 1900 Mobile, unsold against an estimate of $40,000-50,000. Top spot at $1,001,000 went to the auction catalogue’s cover car, a 1913 RollsRoyce 40/50hp Silver Ghost Sports Tourer with replica coachwork by Reuters. Ex-Henry Ford Museum and one of 188 built, it appears ready to be enjoyed for at least another century. The sale totalled $3,076,000, with 57 of 64 cars sold.
Three days later in nearby Hershey, RM Sotheby ’s held a sale in conjunction with the Antique Automobile Club of America’s Eastern Division Fall Meet. This annual event is the culmination of the auction season for many in the eastern United States. There’s been talk these past few years about auctions presenting less than stellar cars at events, the companies failing to find quality cars to sell in today’s market. Not so at Hershey; there were some truly spectacular cars to bid on and purchase.
Notable were the cars from the Derro Collection. Each one seemed yet better than the one before it, with fanatical care taken to make them among the best seen at auction this year. Many sold at big, sometimes record, numbers – a 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow (above), one of three known to survive of the five built, sold for $2,310,000. Following this top seller was an astonishingly beautiful 1935 Duesenberg Model J with convertible coachwork by the Belgian firm d’Ieteren. Its restoration by Detroit’s Classic and Exotic Service made this Duesenberg a showstopper. It was arguably one of the best-value buys in recent auctions at $1,485,000.
It wasn’t only about the big-bucks cars. A 1906 Orient Buckboard sold for a pocket-friendly $7700 while a 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC brought the same amount. This posed a question for buyers: do you like your cars simple or complex? Total sales amounted to $15,720,000, with 129 of the 136 cars on offer finding new homes.
On the same weekend, Mecum returned to Schaumberg, near Chicago, for another of its huge
mid-America events. This 775-car event reported a 71% sell-through to net $12,550,000, with consignments ranging from veteran and vintage to three-year-old Teslas and everything in-between. Top of the tree was a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette convertible with the 427ci/400hp engine; it brought $126,500. In joint-second at $121,000 were a 1963 327ci/300hp split-window Corvette coupe and a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible. A 1967 Amphicar sold for $42,900; these are well off their high prices of a few years ago, but it’s still well worth paying up for a good one. A bad Amphicar can put you underwater quickly, and not just metaphorically.
There were some gems at Motostalgia’s midmonth, no-reserve auction of a private collection in Waxahachie, Texas. Results totalled close to $4m from 65 cars, including a 1958 Facel Vega FVS Series IV coupé that brought $190,000 to net top slot. A rare Iso Rivolta brought $73,700 and a 1983 Aston Martin Lagonda scored a strong $78,750.
This month’s biggest haul, though, was Barrett Jackson’s $30,680,000 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, where an impressive 99% of the 671 vehicles sold. This came just a few weeks after the tragedy of the shootings on the same site, and Barrett-Jackson contributed charity lots to benefit the victims and the first responders. Included in the top sellers was one of the charity lots, a 2007 Ford Shelby Supersnake that sold for $1,000,000. A 1965 Porsche 356 Custom convertible was a top-dollar sale at $315,700, while among the moderns a 2005 Ford GT brought $285,000 and a 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren sold for $222,000.
The 39th Branson Fall Auction at Branson, Missouri, saw 177 cars sold out of 230 offered. Total sales topped $3.2m, top billing going to a 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder with just 4800 miles that changed hands at $112,750. Second spot went to a 1969 Plymouth Hemi GTX, said to be a
‘AT ITS MANDALAY BAY SALE, BARRETT-JACKSON CONTRIBUTED CHARITY LOTS TO BENEFIT THE SHOOTING VICTIMS AND THE FIRST RESPONDERS’
matching-numbers West Coast car kept in a California car museum for 18 years. It sold for $82,500. Branson is a great everyman’s auction, with 38% of the cars selling for under $10,000.
Bonhams offered 32 vehicles at The Zoute Sale in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, netting €5,536,000. Noteworthy was the second-highest seller, a 2000 BMW Z8 Roadster complete with hardtop. With just a one Belgian owner from new and 26,000km recorded, and finished in black with a black interior, this handsome Z8 sold for €316,250 to confirm the perhaps surprising strength in the values of this tribute to the BMW 507.
Wrapping up for this month, Silverstone Auctions held The Porsche 2017 Sale on 21 October. Of the 59 Porsches offered, including one tractor, 38 were sold to generate £2.5m. Top spot at £253,125 went to a 1998 911 (993-shape) Turbo S, one of only 26 right-hand-drive examples built, with just 36,210 miles on the odometer and extensive service records. Runner-up was a 1992 911 (964-shape) RS Touring, which changed hands at £219,375. This handsome, all-black example is said to be one of 11 built, with six of those having been destined for the UK market.
So, has any sort of market trend emerged over the last month? Just this: the best cars still make good money, and supplies may be running low.