Bonhams, London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, London, November 1, 2019
Bonhams is the title sponsor for the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run and their auction on the Friday before the Run itself is part of the weekend’s celebration of British motoring’s Emancipation from the infamous Red Flag law in 1905. As the total sale figure of under $2 million shows, this isn’t much about […]
RM Sotheby’s, Olympia London, October 24, 2019
RM Sotheby’s moved both the date and the venue of its annual auction in London. The date slid 6 weeks later from the early September schedule of 2013-2018 while the venue moved to the Olympia exhibition and conference centre in Kensington. Neither seemed to have beneficial effect with the sale total the second lowest since […]
Barrett-Jackson, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, October 3-5, 2019
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” And while that may be appropriate for a philosopher it has little import for astute business managers, or at least those with larger minds. Barrett-Jackson has made consistency at its Las Vegas venue into a successful business, bringing a wide assortment of […]
Worldwide Auctioneers, Corpus Christi Old Car Museum, October 4-5, 2019
George Finley’s fascination with old vehicles knew no bounds, encompassing pretty much everything from pedal cars and motorcycles to paddle-shifted Ferraris. He also had a few notable passions such as his three Apollos and a serious affliction for 1938 Cadillacs. Of the latter there were seven in the Old Car Museum, and that doesn’t count […]
Bonhams, Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, Philadelphia, October 7, 2019
Bonhams has positioned this sale since its inception in 2012 as congruent with Dr. Fred Simeone’s “Preserving the Automobile” theme. In this they have been moderately successful – although sometimes the vision has been supplemented by some really nice, restored cars (like this year’s Austin-Healey 100M Le Mans). There were barn finds galore in Philly […]
Worldwide Auctioneers, Auburn, August 30-31, 2019
The big news from Worldwide Auctioneers in 2018 was their location’s move to their new headquarters in the former WWII Museum just across I-69 from the Auburn Auction Park. Somewhat surprisingly, considering the beyond-spacious facility encompassing over four acres inside, the consignment was down substantially – in fact by one-third – from last year’s cramped […]
RM Auctions Auburn Fall, August 30-September 1, 2019
Auburn Fall is a tradition, a gathering place to decompress after the non-stop action both on the auction blocks and in the endless events of Monterey. Along with the ACD Festival the same weekend, RM has turned Auburn Fall into an event itself with myriad activities for attendees and their families. Come, enjoy and even […]
Mecum Auctions, Monterey, August 15-17, 2019
Mecum’s “Daytime Auction” at Monterey was down 34.7% from last year, similar to the overall experience at Monterey this year. In Mecum’s case that was less unusual. As the table below shows, being up and down by a third has been a common experience at this venue and while this is the lowest total for […]
RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, August 15-17, 2019
RM Sotheby’s added a Thursday session for 34 Aston Martins, bringing their total consignment to 184 lots from last year’s 150. 64.7% of the Astons sold, not bolstering RM’s eventual 72.8% sell-through. But it was the Saturday appearance of the vaunted Porsche Type 64 (actually a modified Kraft durch Freude Wagen (the VW predecessor) Porsche […]
Gooding & Co., Pebble Beach, August 16-17, 2019
Like the other Monterey auctions Gooding & Co. ran up against a wall of indifference in 2019. The first challenge was consignors’ indifference. Not that there weren’t some great cars on offer at The Pebble Beach Auction, there were and as always displayed to advantage in Gooding’s spacious marquees. The issue was that none of […]