More than $116 million made in collector wheel deals at Monterey auctions
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The Pebble Beach weekend on the Monterey Peninsula last week is considered the country’s most prestigious showing of fine automobiles and, as such, attracts high rollers in the field of collector cars. There are five major auction houses with sales that take place during the weekend, from the more attainable Russo & Steele muscle car auction to the high-end Gooding & Co. auction, held at the famed Concours d’Elegance itself. Collector car market editor for Kelley Blue Book’s Collector Car guide, Phil Skinner, attended the auctions last week and reported back that, even in a down economy, collector cars are trading strong.
“The auctions associated with the Monterey week offered some of the finest automobiles available anywhere and willing collectors were stepping up to the plate, willing to pay top dollar for top quality as evidenced by the high number of multi-million dollar sales,’ Skinner said.
The Russo & Steele Auction offered 120 vehicles, sold 53 cars and had total sales plus commission of $3,941,245. The RM Monterey Sports Car Auction offered 189 units and sold 160 vehicles for total sales plus commission of $29,323,965. RM Auctions’ entire Nick Alexander’s Woodie Collection featured 51 units and sold for $7,021,308. The Mecum Auction had 222 lots, sold 98 units and made total sales of $13,067,355. Bonham’s Auctions House offered 102 lots, sold 59 units and made $13,193,083, and Gooding & Co.’s 159 lots offered made a whopping $50,759,350 from a total of 128 vehicles sold.
Pictured below are some of the prize vehicles that won top dollar as the hammer hit the auction table.
Top Russo & Steele bid: 1965 Shelby GT-350R fastback, used by the Shelby factory as a demonstrator and later in a factory sponsored driving school. This well-restored example was called sold with a bid of $360,000.
Top Woodie Collection bid: 1946 Mercury Sportsman convertible, one of just 205 produced with fewer than six known to exist, sold for $335,000.
Top Bonhams bid: 1933 Duesenberg Model J Torpedo Convertible Victoria, formerly owned by William “Hopalong Cassidy” Boyd, sold for $1.3 million.
Top RM bid: For RM’s regular Sports Car Auction, the historic 1952 Jaguar C-type racing car scored another win when the hammer fell at $2.3 million.
Top Gooding & Co bid: From Gooding & Co., the top-dollar car was a fabulous 1959 Ferrari 250 GT “California” Spyder, short wheelbase, was called sold for a high bid of $4.65 million.
Top Mecum bid: 1965 Championship Shelby Daytona Coupe. Piloted to numerous victories in the mid-1960s, its driver, Bob Bondurant, was on hand to watch this car sell, and sell it did. Several bidders were quite interested, but the last hand up belonged to well-known car collector Harry Yeaggy, who was the high bidder with $7.25 million.
A total of 843 lots were offered, with 529 of these selling for a combined $116,830,339.
At the British-based Bonham’s Auction in Quail Valley,two of the biggest draws to the auction did not achieve the hoped for results. A Type 57S Bugatti Atlantic coupe, expected to fetch in excess of $6 million was a no sale when bidding stalled at $5.2 million. At the same auction, the much-revered Auto Union Silver Arrow race car, was expected to bring more than $10 million, but it hit a road block when the bidding reached only $6 million.
-- Joni Gray
For the record: The original article read: ‘Gooding & Co.’s 159 lots offered made a whopping $50,383,383 from a total of 128 vehicles sold.’ The corrected amount is $50,759,350.