Gooding’s sale of the century
US house’s first UK auction achieves a staggering £34m for 14 cars
PUTTING THE BRAKES on its first-ever UK sale in April must have been pretty demoralising for Gooding & Co but, with uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, it was absolutely the correct decision. Nothing proves that more than the spectacular £34-million result that the American auction house has just recorded with its relocated ‘Passion of a Lifetime’ sale. Timed to coincide with the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace, it offered the collection of a single enthusiast that has been carefully curated over a great many years.
Of 15 lots, 14 were successfully sold, and leading proceedings was the 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports – the most expensive Bugatti ever sold at auction, with a final price of £9,535,000. This was followed by the 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante at £7,855,000 and 1928 Type 35C Grand Prix at £3,935,000.
While the Bugattis might have been the stars of the show, everything in this auction was outstanding. Particularly hard fought-over was the 1924 Vauxhall 30-98 OE-Type Wensum at £1,247,000. A 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400SV with a special Jota-spec dry-sump engine and a few other modifications also set a new benchmark, at £3,207,000.
Gooding & Co also held its first online-only auction in lieu of its scheduled Pebble Beach outing. The ‘Geared Online’ sale managed to shift $14.4-million-worth of cars, with a long-nose 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB at the head of the pack. A total of five vehicles breached the $1 million mark, four of which were Ferraris, with a lone 1934 Duesenberg Model J Town Car snaking in with a final price of $1,012,000.
RM Sotheby’s also moved its Monterey auction online, with its ‘Shift/Monterey’ sale. The timed online format is well established now, and afforded the Canadians total sales of $30.4 million. A Ferrari took the top spot here, too, although the 2001 Prodrive 550 GT1 Prototype (below) was catering to a very different audience. With a final price of $4,290,000, it has also become the most expensive car ever sold through an online-only auction.
The gorgeous 1959 Porsche 718 RSK Spyder (previewed in Octane 207) led Bonhams’ $12.5m sale, with a below-estimate price of $2,232,500.
Despite a few stand-out results, not one of these auctions came anywhere close to 2019’s total figures. W hile the online sales have proven their worth during this year, they still lack the glamour and excitement of a livel yMo nterey (or Hampton Court) sale room – and it really shows with these figures.