Classic Auction Review - all you need to know about Classic Car auctions

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1960 Ferrari 250GT SWB Competizione takes top step of 86% sold £55.9m Retromobile week podiums with 10.2m euros (£8.6m) performance at RMS

But 14.14m euros (£12.03m) less was spent at the Paris sales this year than one year ago on 252 automobiles, 26 fewer sold and for 26,477 euros (£22,505, 9.2% less) per auction car bought. For the 2024 average spent per auction classic in tractor-jammed Paris amounted to 260,865 euros (£221,735) compared to 287,342 euros (£244,240) one year earlier.
Parisian vital statistics saw RM Sotheby’s sell 59 or 83% of 72 entries at the Louvres for an auction week topping 34,401,100 euros (£29,240,935) in their 11th Paris sale 31 January.
After their 13th consecutive 6 hours marathon within the Retromobile exhibition, Artcurial transacted 113 out or 87% of 130 for 15,964,616 (£15,569,923) 2 February.
While Bonhams bidders from 35 countries in The Grand Palais Ephemere by the Tour Eiffel bought 80 or 83% of 96 for 15,372,208 euros (£13,066,632) in their 15th Grand Marques du Monde a Paris 1 February.

Big Number Cars in Paris - RM Sotheby’s 109,158,125 euros (£8,634,406) ali-bodied 250GT Competitzione had finished 7th overall and 5th in class as a NART entry at Sebring for the 1960 12 Hours.
An alloy-bodied 1966 275 GTB/6C Long Nose fetched 3,211,250 euros (£2,729,563) and a GT1 racer derived 2007 Maserati MC12 Versione Corsa packing a 745hp 6-Litre V12 was in a strong third place with 3,042,500 euros (2,586,125).
An Old School 1919 Hispano-Suiza G6 Torpedo by Duvivier that had outlived first owner King Alfonso XIII made a Royal 522,500 euros (£444,125) and a Scaglietti-crafted 1971 365GTB/4 Daytona a worthy 533,750 euros (£453,688).
A 1993 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.6 in even rarer Oak Green Metallic with Sherwood Green leather was valued by a new owner at 511,250 euros (£434,563), nearly three times the lower estimate.
Including premium, a 1955 M-B 300SL Gullwing could only fly away into a new EU nest for a low estimate 1,381,000 (£1,173,850) at Retromobile to which 125,000 made pilgrimage this year, when an only 9,254k since new in 2014 McLaren P1, one of 375, sold to a French buyer for 1,360,000 euros (£1,156,000).
Again it took buyer’s premium (all 16% of it!) to nearly match the lower estimate band with a 988,320 euros (£840,072) valuation by the buyer of a winged 1980 BMW M1 Procar.
A remaining in Europe 1971 Ferrari 365GTB/4 Daytona realised a close to top estimate 533,600 euros (£453,560) and a 1997 Porsche 993 Cup 3.8 RSR a within guide 510,400 euros (£433,840) from a French bidder.
Star turns here were a 2004 Ferrari Enzo in Nero Daytona with 9,500k deprecation for an appreciated 3,910,000 euros (£3,323,500), while a usually sought after 1969 Miura P400S in receipt of Edmond Ciclet directed restoration in the late 1980s achieved a Lambo bullish 954,500 euros (£811,325) in 2020s.
The 1981 Geneva Salon exhibited Countach, a statistically rare low-body version in Blu Notte Metallizzato, found a friend with 621,000 euros (£527,850)  and a Mille Miglia eligible 1951 Maserati A6 1500/3C Gran Turismo fed by triple Webers changed keepers for the first time in 30 years for 460,000 euros (£391,000).

Amelia Island and Miami Headliners - By contrast, in the far more boomy US of A, where Free World Leadership could soon be contested by one ‘Past His Sell By Date Sleepy’ or a ‘Putin Friendly Anti-Nato Narcissist’, there were four auctions in one State in one weekend.
For the reality from the Broad Arrow, Gooding and Bonhams residencies at Amelia Island, and RM Sotheby’s relocated gig at inaugural ModaMiami, was a 5% hike from a premium-inclusive $178m (£138,84m) spent at these market testing auctions in 2023 to this year’s $186m (£145,080) 83% sold sales total.
While 4% fewer cars sold in Florida this year than last and 4% fewer made more than top estimate prices, the $474,390 (£370,804) average auction price  was 5.7% more than in 2023.
The most extraordinary valuation, and by more than $8m (£6.24m) too, was the perceived to be unfashionable 1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60hp ‘Roi des Belges’ from 121 years of original family ownership that was hammered by the Gooding & Co Dynamic Duo for a mighty $12,105,000 (£9,441,900).
Other Gooding Top Tenners were 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial S1 Spider sold for $3,995,000 (£3,116,100), a 1973 365GTS/4 Daytona Spider $3,635,000 (£2,835,300) and 2015 Porsche 918 Weissach Spyder $3,525,000 (£2,749,500).
Broad Arrow’s auction leader was a 1967 Ford GT40, so a real one, sold for $4,405,000 (£3,435,900). A 2022 vintage Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport fetched $4,047,500 (£3,157,050) under their gavel and a 1973 Ferrari 365GTS/4 Daytona Spider $3,305,000 (£2,577,900).
RM Sotheby’s Miami results were headed by a 1953 Ferrari 250 Europa Coupe sold for $4,295,000 (£3,350,100), a 1930 Duesenberg Model J ‘Disappearing Top’ Convertible-Coupe £3,855,000 (£3,006,900) and a 1990 F40 $3,360,000 (£3,006,900).

Iconic's Race Retro sales uplifted to Northamptonshire   In the UK meanwhile, due to the closure of the flooded Stoneleigh Showground, Iconic are to be applauded for relocating their Race Retro Sales rostrum and all 116 of their clients' auction cars to a fortuitously vacant Silverstone F1 circuit 'The Wing’.
As at the NEC, Iconics’ top seller was a Group B car. 1984 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, Number 176 of the 200 homologated, UK registered and repainted with distressed seat bolsters, had been reportedly driven less than 10,000 miles before selling at the Northamptonshire circuit for £227,250 with premium, a new UK record price for a 205 T16 road car (one of 6 such milestone prices at this sale)..
A world record price of £83,250 meanwhile (one of four clocked at Silverstone) was paid for Rowan Atkinson’s 3,800 miles from new in 2015 Land Rover Heritage Defender 110.. Other auction world records achieved included  2001 Mitsubishi EVO VI RS Tommi Makinen Monte Carlo Edition sold for £99,000, 1982 Talbot Sunbeam Lotus S2 £56,250 and 1962 Opel Manta 400r £90,000.
Another record buster was a 2015 Jaguar F Type Project 7, one of 80 from Jag Special Vehicle Operations driven just 71 miles, which had been forecast to sell for £110,000-130,000, but sold for £137,250.
A 1947 mile 2004 BMW M3 E46 CSL sold for £136,125, an ex-Richard Burns WRC 1998 Mitsubishi Lancer GSR Evo VT for £81,000, a 1990 Peugeot 205GTI 1.9 Special Edition with 6,233 mileage £42,500, and a 2002 Honda S2000 GT driven £1,179 miles.
A 328 mile 1987/2021 BMW M3 E30 2-Door CSL - enhanced and evolved by Redux - sold for £258,750. While a duo of big winged 1987 Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth 3-Doors both took off, Number 406 raising £123,720 and Number 255 £82,250.
By end of Saturday play, 38 or 59% of 64 Collector Cars sold for a premium-inclusive £2,792,282, an average of £74,481 per car bought. The day before, there were also buyers with an additional premium-inclusive £1,254,245 for 23 Competition Cars, amounting to £54,532 each.

Unsold Stats in EU, US and UK - Before auctioneers’ gavels were cold, vendors reserves were too much in the current market in Paris for 13 unsold cars at RM Sotheby’s, 16 more on the Bonhams carpet and 17 in the Artcurial catalogue.
Then in Florida, 79 cars were too expensive for bidders to register or bid, up from 58 unsold in 2023. At Amelia Island, there were 17 no sales at Gooding, 26 at Bonhams, 12 at Broad Arrow this year and 23 unsold at RM Sotheby’s in Miami. Back in the UK at Iconic, 26 road cars were returned to vendors and there were no new owner-drivers for 29 race and rally cars.
One-way journeys - without reserves - will progressively become more popular with those who need to disperse cars to raise and save money, rather than continue to fund storage charges and increasing insurance premiums for classic liabilities that go nowhere. RH-E

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