Around the houses, March 2010

– RM Auctions –

RM held its Automobiles of Arizona sale on the same weekend as Gooding & Co ran an event at Scottsdale in America, and posted total sales of £12,129,714.

Top-selling lots over the two days included the 1963 Aston Martin DB4GT Competition car at £619,500, which was a great purchase for the new buyer, and the 1967 Shelby Cobra at £391,500. One sale entitled ‘The British Are Coming’ offered a number of English cars, including a matching pair of Aston Martin DB Mk3s – a Drophead and Saloon – which made £204,000 and £170,150 respectively.

RM is look forward to its auction at Amelia Island on March 13, where one of the star cars is the ex-Ecurie Ecosse 1958 Tojeiro-Jaguar, the third of four cars built, with a fascinating period race history which is estimated at £464,000-£587,800. Further lots of note include a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 Alloy body finished in ‘Nocciola’, a stunning gold colour, and an original 1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Spyder formerly owned by Edsel Ford II.

– Coys –

Coys kick-started the 2010 auction season with a sale at the Autosport International show on January 16, where an assortment of road and race machines went under the hammer. Significant race cars included the 1971 Gipsy Dino P271, a Ferrari-engined sports racer built for Italian aces Luigi Moreschi and Romano Martini to compete in the 1971 Prototype 2000 class, which sold for £72,500. The 1967 McLaren M1C, formerly owned and restored by Nick Mason, fetched £125,000.

Elsewhere, a 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 sold for £72,250 – this was previously a Goodwood Revival entrant which is now fully restored with 501bhp! The Jaguar XK120 Roadster and XK140MC Roadster ‘barn finds’ sold for £16,500 each, and a 1989 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante with a 6.3-litre RSW engine made £71,000.

– Gooding & Co –

Despite treacherous weather conditions in Scottsdale, David Gooding and his team enjoyed a successful event on January 22/23, finishing with total sales of £21,061,777.

Headline cars included the 1956 Jaguar D-type (see Auctions, January) which made a healthy £2,317,600, and the exquisite 1959 Ferrari 250GT Series 1 Cabriolet which sold for £1,328,900.

The 1959 Costin Lister-Jaguar racer was an interesting alternative to the D-type, both cars resplendent in the same white coachwork with blue stripes, selling on the day for £681,562.

The 2003 Saleen S7 sold for £112,500, a comparative bargain for a 200mph-plus supercar, and the 1965 Shelby GT350 supercharged prototype – an exciting piece of the company’s history – went for £258,800.

– Bonhams –

The Retromobile show in Paris was again the setting for the first Bonhams sale of the year, with an impressive line-up featuring a plethora of vintage machinery. The highlights included the Andulsian Collection – a fine stable of pre-war sporting cars with examples from Isotta-Fraschini, Bugatti and Hispano-Suiza among other marques – and the much-talked about 1925 Bugatti Brescia, recently exhumed from Lake Maggiore in Italy after 75 years. This generated £229,000, the proceeds of which are being donated to the Fondazione Damiano Tamagi charity that campaigns against youth violence.

The 1931 Bentley 4/8-Litre Le Mans Style Tourer from the Spanish collection sold for £335,400, along with a 1935 Hispano-Suiza T56 Torpedo which raised £417,500. The 1937 Lagonda LG45 Rapide Tourer represented a good investment at £113,200, as did the stylish 1966 Lancia Flaminia Zagato SS which fetched £78,850.

Rare examples of Citroën motor cars sell well at Retromobile, as 2009 proved. This year the 1971 DS21 Decapotable sold at £166,100 and the 2008 Citroën SM Limousine Decapotable at £136,500, proving that 2010 was no exception.

The wacky 1970 Monteverdi Hai went for £350,000 and the aluminium Ferrari 250 SWB body made £41,500.

– Russo & Steele –

The American auction house, famed for specialising in US muscle cars, was the most badly affected as hurricane winds struck at Scottsdale during auction week. Powerful gale-force winds caused an 800ft tent to collapse, causing widespread damage to many auction cars and a large traffic jam on the 101 loop in Phoenix, as the tent blew across the freeway. Fortunately, the number of casualties was minimal. More sale details to follow next month. Dylan Miles

Forthcoming auctions

* March 6 Bonhams Collectors’ Motor Cars and Automobilia, Woodstock, Oxford Tel: 020 7447 7447

* March 11 Coys Spring Classics, Royal Horticultural Halls, London Tel: 020 8614 7888

* March 12 Gooding & Company The Amelia Island Auction, Amelia Island Plantation, Florida, USA Tel: 001 310 899 1960

* March 13 RM Auctions Automobiles of Amelia Island, The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Florida, USA Tel: 001 519 352 4575

* March 13 H&H Auctions Classic Cars, Stoneleigh Park, Coventry Tel: 08458 334455

* March 26-28 RM Auctions Collectors’ Cars of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA Tel: 001 519 352 4575

* April 10 Coys Techno Classica, Essen, Germany Tel: 020 8614 7888

* April 19 Bonhams Collectors’ Motor Cars and Automobilia, RAF Museum, London Tel: 020 7447 7447

* April 24-25 RM Auctions Classic Car Auction of Michigan, Novi, Michigan, USA Tel: 001 519 352 4575

* April 30 Bonhams Les Grandes Marques a Monaco, Musée des voitures du Prince, Monaco Tel: 00 33 1 42 61 10 11

* May 1 RM Auctions Sporting Classics of Monaco, The Grimaldi Forum, Monaco Tel: 020 7851 7070

Around the dealers

1967 Porsche 910
Chassis 032 was sequentially the third of five ‘Works Team’ 910-8 Spyders completed for the Porsche factory in the spring of 1967. Car has a fascinating race history and was a long-term exhibit in a Japanese museum until 2009. £POA
www.symbolicmotors.com 001 858 454 1800

Triumph TR4
Works rally spec. Signal red with black trim. Restored and prepared by TR Enterprises. 170bhp, LSD, Halda Twinmaster, Ridgard seats, etc. FIA & FIVA papers. £39,995
www.sherwoodrestorations.co.uk 01636 812655

1952 Siata Gran Sport Barchetta
Left-hand-drive, fully restored, and fitted with a Ford V8. US car from new. Stunning and rare. £89,995
www.godinbanks.com 0044 (0)7794 576 886

Ferrari 360 Challenge
Race-ready, ex-2005 Spanish GT Championship car maintained by Ascari F1 team in period. Eligible for Pirelli Ferrari Open and Britcar, or as track day car. £POA
www.foskers.com 01474 874777

Auction results

January 21 RM Auctions
• 1932 Duesenberg Model J tourer £340,757
• 1933 Rolls-Royce PII Continental three-position drophead coupé by Gurney Nutting £327,169
• 1930 Duesenberg Model J Arlington five-passenger club sedan £313,506
• 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental Sedanca drophead coupé £221,498
• 1962 Aston Martin DB4 racing car £170,375
• 1930 Cadillac V16 2/4-passenger convertible coupé £156,745
• 1959 AC Ace Bristol roadster £156,745

January 22-23 Gooding & Co
• 1934 Duesenberg Model J disappearing top coupé £1,125,155
• 1967 Maserati Mexico Speciale £115,881
• 1967 Ferrari 330 Barchetta-style recreation £93,727
• 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona £180,638
• 1927 Bentley 6½-Litre sport coupé £449,863
• 1954 Jaguar XK120 M Roadster £76,063
• 1937 Kurtis ‘Tommy Lee Speedster’ £160,155
• 1967 Shelby GT500 Fastback £112,429
• 1965 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra £637,097