Chasing Cars
Russ ponders the appeal of a speed-record Citroën SM, sees Jaguar failing to fly, and identifies an unlikely new fast Ford market hero
With the can of January’s UK sales kicked a little further down Covid Road, we are just left with the traditional Arizona season-openers to pick over. Even there the big three of Bonhams, RM and Gooding offered less than half the cars they did in 2020, playing to an online audience. The quality was still good though, as were the sell-through rates – 79% overall, only a little down on last year. Coolest lot on offer anywhere was Gooding’s Citroën SM salt flats racer with matching towcar and trailer. With the same owner for 40 years and holding several records over 200mph, this lot would be equally well received at any car show. You can picture the Gooding team shrugging as they gave it a super-wide $100-200k estimate. How do you value something like this? Well, by asking the market. It found a new home at $203,500 (£149,000). I don’t think the buyer overpaid.