Broad Arrow, Monterey, August 18, 2022
Broad Arrow is, despite the decades of experience of its team, the new kid on the block. Started just a year or so ago, it gained support from Hagerty which then was morphing from a privately held company to publicly traded after a merger with a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) led by Rob Kaufmann […]
The 2022 Monterey Auctions
One 7-figure Car Short of Half a Billion Dollars First, an explanation of why this report is so late. I returned from Monterey with Covid, then gave it to my wife. The last week of August and the first one of September were a write-off to our recoveries which was without complications or hospitalization. […]
Mecum Auctions, Harrisburg, PA, July 27-30, 2022
The onset of inflation became top-of-mind at Mecum’s Harrisburg sale over four days at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. Many prices during the height of the action on Friday and Saturday were beyond generous, almost as if bidders were disposing of current dollars for inflation-protected physical assets that would inflate along with gasoline […]
Bonhams, Goodwood Festival of Speed, June 24, 2022
Although I’ve never been to Goodwood, whether it’s the Members Meeting, the Festival of Speed or the Revival, reliable reports are that these are some of the best events of the collector car year. Goodwood is all about running the cars, whether it’s around the race course or up the hill. It’s about the drivers, […]
Barrett-Jackson, Las Vegas, June 30-July2, 2022
Las Vegas has long seemed like Barrett-Jackson’s spiritual home, a place where glitz and gambling are part of the atmosphere, where Barrett-Jackson’s showmanship and promotion fits like a glove. B-J’s clients have agreed, consigning 600-700 cars almost every year and seemingly effortlessly selling nearly everything that crossed the block even during the early 2010’s when […]
Dana Mecum’s Spring Classic, State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, May 13-21, 2022
Although Dana Mecum’s Spring Classic auction at Indianapolis is now consistently overshadowed by the January extravaganza in Kissimmee it is still a gargantuan presentation with a nearly unparalleled consignment of cars. There is, literally, something for everyone scattered among the Fairgrounds’ many buildings (some aptly named for their agricultural origins with designations like “Sheep” and […]
Bonhams, Greenwich, June 5, 2022
After a diversion in 2021 with an online sale with previews at Hagerty’s “Garage + Social” in Bedford Hills, NY, Bonhams returned to Greenwich in 2022, albeit on the parking lot of insurance company W.R. Berkley on the hillside above the Delamar Hotel and Roger Sherman Baldwin Park’s Greenwich Concours. Pulled together in weeks, Bonhams […]
RM Sotheby’s, Grimaldi Forum, Monte Carlo, Monaco — May 14, 2022
RM Sotheby’s returned to the seafront Grimaldi Forum during the GP Historique week in Monaco. Located only a block from the GP circuit’s Portier corner, the music of historic GP cars is a delightful counterpoint to viewing and selling the cars in the auction. Grimaldi Forum is a modern exhibition hall, ideally suited for […]
Bonhams, Monaco, May 13, 2022
Bonhams returned to Monaco in 2022 during the resumption of the Monaco GP Historique, putting Covid behind them with a new location in the Fairmont Hotel. It was an auspicious start to re-establish the Monaco presence, time to begin a new tradition. The Fairmont is certainly that: First class, luxurious, even posh and part of […]
RM Sotheby’s, Amelia Island, March 5, 2022
There was something for [almost] everyone in RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island auction. The only category missing was American Muscle Cars, and of that category we’ve had plenty in Kissimmee and Scottsdale. Notable were a varied assortment of classics. Some of them were in in concours condition with some of the finest coachwork of the era, […]