$66-MEG FERRARI, ALFA WINS PEBBLE BEACH, LOST SHELBY FOUND
RECORDS SET AT MONTEREY CAR WEEK AUCTIONS WITH CASH SPLASHED ON HIGHLY-DESIRABLE METAL
YES THAT’S how many Australian dollars were forked over at this year’s Monterey Car Week auctions with many astonishing machines fetching equally astonishing prices.
Six auction houses put 1376 lots under the hammer with 841 vehicles successfully selling for an average of A$594,503 per vehicle.
Topping the list and becoming the most expensive car sold at auction was a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Scaglietti SI coupe that achieved an eye-watering A$66 million, at the RM Sotheby’s auction, shattering the previous record by A$10 million, set by another Ferrari 250 GTO in 2014.
Gooding and Co took the honours for the second most expensive car sold at the event – A$30 million for a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Roadster, a world record for an American car and the highest price paid for a pre-war vehicle, while a 1963 Aston Martin DP215 Competition Prototype went for more than A$29 million at RM Sotheby’s auction.
Other notable results include a 1966 Ford GT40 that placed third at Le Mans, for a cool A$12.1 million, both a 1948 Tucker and a McLaren P1 went for A$2.4 million, a 1981 BMW M1 made A$467,500 and a 1967 Toyota 2000GT sold for A$550,000.
Demonstrating the strength of the market, the total amount spent on vehicles at auction eclipsed last year’s result by A$70 million and that figure is sure to increase with post auction negotiations. However, fewer cars under one million sold than in previous years with many not meeting their reserve.
Cars with low mileage, history and provenance continued to achieve solid prices and this was more noticeable this year, with buyers willing to select and spend more astutely.
While millions were being thrown at some cars, at the other end of the scale a few bargains appeared. A Model T Ford, the car that effectively replaced the horse, sold for A$10,000 and a 2008 Mercedes SL550 for a mere A$25,000. A ballistic 2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 Black edition only managed A$102,000.
Monterey threw up a few oddballs as it does each year with a VW Thing selling for A$50,000. Bargain basement celebrity provenance in the form of Hollywood icon Shirley Temple’s 1989 Mercedes-Benz 300TE wagon went to a new home for just A$30,000.
Modern supercars failed to ignite buyers with a 2005 Mercedes McLaren SLR passed in at A$382,000 with half a dozen Bugatti Veyrons and a Chiron up for grabs, but all failed to find new homes. Noteworthy is that apart from
the 1998 Mercedes CLK GTR and 1966 Ford GT40, the top ten sellers at Monterey all hailed from the 1950s.
Top 10 Sales
1. 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO SI Coupe sold for A$66 million (RM Sotheby’s);
2. 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Roadster sold for A$30 million (Gooding & Company);
3. 1963 Aston Martin DP215 Competition Prototype sold for A$29.39 million (RM Sotheby’s);
4. 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II Coupe sold for A$12.1 million (RM Sotheby’s);
5. 1958 Ferrari 250 GT TdF Coupe sold for $9 million (Gooding & Company);
6. 1955 Maserati A6GCS/53 Spider sold for $7 million (Gooding & Company);
7. 1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial SII Spider sold for $6.82 million (Gooding & Company);
8. 1957 Porsche 550A Spyder sold for $6.6 million (RM Sotheby’s);
9. 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Coupe sold for $6.1 million (RM Sotheby’s);
10. 1956 Maserati A6G/2000 Zagato Berlinetta sold for $6.1 million (RM Sotheby’s).
Closing Monterey Car Week on a high along the 18th fairway golf links was the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, with the gold Best of Show ribbon won by a 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta from 209 entrants from 17 countries and 31 states of the USA. See next page. 1. The most expensive car sold at auction - a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Scaglietti SI coupe.
2. 1966 Ford GT40 that placed third at LeMans 1966. 3. The Six Million Dollar Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR 4. Shirley Temple's wagon went for a bargain price. 5. 1948 Tucker put a couple of million in its vendor's pocket.