Motostalgia Auctions, Amelia Island, March 11, 2017
Motostalgia Auctions bills itself as the official auction company for the SVRA Amelia Island Vintage Gran Prix, an event that took place March 16-19, a week after the auction, SVRA’s third event of a busy winter season. Motostalgia’s results for 2017 were comparable with last year but actually reflected a better sale when it is […]
Artcurial Motorcars, Rétromobile, Paris, February 10, 2017
On the numbers Artcurial’s $34.7 million 2017 sale looks light, but that isn’t taking into account the $35 million sale of the Ferrari 335 Sport last year which had no comparable blockbuster in 2017. Then there was the $19.1 million sale of the Baillon Collection’s Ferrari 250 GT SWB Cal Spyder two years ago. Without […]
Bonhams, Le Grand Palais, Paris, February 9, 2017
In locating a collector car auction the auction companies’ inducement is to put an auction in a place where car collectors want to gather. That involves finding venues where there are attractions that appeal to collectors, where like-minded souls want to congregate with friends, where the accommodations and settings are friendly, with good food and […]
RM Sotheby’s, Place Vauban, Paris February 8, 2017
RM Sotheby’s kicked off the auctions in Paris during Rétromobile this year with a Wednesday evening sale of 77 lots. Pre-sale highlights included a Ferrari 275 GTB and 365 GTB/4 Daytona with period performance modifications, an Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3 Monoposto, the first Porsche 917/10 and a Porsche 959 Sport. Also scattered under the […]
Russo and Steele, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Scottsdale, Arizona January 18-22, 2017
Russo and Steele in 2017 made a long-awaited move some five years in the making to the Salt River Fields adjacent to the Loop 101 highway. It was vastly successful, with room for more cars, better access, excellent visibility and largely free of the scrub brush and prickly things that made the area surrounding the […]
Bonhams, Amelia Island, March 9, 2017
The Amelia Island auction week opened up with Bonhams on Thursday and its experience foreshadowed what would follow, difficulty in closing the deal on major lots but general success, even if at modest values, with moderately-priced lots. Just five lots achieved hammer bids over half a million dollars and only two of those, the […]
Worldwide Scottsdale 1/18/17
Worldwide Auctioneers, Scottsdale January 18, 2017 Worldwide Auctioneers joined the Scottsdale auction party in 2017 with a focused, realistic sale of 82 cars on the southern periphery of Scottsdale off McDowell Road. Set up in a good-sized tent on the site of a closed multi-marque new car dealership, they assembled a good collection of classics, […]
RM Sotheby’s, Ritz Carlton, Amelia Island, March 10-11, 2017
RM Sotheby’s expanded its Amelia Island auction to a second day this year to accommodate the collection of the late Orin Smith. The Smith cars were offered in a Friday session. All but one were sold without reserve. None of them were anything less than excellent whether in design or presentation. The Smith cars […]
Gooding & Company, Amelia Island, March 10, 2017
Don’t make the mistake of comparing the 2017 Gooding & Company Amelia Island total with that of 2016 which was buried in top quality cars from Jerry Seinfeld and a $17 million Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder. In fact, given the modest (for a Gooding sale) sell-through of 78.4% and the no-sale of the Jaguar […]