JANUARY-MARCH 2025 AUCTION STATS
Despite the stalling of a mismanaged, overtaxed and under-performing economy with too many unproductive passengers to feed, sale rates for non-essential classic toys auctioned have been holding up extraordinarily well, under some, but not all gavels.
A quintet of 1980 Hot Hatchbacks transacted for new world record prices at the NEC during an 85% sold CCA Iconic Practical Classics Show weekend, when the 1989 Ford Escort RS Turbo S2 in the above photo with just 5,673 mileage rom new achieved £50,625.
For who could have predicted that 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Stromlinienwagen Grand Prix chassis 00009/54 that had been gifted by Daimler-Benz AG to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1965 would sell for a record race car 51,155,000 euros (£42,458,650) in an RM Sotheby’s 100% sold single car auction in the M-B Museum in Stuttgart 1 February 2025.
Or that the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours winning Ferrari 250LM would fetch another record 34,880.000 euros (£28,950,000) under the same gavel in Paris during the auction house’s Retromobile week sales, the first of which also saw all 73 cars auctioned sell in a 100% sold Day 1 sale.
But then Bonhams On-Line EU also sold all 20 cars offered on the European mainland in February and March.
| Auctioneer | Location | Date | Premium | Sold/ Offered | % Sold | Sale Total |
|
ACA (Drive-Through)
| King's Lynn, Norfolk | 25-26 Jan | 8% | 208/232 | 90% | £1,541,307 |
|
SWVA (Drive-Through)
| Poole, Dorset | 30 Jan | 8% | 51/55 | 93% | £265,295 |
|
Bonhams Cars UK OnLine (Timed Out)
| Milton Park, Oxforshire | 01-31 Jan | 7% | 53/57 | 93% | £1,583,000 |
|
RM Sotheby's
| M-B Museum, Stuttgart | 1 Feb | 15% | 01-Jan | 100% | £42,458,650 |
|
RM Sotheby's
| Salles du Carrousel, Paris | 4-5 Feb | 15% | 94/110 | 85% | £54,500,125 |
|
Bonhams
| Grand Palais, Paris | 6 Feb | 15% | 87/96 | 91% | £14,122,906 |
|
Artcurial
| Retromobile, Paris | 7-8 Feb | 16% | 101/126 | 80% | £17,641,384 |
|
H&H
| Pavilion Gardens, Buxton | 12 Feb | 12.5% | 57/80 | 81% | £689,812 |
|
Manor Park Classics
| Ikon House, Runcorn | 15 Feb | 12.5% | 89/102 | 87% | £1,052,992 |
|
Morris Leslie (Drive-Through)
| Errol Airfield, Perthshire | 15 Feb | 8% | 68/128 | 53% | £275,220 |
|
Brightwells (Timed-Out)
| Leominster, Herefordshire | 19 Feb | 12% | 70/94 | 74% | £539,451 |
|
Iconic
| Race Retro, Stoneleigh Park | 22 Feb | 12.5% | 66/97 | 68% | £4,290,243 |
|
Bonhams Cars UK OnLine (Timed Out)
| Milton Park, Oxfordshire | 01-28 Feb | 7% | 31/35 | 88% | £1,138,630 |
|
Hampson
| Bolesworth Castle, Cheshire | 9 March | 12.5% | 73/100 | 73% | £895,218 |
|
CCA Iconic
| Practical Classics Show, NEC | 22-23 March | 12.5% | 149/176 | 85% | £2,505,305 |
|
Bonhams Cars UK OnLine (Timed-Out)
| Milton Park, Oxfordshire | 01-31 March | 7% | 52/56 | 93% | £1,064,000 |
|
Bonhams Cars EU OnLine (Timed-Out)
| Milton Park, Oxfordshire | Feb-March | 7% | 20/20 | 100% | £616,259 |
SWVA recorded a UK-topping 93% sale rate in their season opening Drive-Through at Poole and there were buyers for 232 cars, 90% of the 232 driven past the ACA rostrum at King’s Lynn.
This was a record busting quarter at UK provincial sales led by the world record £562,500 invested in the future of a Prodrive P25 ‘P25 AYO’, one of 25 based on the lightweight WRX STi 2-door shell to have been reimagined, redefined and recreated 2,000-2004 by the Banbury firm that had only been depreciated by being driven just 121 miles from new.
And making record money during the CCA Iconic sales in Brum, where 86% of 100 entries sold Saturday and 82% of 76 Sunday cars were also rehomed, including the meticulously recommissioned 1988 Fiat Uno Turbo ie in the photo below that achieved £30,375. An even rarer, well restored and 1985 vintage Fiat Strada Abarth 130TC raised £20,250, both Italians making record money. RH-E
