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Next up of the 'Big Hitters', our own small team started its
European auction year at home in Geneva on 11th March during the
famous Salon de l'Automobile. The sale was focused around the
'S' Collection, assembled by a German aristocrat over the past
30 years and concentrating on post-war open-top sports cars. The
two highlights of the collection were an open headlamp, disc-braked
Ferrari 250GT California LWB Spyder which sold to the UK for
SFR 1,0958,000, whilst the stunning
Ferrari 250GT Nembo Spyder (one of just two made and surely
one of the best looking of all Ferraris) fell short of reserve
at SFR 950,000.
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From the same collection, an unrestored
Ferrari Daytona Spyder did well to achieve SFR 580,000 to
a Geneva enthusiast who will restore it, and the delivery mileage,
US specification
Ferrari 328GTS is off to England for SFR 100,000. A scruffy
Ferrari
275 GTB/6C, converted to long nose in the past, was good value
at SFR 214,000, whilst the
Ferrari 330 GTS Spyder sailed past its estimate, selling to
Hong Kong for a shade under SFR 300,000 and confirming the ever
greater interest in the 275/330/365 series of Ferrari spyders.
Talking of anomalies, it makes you wonder why the Maserati equivalents
are not worth more - the Maserati
Mistral Spyder, which cost almost the same amount new as the
Ferrari and was built in similar numbers as the 330, was sold
for virtually 1/4 of the price (SFR 78,800). Either Maserati road
cars are hopelessly undervalued or Ferraris over-hyped (I leave
you to decide…).
Elsewhere in the sale, a rare AC
428 Convertible surprised at an above-estimate price of SFR
116,000, an as-new Aston
Martin Virage was great value at SFR 94,000, a mint 1949
Bentley VI Cresta Convertible drew applause at a surprise
SFR 292,000 (there were restoration bills for £120,000),
and the bargain of the sale had to be the delivery mileage
Jaguar XJ220 at just SFR 203,000 (albeit tax free). Apparently
none of the other bidders thought it was selling for that price,
which begs the question: why not put your hand up?
All in all, a fine sale which we were very pleased with, achieving
70% sold under the hammer and a further three cars sold afterwards.
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The last major fixture in March was Christie's at the Jack Barclay
showrooms in South London, not the smartest part of town, but
a venue with its own character which Christie's have been successful
in turning into a niche sale venue. With just 23 cars in the beautifully
presented catalogue, this was a small sale but saw one or two
very strong results. Who would believe £ 62,000 for a 1954
Porsche 356? Even though it had covered just 12,000 miles
from new, this was a bog-standard 356, not a Carrera, and is typical
of the results Christie's sometimes achieve for very low mileage
classics.
It seems amazing that the 202 mph Porsche
959 in the same sale made just £28,000 more…
Elsewhere in this bijoux sale, the
Bentley S1 Continental Fastback, which looked lovely, was
knocked down for a fair £60,000 (a far cry from the price
achieved for the Elton John Fastback in 2001, which the vendor
probably hoped to repeat), an Italian registered Ferrari
250GT Series II cabriolet was snapped up for £105,000,
the Jaguar
XJ220 was not sold at a claimed bid of £110,000
(if you bought one of these new you have my sympathies), and
the Maserati
4CLT single-seater, which had been around a bit, finally found
a good home with an enthusiastic Hong Kong collector at £250,000.
But surely the most amazing result had to be for the
1975 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Landaulette, ideal if you own
a nightclub or a Third World country but a car with a somewhat
limited market. It was knocked down to everyone's amazement for
almost double the top estimate at £190,000.
A good sale which Christie's can be proud of, and top marks for
catalogue presentation.
March therefore saw plenty of activity in the auction world, contrasting
with most dealers who reported that trading was quiet. It is the
same old story: top quality items fresh to the market are bringing
big money, but with anything else, unless the price is keen, most
buyers will probably pass.
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