What Is Going On?
“May you live in an interesting age” is a curse attributed to Chinese sources. These days are an “interesting age.” It was ten days ago that I left for Amelia Island. Things were tentative. COVID-19 was largely confined to China but cases were showing up in northern Italy and Iran. There was some trepidation upon […]
Mecum Auctions, Osceola Heritage Park, Kissimmee, January 3-12, 2020 — Part II: Ford-Watson
This is Part II of Mecum Kissimmee, starting with Fords and ending with Watson (as in legendary Indy mechanic, crew chief and constructor A.J. Watson.) It’s a little shorter than Part I, mostly because it doesn’t have to include all those Camaros and Corvettes. It does, however, include the highlight of the auction calendar’s first […]
Mecum Auctions, Osceola Heritage Park, Kissimmee, January 2-12, 2020
When Mecum set up shop in Kissimmee eleven years ago it was an audacious bet that the team from Marengo, Illinois could – from scratch, without any tradition and a week before the long-established Scottsdale auctions – build a big mainstream collector car auction in the fields of central Florida. And have they ever done […]
Barrett-Jackson, WestWorld, Scottsdale, January 11-20, 2020
There’s a big gorilla in Scottsdale. It’s called Barrett-Jackson. The 2020 total not only was the best of all the Scottsdale auctions, it was the only one that increased from 2019 and it was Barrett-Jackson’s highest total ever. That’s in a year that’s showing modest but consistent declines from 12 months ago. Is there something […]
Leake Auctions, Salt River Fields, Scottsdale, January 16-19, 2020
Leake Auctions, claiming to be the oldest established collector car auction in the U.S., arrived in Scottsdale in 2020 after years in Oklahoma and Texas. But this is not the old Leake Auctions led by Richard and Nancy Sevenoaks. This is the new Leake Auctions led by Gary and Muffy Bennett and backed by the […]
RM Sotheby’s, Arizona Biltmore, January 17, 2020
RM Sotheby’s experienced the same paradigm shift as most of the other Arizona auctions, a shortage of expensive cars and a general shift to more accessible consignments. The median transaction was the lowest since 2011; the average sale was the lowest since 2012 which also marked the last time RM had a total sale this […]
Gooding & Company, Fashion Square, Scottsdale, January 17-18, 2020
Gooding & Company had the top sale of the Arizona auction week, Ferrari F50 sold for $3,222,500. Gooding sold eight lots on hammer bids of $1 million or more and missed on only one 7-figure car. That sounds impressive, but in fact the average and median sale values, not to mention the two-day total of […]
Bonhams, Westin Kierland, Scottsdale, January 18, 2020
It’s tough to put up big auction numbers when there are only a few 7- or 8-figure cars and in Bonhams case at Scottsdale this year there were only two, of which one sold. That was a Ferrari 212 Inter Vignale Cabriolet s/n 0159E. The no-sale was more consequential, 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Figoni […]
Scottsdale and Paris 2020 Auctions
While this belated report on the overall Scottsdale auctions was caused by the proximity of the three Paris auctions it also is an opportunity to put both of them in perspective. The numbers are a good place to start: Year Cars Sold/ Offered Sale % Average Sale Median Sale Total $ Change Exchange Rate Scottsdale […]
Bonhams, Bond Street, London, December 7, 2019
December 7, 1941 is, “a date which will live in infamy” and while that may also seem to be true for Bonhams December 7, 2019 auction at their New Bond Street headquarters the result there has prior parallels for this venue that makes it less of a bellwether than it might seem. In any event, […]