Bonhams, The Amelia Island Auction, March 3, 2022
Bonhams Amelia Island Auction was much like a return to the before-times with some wonderful cars, some long-static projects and a broad selection of pre-WWII classics and even half a dozen pre-WWI antiques. As the first of the surviving Amelia Island auctions it also was a chance to catch up with friends we haven’t seen […]
Gooding & Company, Scottsdale, January 28, 2022
Gooding & Company didn’t have an auction in Scottsdale this year. Instead, they held a live preview of the cars for a Geared Online auction at Bennett Dorrance’s posh Hangar 1 on the east side of Scottsdale airport. Gooding’s previous location adjacent to the Fashion Square Mall in downtown Scottsdale now appears to be a […]
RM Sotheby’s, Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix, January 27, 2022
RM Sotheby’s delivered its best Arizona auction results in five years, and it was in a single-day auction with just 69 cars in sharp contrast with 160 in 2017, 150 in 2016, 123 in 2015 and 126 in 2014 in their best two-day sales in 2017 back to 2014. The renewed focus on good stuff […]
Bonhams, Westin Kierland, Scottsdale, January 27, 2022
It felt good to get back to the verdant lawns, marquees and luxury Port-a-Potties in front of the Westin Kierland for Bonhams Scottsdale auction. The ’21 event was live previewed but with socially-distanced bidding largely on line and by phone. ’22 was all here, live, populated and up close and personal. Why were there only […]
Worldwide Scottsdale January 26, 2022
Worldwide Auctioneers opened the critical late week days of Scottsdale auction week, the first auction other than Barrett-Jackson selling cars. Their location, in Tempe physically, is conducive to the moderately-sized Worldwide concept and has the advantage of easy access, plentiful adjacent parking and a café on site that offers really good sandwiches and a pleasant […]
Barrett-Jackson 2022
Barrett-Jackson came back with a bang from the delayed 2021 Scottsdale auction, but more significantly from the years before with their low $100 million sale totals, putting up a record total that eased over $200 million with automobilia. It wasn’t that long ago where every possible transaction was pulled into the total to break $100 […]
Mecum Kissimmee 2022, Where Records Fell
“Pent up demand”? If there was ever such a thing it was at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction in January. First, the total: $204,267,329, a bit different from Mecum’s PR but this number is based upon their post-sale results list exclusive of “Road Art”, but still by a material amount beyond this year’s record-setting Barrett-Jackson vehicle auction […]
Bonhams, Goodwood Revival, September 18, 2021
Cataloging auction cars is an art requiring the cataloger to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, a Harold Arlen refrain made famous by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, among many others. There were some terrific cars in Bonhams Goodwood Revival auction in September, but a number of them had […]
RM Sotheby’s Jean Guikas Collection, Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France, August 19, 2021
For anyone with an appreciation of competition cars Circuit Paul Ricard – famous for its white curbs and red and blue painted runoff areas and the French Grand Prix – was the destination of choice on Friday August 19. Whether in person or on the interweb RM’s auction of the Guikas Collection was the place […]
RM Sotheby’s, London, November 6, 2021
Although RM has held plenty of auctions in London, both before and since teaming up with Sotheby’s, this was their first as the title sponsor of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (hereafter “LBVCR”). Previously the LBVCR-linked auction has been the province of Bonhams, along with the title sponsorship and participation of Bonhams stalwart […]