RM Sotheby’s, Portola Plaza, Monterey, August 12-14, 2021
RM Sotheby’s returned to their Monterey form in 2021, putting together a smaller consignment that overflowed with quality vehicles. RM fluctuates between two and three day auctions with the third day usually being a single collection or a themed consignment as in 2019 when the Thursday sale was all Aston Martin. This year the Thursday […]
Mecum Auctions, Del Monte Golf Course, August 12-14, 2021
Mecum came off a lowball year in 2019 to score its highest sale total in the Monterey sale’s thirteen year history as well as the highest sell-through rate at 77%, 15 points higher that the best-ever performance in 2012. The seven-figure lots were equally impressive with sixteen lots bid to a million dollars or more […]
Gooding & Company, Pebble Beach, August 13-14, 2021
Gooding & Company came back strongly after the “Geared Online” auction they presented in lieu of their usual Pebble Beach auction in 2020. This was in many ways a typical Gooding auction with many transactions taking place at eye-popping prices and their McLaren F1 capturing the week’s top sale. Even million dollar lots did well. […]
Bonhams, Quail Lodge, August 13, 2021 – A study in contrast
Bonhams 2021 Quail Lodge auction was an unmitigated success. It is a sharp contrast with the online only 2020 auction and the used car lot auction they held here in 2019. The enhanced emphasis on quality consignments instead of number of “units” that characterized 2019 is apparent in the total changing hands, the average and […]
The 2020/2021 Monterey Auctions
The 2021 Monterey auctions don’t stand alone and must be considered first with respect to the canceled 2020 Monterey Car Week and second in comparison with the notably weak 2019 auctions. With respect to 2020, there was a restrained but appreciative attitude among the auction companies, bidders and onlookers. It was a joy to be […]
Mecum Auctions, Orlando Summer Special, July 28-31, 2021
Mecum Auctions never misses an opportunity. Having made a monster success of the auction at Kissimmee, Florida in January (the Anti-Scottsdale) they seized an opportunity to put on another auction in Orlando in August. Central Florida in August, however, is brutally hot and humid. Mecum’s solution was to secure the air conditioned Orlando Convention Center […]
Bonhams, Goodwood Festival of Speed, July 9, 2021
The only problem with doing this auction remotely is that it invites reviewing hours of professional video of the cars in the Festival of Speed, not in the Bonhams auction. A cagey conclusion: The Goodwood Festival of Speed in July or the Goodwood Revival in September are events no one who loves competition cars should […]
Barrett-Jackson, Las Vegas Convention Center, June 17-19, 2021
Since its first event in 2008 Barrett-Jackson’s Las Vegas auction has been held at the Mandalay Bay in late September-early October. But no less than holding the Scottsdale extravaganza in March the Las Vegas date shifted to mid-June and at the new Convention Center. B-J can be glad it did because the $45,905,233 total (just […]
Mecum Auctions, Tulsa, OK, June 11-12, 2021
Mecum held its first Tulsa auction at the River Spirit Expo Center. Aside from being the site of the annual Chili Bowl dirt racing celebration River Spirit Expo also is the longtime home of Leake Auctions. And by longtime, we mean LONG time: 40+ years in Tulsa or nearby Muskogee. That string ended in 2017 […]
Gooding & Company, Geared Online, June 18, 2021
Gooding & Company continued its series of “Geared Online” auctions in June with this British-based auction conducted in £ Sterling. It is a good example of the flexibility of online auctions which are economically viable with a small consignment and can pop up like a Daytona’s headlights when there’s an opportunity. Gooding brought together an […]