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The following evening Bonhams were open for business at their
traditional venue in Prince Rainier's Motor Museum above Fontvieille's
harbour. The saleroom was packed and, after both Automobilia and
Watches had gone under the hammer, the cars were dispatched briskly.
Despite this, the two star lots failed to sell - both the Matra
and the D-Type suffering perhaps from over-exposure having been
offered before during the past two years. The sale was characterised
by a large number of Dutch cars from two Netherlands-based collections,
most of which found buyers.
Euros 16,000 for a mint VW Beetle Cabriolet was impressive, but
Euros 172,000 for a Ferrari GTO Replica has a to be new record
(both prices plus premium). One wonders whether such a car should
be worth more than a standard, short-nosed 275 GTB?
Ferraris dominated the proceedings but surprisingly the most fiercely
contested models where all relatively new.
The first F50 built is off to America for Eur 395,000, two recent
550 Barchettas will doubtlessly have pleased fellow owners by
selling for Euros 215,000 and Euros 220,000 and a 'no stories'
288 GTO seemed good value at Euros 197,000 (all plus premium).
Oh, and Lancia Aurelia owners will be delighted to see a tidy
B24 Spyder America reaching a heady Euros 115,000, whilst an immaculately
restored Aurelia Convertible was not far behind at Euros 80,000,
again plus premium.
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Rockfeller Center, New York
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The last two sales of the month both took place in America at
new venues. 18th May saw Christie's setting up shop on the busy
streets of Manhattan, something of a logistical nightmare, but
a PR man's dream. The viewing attracted a huge crowd, but the
sale was poorly attended and results were mixed, with 24 out of
47 cars sold. The stunning Isotta Fraschini 8B Cabriolet was knocked
down to a telephone bidder for $1.2m and has to be one of the
prettiest pre-war formal cars ever made.
Finally, Canadian outfit RM offered cars and parts from the collection
of restorer Richard Freshman at an aircraft hangar in Santa Monica
on 25th May. The catalogue was beautifully presented and included
a number of gems including two Miller Indy cars, a brace of Porsche
356 Carreras and even a Mitsubishi Zero fighter plane!
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1958 Porsche 356 Carrera GS/GT Spdstr
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Sales results have not yet been released but initial accounts
say that attendance was disappointing, and most cars sold are
believed to have achieved around low estimate.
RM are nothing if not entrepreneurial and even a 250LM was offered
as a late entry (it didn't sell). Fuller results will follow in
next month's article.
Market overview? It's been a mixed couple of months and generally
speaking trading is down compared to the last couple of years.
There is a shortage of good cars on the market, and most of those
that do come up for sale tend to be either old news or over-priced.
Sellers don't need the money, and buyers don't want second best.
When the right car comes up, it still attracts strong interest
and if the seller has sensible expectations, he should not be
disappointed. The veterans mentioned early in my report prove
this, as do several private sales of 'big ticket' Ferraris in
the past few weeks at prices which would have been unheard of,
even a couple of months ago.
One last thing - can people please start collecting something
other than just Ferraris?
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