Around the houses, April 2012
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News from the main auction houses around the world
Gooding & Company
When you sell 98 per cent of 118 lots up for auction it’s safe to say that it was a successful event. That’s exactly what Gooding and Company managed on January 20/21 at its Scottsdale sale, along with breaking 13 world sales records and knocking down two cars for more than $3 million (£1.9m). Sadly one of the lots that didn’t even make it to the sale was the star attraction that we mentioned in the February issue — the 1956 Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa Scaglietti spider.
However, almost every other car found a new home and over 10 per cent of the £25.2m total was accounted for by one car: the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 3005L. Gullwings have been escalating, and this one fetched £2.9m.
There were plenty of Ferraris in the sale and top of that list was a stunning 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider that eventually sold for £2.5m. Other Italian exotica included an absolutely immaculate 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV that went for £697,000. Immediately after the hammer dropped on the final lot in Scottsdale, Gooding and Company was already looking forward to its Amelia Island sale on March 9. The auction house has announced that it will sell the Drendel Family Collection of 18 Porsches that includes some fantastic racers from the German manufacturer.
Spearheading these will be one of four examples of the 1973 917/30 Can-Am Spyder (£2-2.5m). Chassis 917-30-004 was sold new to Australian Porsche importer Alan Hamilton before being repurchased by the Porsche factory. The 1000bhp turbocharged flat 12 is on the button and the car has recently been raced at the Monterey Historics.
The list of other Porsches is as staggering as it is extensive — a 1984 Porsche 962 that won the Daytona 24 Hours twice (£1.1-1.4m), a development 1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera 2.14 (£1.1-1.4m), the first 1976 Porsche 935/76 to be built (£1.1-1.3m), one of four factory 1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Evolutions (570760,000), a Le Mans 24 Hours class-winning 1975 Porsche 934 (£500-630,000) and even the only McLaren-Porsche MP4/3 F1 car still in private hands (£280-380,000). It is certainly one of the most impressive collections of racing cars from one manufacturer we have seen for a very long time.
If you’re not a Porsche fan then Gooding and Company has also lined up a 1953 Fiat 8V Zagato (£475-570,000), a 1956 MercedesBenz 3005L Gullwing (£440-570,000) and even a 1947 Ford Sportsman (£140-170,000).
RM Auctions
An 89 per cent sell rate and £16m worth of machinery may not stack up quite so well against Gooding and Company’s Scottsdale auction, but RM had some wonderful cars for sale in its Arizona auction on January 19/20. The top sale went to a 1957 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Scaglietti coupe (£1.15m), while other Ferraris also sold well including a 1991 Ferrari F40 (£495,160) and a 1963 Ferrari 250 Lusso Berlinetta with Targa history (£620,700).
There were one or two other in the sale, with a 1952 K2 ‘Factory Special’ selling for £74,905. the 1962 Lotus 23B £82,315, but didn’t sell. RM Auctions has confirmed it sell the Saltarelli collection 100 Ducati motorbikes at its on May 11/12 in Carlo Saltarelli was a factory test rider, racer dealer, and has amassed a selection of The highlight is certainly the 1970 ex-works Ducati 450 Desmo ‘Corsa’, but there is also a 1990 ex-works Ducati 888 Superbike, two Ducati 750SS from 1973/4 and ’75 and a 1956 Ducati 125 Moto Giro F3 up for grabs. All estimates are available on request.
In the less distant future RM is preparing itself for its Amelia Island sale on March 10. 100 cars will be offered, which include a 1934 Packard Twelve Dietrich Convertible Victoria (POA), a 1929 Cord L-29 Hayes Coupe (790950,000) and a restored 1959 Jaguar XK120 Alloy roadster (£180-230,000).
Mecum
Although Mecum managed to sell £38m worth of cars at its Kissimmee auction on January 24-29, the NASCARs that we flagged up in the February edition — the ex-Bill Elliott 1992 Ford Thunderbird and the ex-Kevin Harvick 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS — failed to sell.
The 1961 Chevrolet Corvette Gulf car that topped the SCCA B-Production National Championship that year also failed to find a new home, but did reach a high bid of £538,280. BONHAMS — At its Retromobile sale on February 2 Bonhams sold the sole surviving 1925 Delage D8-105S streamlined coupe which we featured in last month’s issue for an impressive £267,340. Other lots included a 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT that fetched £839,800 and a 1959 Ferrari 250GT Pininfarina coupe which achieved £200,410. The ex-works/ Louis Rosier 1956 TalbotLago T14 Special coupe also found a new home for £133,600.
And in case you’re wondering whether Motor Sport‘s art editor or the associate editor are now proud owners of the 1978 FIAT 900T Ferrari service van featured in last month’s issue, that was sadly not to be. However, the wonderful unrestored piece of mobile history did sell for well above its £5-7500 estimate, making £14,790. Bonhams also had a good first sale in Scottsdale on January 19 after it sold £3.9m worth of lots. The cover star of the sale — the Marlene Dietrich 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Transformable Phaeton — sold for £331,350.
Bonhams
On March 3 Bonhams will hold its Oxford sale and has announced that a 1961 Ferrari 250GTE 2+2 Series 1 coupe, once owned by Italian producer Agostino De Laurentiis, will be ‘crossing the block’. The barn find, which carries an estimate of £40-60,000, hasn’t been driven since 1976, as its tax disc confirms.
Artcurial
Of course, the Bonhams sale wasn’t the only auction at Retromobile as on February 3 French company Artcurial also held its annual sale, which this year realised a whopping £12m. Although the ex-Roger Vadim 1959 Ferrari 250GT California Spyder LWB sold for £3.7m and a 1956 Ferrari 250GT Boano went for £396,000, the most unbelievable sale was a 1965 Citroen 2CV that went for £49,430. No, that isn’t a misprint; a 2CV sold for nearly £50,000. No surprises that it was a world record sum for the model, but then this version was in the rarest spec of all — the upmarket California version — and had astonishingly clocked up only 116 miles from new.
Ninety per cent of all 102 cars offered for sale found buyers, and among those was the ex-Nigel Mansell Ferrari F40 that sold for £313,210.
Coys
The Richmond-based auction house sold several racers at its Autosport International sale on January 15 including an ex-Colin McRae 2002 Ford Focus which he used to win that year’s Acropolis Rally (£130,600) and a 1969 Alfa Romeo GTA historic racer (£46,600). A 1991 Ford R5200 Evo (£126,120), a 1968 Bizzarrini 5300GT (£242,600) and a 1994 Jaguar XJ220 (£130,600) also found their way to new owners.