Latest Market commentary from CCFS auction analyst Richard Hudson-Evans - 30/03/15
The latest overview for the top end of the market from the $101.04m (£68,71m) results of the three mid-March auctions on Amelia Island in Florida is that buyers of 9 out of every 10 consigned cars spent a record average of £285,104 per classic acquisition.
After a $60.3m day, 67% more than last year and a record auction gross for Amelia Concours week, RM Sotheby’s sold 98% of the 101 cars in their catalogue, 13 of them achieving million-dollar-plus results. One of them, and the top Brit at the Florida sales this year, was a production customer race 1955 Jaguar D Type snapped crossing the RM block by lensman Darrin Schnabel, whose image illustrates the commentary this week.
With an extraordinarily sideways ice racing past in the hands of private owner-driver and Finland Davis Cup tennis player Kurt Lincoln and later Timo Makinen, the only D Type to have ever raced in the Soviet Union, where chassis XKD 530 won the Formula Libre Class at the 1961 Leningrad GP, sold for $3,675,000 (£2.5m). Indeed, by the end of the sale, several new auction record prices had been paid by successful bidders, 22% of whom were new to the house database.
Superstar of the sale, and one of the new world record price holders, was 1960 Ferrari Superamerica SWB Cabriolet chassis 1945 SA which was driven across the Ritz Carlton stage into new ownership for $6,380,000 (£4.34m) with proceeds benefitting the education of children.
Providing further proof of Ferrari’s dominance at the top of the market, additional lots to generate strong valuations in public auction here included a genuine factory-opened 1972 365GTB/4 Daytona Spider sold for $3,300,000 (£2.24m) and a 1972 365GTC/4 for a record $495,000 (£336,600). The time warp 1971 365GTB/4 Daytona Berlinetta, dubbed ‘The Condo Find’, fetched $770,000 (£523,600), a new high for a shabby car deserving the first full restoration.
A 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV raised $2,310,000 (£1.57m), the 1990 Daytona 24 Hours winning IMSA 1988 Jaguar XJR-9 in Castrol livery $2,145,000 (£1.46m) and the first 1955 Austin-Healey 100S built and the only one supplied in Spruce Green $1,012,000 (£688,160).
More recent rolling assets - ‘emerging collectibles’ which appeal to new players with new money - also did particularly well. For a six-speed manual 2007 Ferrari 599GTB nearly tripled its pre-sale estimate at $682,000, smashing the previous auction record for the model. A brace of 512s also exceeded expectations, with a 1995 F512M selling for $462,000 (£314,160) and a 1980 512BB realising $418,000 (£284,240).
Porsche prices continue to rise, it seems, a 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Touring selling for $891,000 (£605,880), and a 1988 911 Turbo ‘Slant Nose’ Cabrio for $363,000 (£246,840). A 1979 911 Turbo brought $253,000 (£172,040), while a Japanese high flier, a 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z 432, surpassed its estimate to raise a record-breaking $253,000 (£172,040).
The previous day, Gooding sold 76 or 89% of their 85 lots for $26.97m (£18.34m), seven of them for an excess of $1m and 13 for record prices, an average of $354,831 (£241,285) being spent per car. Once again, the top sellers were Ferraris, an impeccable 1967 Ferrari 275GTB/4 selling for $3,300,000 (£2.24m), a 1961 250GT Series II Cabrio for $2,090,000 (£1.42m) and a 1991 F40 $1,622,500 (£1.1m).
Two Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadsters changed hands, a 1963 example selling for $1,275,000 (£867,000) and a 1957 car for $1,237,500(£841,500). A record $1,237,500 (£841,500) was forthcoming for a 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 RSR with period race history, $973,500 (£661,980) for a 1996 993 GT2, $440,000 (£299,200) for a 1997 993 Turbo S and $330,000 (£224,400) for a 1994 964 Turbo 3.6. A record $561,000 (£381,480) was paid for a 1974 Ferrari Dino 246GTS and a 1951 Lotus MkIIIB made a mighty $247,500 (£168,300) to set yet another record.
The previous day at the Fernandina Beach Gold Club, Bonhams held their first Amelia Island auction, which attracted bidders from the US and across Europe with others from another three continents participating on the telephones and via the internet buying 66 or 79% of the 84 cars on offer for $13.95m (£9.49m).
For pre-WW2 American automobiles, this sale was particular momentous. For an exquisitely preserved 1930 Cord Model L-29 Town Car with coachwork by Murphy persuaded a US collector to part with $1,760,000 (£1.2m). A beautifully restored 1908 American Underslung Roadster was the subject of a protracted bidding battle and set a new world auction record at $1,738,000 (£1,181,840). A super fast for 1932 Stutz DV32 Super Bearcat made $1,012,000 (£688,160) and a 1912 Peerless Model 60 Runabout $440,000 (£299,200), while the minimalist EMF Model 30 Factory Racer from 1911 was bought for $242,000 (£164,560).
The 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I with Transformable Phaeton coachwork by Hibbard and Darrin and sepia photo-recorded Marlene Dietrich provenance sold for a healthy $742,500 (£504,900). Yet more new world auction record prices were achieved for a 1981 BMW M1 Coupe sold for $605,000 (£411,400), a 1952 Alfa Romeo 1900C Sprint Coupe for $415,800 (£282,744) and a 1980 Ferrari 512BB for $359,700 (£244,596).
Bonhams next pitch their auction tent at this weekend’s Members Meeting at Goodwood Circuit, where another 67 collector cars will face an audience of potential buyers Saturday 21 March afternoon from 2pm.
Recent sale rates in the UK have ranged from 61% of CCA entries selling at Silverstone 3 March to 78% of Brightwells cars sold at Leominster 4 March. 76% of cars sold at the Historics 7 March sale at Brooklands and 69% at the Coys 10 March sale in Westminster. While 336 changes of ownership were achieved at the four auctions within the one week, bidders did reject 115 classics, just over 25% of the total number of cars offered, which had to be trailed home unsold.