THE MARKET

Sales; previews; how to buy a Lancia Flaminia

THE REVAMPED Petersen Automotive Museum proved a popular venue for the RM Sotheby’s final sale of 2018. Chief contributor to an impressive $38.9m total on 8 December was the ex-works 1956 Ferrari 290 MM, recently restored and certified by Ferrari Classiche and previewed in Octane 187. It sold for $22,005,000. Further highlights of this 88% sale were a 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV – the only

Bleu Medio example built – at $2,205,000, and a 4000km 1989 Ferrari F40 at $1,545,000. A pair of sub-500-mile hypercars sold bang on estimate: $1,534,000 for the 2015 Porsche 918 ‘Weissach’ Spyder; $1,435,000 for the 2015 McLaren P1.

Mecum netted an impressive $25.2m at its threeday Las Vegas auction on 15-17 November with 75% of the 885 lots sold. A 1930 Bugatti Type 46 Faux Cabriolet with coachwork by Veth & Zoon topped the sales charts at $1,012,000. Dave Kinney has selected some of the more tempting buys from this auction on the next page.

Back in the UK, Classic Car Auctions had some of its strongest results to date, racking up an 80% sale rate and a £1.6m total for its final ‘Everyman Classic’ auction of 2018. The Warwickshire Event Centre saw much interest in more modern classic cars, although it was a rare RHD 1969 Alfa Romeo 1750 Spider that attracted the most attention. Bidding for this ended well above estimate, with a final price of £47,300.

Historics at Brooklands reported a solid set of results for its 24 November auction at MercedesBenz World, with sales of 60% and £2.18m. Fittingly, Mercedes was the best represented marque with 21 examples sold. An ex-James Hunt 1979 450 SEL 6.9 looked good value at £27,000, while a very clean 1991 300 GEL showed the continued interest in classic G-Wagens by eclipsing its estimate at £20,440. Pre-war cars attracted some good results, particularly the delightful 1928 Austin 7 Van that made £21,840 against its £10,000-13,000 estimate.

Bonhams sold just ten of the 30 cars offered at its Bond Street auction on 1 December, with total sales of £5,070,750. Stars were a 1958 BMW 507 originally owned by Count Albrecht Graf von Goertz – the 507’s designer – at £2,367,000, and a 1924 Vauxhall 30/98hp OE Velox Tourer at £437,000. The Olympia auction just two days later on 3 December performed better, with 52 of 79 cars selling to raise £3,204,841.