Around the houses, December 2012
Around the houses
NEWS FROM THE MAIN AUCTION HOUSES AROUND THE WORLD
ARTCURIAL —
There are plenty of ‘interesting’ fakes out there, but Artcurial is offering the chance to own an original 1976 Group 4 Lancia Stratos for £280320,000 in its November 11 sale.
This car was originally supplied by Lancia in azure blue and raced in Italy during 1978 and 1979. It made its way to France at the end of the 1990s, at this time painted yellow, and competed in the 2004 Tour Auto. It was then sold on again and has since been restored and painted in the famous Alitalia livery.
There’s also a pretty 1953 Arnolt Bristol (£110145,000), which competed in several US rallies in the 1950s. In 2001, when the car was sold on by the first owner Edgar Parser, the odometer read a paltry 22,000 miles. A collector in Monaco bought the car and has since raced it twice in the Historic Monaco Grand Prix.
R1VI AUCTIONS —
On October 31 the Battersea Evolution centre will be alive to the sound of bidding, and one lot certain to generate some interest is a 1926 Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sports. This particular model is only 12 frame numbers away from the bike made famous by T E Lawrence and is expected to fetch £250300,000. The heights of British motorcycle engineering will be well represented as there’s also a 1952 Vincent Series C Black Shadow going under the hammer (£65-75,000). There’s plenty of four-wheeled machinery as well, with a 1975 BRM V12 (£150-215,000),
a 1970 Astra RNR2 FVC sports racer (£7090,000), a 2005 Maserati MC12 (£680780,000) and an ex-Nuvolari, TT race-winning 1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Testa Fissa (£750-900,000).
There’s also a 2008 Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4, which has only done 700km since new. With an estimate of £440-560,000 the previous owner has lost a staggering £714 for every kilometre they’ve done. Ouch.
MECUM —
You can buy ‘The Pizza Man’ if you are in St Charles, USA on October 25-27. No, it’s not a man on a scooter; it’s the 1954 Chevrolet Corvette which competed in numerous Midwest and national drag events between 1962 and ’71 at the hands of Earl Britt, the man who owned Earl’s Pizza Palace in South Dakota. It set nine World Records in the NHRA Modified Production class and earned the title of the `world’s fastest six-cylinder Corvette’. Estimate available on request.
GOODING & COMPANY —
The results are in. American auction house Gooding and Company has reported total sales of more than £118.3 million in 2012 for 296 lots sold. It doesn’t take much to work out that the average price for each lot was £399,662. “It shows us that there continues to be a growing demand all over the world for blue chip cars,” commented president and founder of the company David Gooding.
SI LWRSTONE AUCTIONS —
On November 17 Silverstone Auctions will host its next sale at the Classic Motor Show in Birmingham. Lots are still arriving, but a 1972 Ford Escort MkI rally car has been signed up. It has been competitive in recent ACSMC Tarmac Rally Championship events and is expected to reach £1014,000. There’s also a 1971 Fiat 500 L that was once owned by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who bought it for his wife Samantha. Either Fiat 500 prices are rocketing or Silverstone believes the Cameron link makes this car worthy of an £812,000 estimate.
— BONHAMS —
The British auction house will host its usual Veteran Car Sale in conjunction with the London to Brighton Run on November 2. The lot list is filled with early cars including a 1904 Wolseley 12hp Tonneau (£100450,000). There’s also the oldest surviving Vauxhall — a 1903 two-seater Shp, which is expected to fetch £60-80,000. Resold in 1904, it has been in the ownership of the same family ever since. But even that record is beaten by the 1904 Wilson-Pilcher, which has never before been sold. Retained by the works, it was gifted back to the family in the 1950s.