Around the houses, February 2012
News from the main auction houses around the world
Scottsdale Car Week is upon us once again and with it come five American sales from five different auction houses.
Gooding and Company
Not many would deny that Gooding has one of the headline cars of the week. On January 20-21 the American auction house will offer a 1956 Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa Scaglietti Spider (above) for sale. Chassis 0650MDTR was campaigned by John von Neumann, Bruce Kessler and Pete Lovely at many US tracks including Pomona, Lime Rock, Riverside and Laguna Seca. With only 17 examples made, the pre-sale estimate of £1.34-1.66 million sounds entirely feasible.
Other cars going under the hammer in the same sale include a 1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast (£600-800,000), a 1971 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 SS Spider (£450-575,000) and a 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV (£770-900,000).
RM Auctions
Ferraris are the order of the day at RM Auctions during Scottsdale week with the Canadian firm offering a 1957 Ferrari 410 Superamerica (£1.12-1.44m), a 1991 Ferrari F40 (£415-480,000), a 1952 Ferrari 342 America Pinin Farina coupé (£510-640,000) and a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder (£575-700,000).
The 410 Superamerica is one of just six Series II cars built and was originally owned by the main importer of Johnnie Walker Scotch in Italy, Dottore Enrico Wax.
If you’re not a Ferrari fan there is also an extremely handsome 1957 BMW 507 Roadster which RM expects to fetch £575-770,000.
Barrett-Jackson
It’s muscle car heaven over at Barrett-Jackson on January 17-22. Over 200 cars will go under the hammer including a 1970 Plymouth Superbird, a 1969 Ford Talladega prototype, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS and a 1969 Plymouth Super Bee. All estimates are available on request.
Bonhams
The latest company to join the throng of sales in Scottsdale, Bonhams has an auction scheduled for January 19. It includes a 1924 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8 Torpedo Tourer with custom coachwork by Carrozzeria Sala (£270-335,000), a 1932 Packard Model 904 Custom convertible (£380-450,000) and an ex-Andy Warhol 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow (£25-40,000).
Back in Britain Bonhams hosted a successful sale on December 1 at Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey. The ex-Lance Macklin 1953 Austin-Healey ‘100’ Special – involved in the 1955 Le Mans disaster – was understandably a highlight lot and went for an impressive £843,000.
Russo and Steele
Race car fans will have their ears pricked and eyes peeled when the 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Pickett racer (POA) comes up for sale on January 18-22. This particular example was converted from a road car into SCCA A/Production specification when new and was raced by Dr Bill Green. He joined forces with Greg Pickett and the Pickett Racing Team was formed. The car was driven in SCCA National events including Trans-Am and IMSA rounds throughout 1976, and underwent a full restoration in 2002.
Mecum
On January 24-29 Mecum has lined up a veritable grid of stock cars for its Kissimmee sale. At last count there were five NASCAR machines crossing the block, ranging from a 1992 Ford Thunderbird which helped Bill Elliott to three poles and five wins that year, to a road course-engineered 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS campaigned by Kevin Harvick.
Those after something other than a NASCAR might be interested in the 1961 Chevrolet Corvette Gulf car which won that’s year’s SCCA B-Production National Championship. The Don Yenko/Ben Moore/Dick Thompson racer finished third in the GT 3000 class at the Sebring 12 Hours and went on to take 11 victories that year. All estimates are available on request.
Coys
January 14 sees the return of Coys’ Autosport International sale. As always there are some interesting lots, including an ex-Colin McRae 2001 Ford Focus WRC (£85-95,000). This particular chassis was used to win that year’s Acropolis Rally. There’s also an ex-Derek Daly 1981 March 811 (POA) up for grabs.
Forthcoming auctions
Jan 12-14 Auctions America Las Vegas Premier Motorcycle Auction, West Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, Nevada Tel: 001 954 566 2209
Jan 14 Coys Autosport International Sale, NEC, Birmingham Tel: 020 8614 7888
Jan 17-22 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Sale, Scottsdale, Arizona Tel: 001 480 663 6255
Jan 18-22 Russo and Steele Scottsdale Auction, North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, Arizona Tel: 001 602 252 2697
Jan 19 Bonhams Scottsdale Sale of Exceptional Motorcars, Scottsdale, Arizona Tel: 020 7447 7447
Jan 19-20 RM Auctions Arizona Sale, Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa, Phoenix Tel: 001 519 352 4575
Jan 20-21 Gooding and Company The Scottsdale Auction, Scottsdale Fashion Square, Arizona Tel: 001 310 899 1960
Jan 24-29 Mecum Muscle Cars & More, Osceola Heritage Park, Kissimmee, Florida Tel: 001 262 275 5050