AUCTION/SHOWROOM/CLASSIFIED MARKET WATCH
A new decade, and a re-set for a previously quiet classic car market? David Sutherland analyses the international auctions in Arizona in mid-january and sees a modest improvement over late 2019
The 2019 auction season ended on a low note, with many Porsches failing to sell at UK and international auctions, prompting a debate as to whether this was due to a collectors’ market wobble, or sellers with unrealistic expectations setting excessively high reserves. The first major sales event of 2020, in Arizona, occurred in mid-january – it’s the one big annual auction not incorporated into a concours event, hence the focus is purely on sales – so did the new decade bring a revival of buyer interest?
The answer appears to be yes. While towards the end of the year Porsches with pre-sale estimates well into six figures were piling up unsold, almost all the Zuffenhausen hardware presented by the three main international auction houses – RM Sotheby’s, Gooding &
Company and Bonhams – was sold. Of the 48 Porsches offered between them, just four went unclaimed, and that’s an impressive hit rate, over 90 per cent.
A sale is a sale, but Scottsdale also suggested that potential sellers were read the riot act on reserves and consigned accordingly. And while a handful did sell for above the top estimate there were no bidding wars evident, some two-thirds of cars selling for below their pre-sale estimates. The highest price Porsche was Gooding’s 1970 914/6 GT – the sole Porsche race car at Scottsdale, and a model even many Porsche enthusiasts probably hadn’t heard of – sold for $995,000 (about £764,600, see Sold at Auction p100) including buyer’s premium, but that was just below the estimate. Behind that came RM’S 2005
Carrera GT (also in Sold at Auction), its $786,000 (£604,000) more or less midway in the estimate range; this scraped into the Monterey-based auctioneer’s Top Ten league at number 10, £100,000 or so behind a 2017 Ford GT.
The biggest concentration of Porsches was seen at the Gooding sale at Scottsdale Fashion Square in Old Town Scottsdale, where 24 Porsches, 15 of which were 911s, went under the hammer. Most were offered without reserve, and most sold below estimate. Gooding’s biggest loser in this respect was the seller of the 1972 911 2.4S, which with a high bid of of $142,800 (£109,100) made almost £44,000 less than hoped for. A 1979 911 Turbo – often auction gold – sold for $156,800, some £33,200 short. A later, 993 generation 911 Turbo from 1996 made $151,200 (£116,000), £21,500 below.
But Gooding delivered several pleasant surprises to its clients. A 2018 991-model 911 GT3 delivered an aboveestimate bonus of £18,400 when it sold for $204,400 (£157,100), a 1965 356SC Coupe made $190,400 (£146,000) which was £7700 ahead, a 1979 911SC Targa made $123,200 (£94,700), a £2500 treat. However, a 2011 GT3 RS 4.0 – the ultimate 997, and a car that does make strong money – with a $450,000–$500,000 (£346,000–£384,200) estimate and presumably a reserve somewhere within that band, did not sell.
RM Sotheby’s, whose last sale – Abu Dhabi, November 2019 – saw five out of seven premium Porsches unsold, fared much better at its event in Phoenix, selling all but one of its 13 cars, a 1962 356B. ‘We had a very solid start to our 2020 calendar with the Arizona sale,’ said RM’S Global Head of Auctions, Gord Duff. ‘There was a great energy and busy crowds from preview through Friday night, which translated to a 90 per cent sell-through rate.’
It must say something for the classic status of 930 Turbos that a 1979 car was the auctioneer’s second highest priced sale behind the aforementioned Carrera GT, at $390,000 (£299,700). But the stunning 911 in black over black leather is effectively a new, undriven car showing its 34 delivery miles and having always been professionally stored.
However, eight of RM’S lots sold for below estimate, the biggest disappointment a 1958 356A 1600S Cabriolet achieving $140,000 (£107,600) which was nearly £26,900 adrift. But the one car that did exceed its estimate, by £18,100, was also a 356, a 1953 Coupe selling for $173,600 (£132,900). Among RM’S sixfigure lots there’s usually a cheapie or two and on this occasion the closest to this was a 1976 914 2.0, a noreserve sale making $53,000 (£40,700) reflecting its pristine condition; prices paid for 914s, if they’re in great condition, have leapt in the last few years.
Bonhams’ Arizona was similar to RM’S, selling all but one of its 10 Porsches, and six going for less than estimate. Two cars sold for above it, the best performer being at the low end of the price scale, a 1978 928 (see Sold at Auction) exceeding expectations by £15,800 when selling for £57,800. A 1997 993 911 Turbo sold for $106,400 (£81,400) which was £4900 over estimate. Until now it has been the mid1990s, last-of-the-line GTS model that has attracted collectors, but now any 928 model in good condition can fetch a £50,000-plus price. But 928s can still languish in the bargain basement, as the seller of the 1984 928S at Bonhams found out, the V8 coupe making only $17,920 (£13,800), which was £5200 below estimate, and a price more typical of ebay than Arizona.
The “green shoots of recovery” were seen at this January event. What wasn’t witnessed were signs that the market is going to revert to its heated state of several years ago.