Around the houses, October 2009

News from the main auction houses around the world

– RM Auctions –

Although total sales for RM’s Monterey auction exceeded £20.8 million and 80 per cent of the lots sold, some of the ‘star’ cars failed to reach their estimates and change hands. The 1931 Miller V16 and the 1927 Miller 91 Rear Drive which we featured in the August issue reached only £336,372 (estimate: £370-610,000) and £232,447 (£250-400,000) respectively, while the 1968 Le Mans Chevrolet Corvette L88 Coupé and 1953 Ferrari 166MM Spider Scaglietti (both featured in the September issue) also failed to find new homes.

The ex-Phil Hill Jaguar C-type did sell, however, going for over £1.5m. These results are still unofficial, as Motor Sport went to press before any post-auction sales could be taken into account.

A 1950 Aston Martin DB2 Team Car – which is on the market for the first time in 53 years and has both Le Mans and Mille Miglia history – and a rare 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 ‘Jarvis Torpedo’ have already been confirmed for RM Auctions’ ‘Automobiles of London’ event on October 28. For a full preview of the sale see next month’s magazine.

–MECUM–

Mecum can claim the accolade of ‘most expensive car sold during the Monterey week’ after the 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupé (chassis CSX 2601) went for £4,451,598.

– Gooding & Company –

Gooding and Company had plenty of lots with competition history, many of which sold well. Although the ex-Chris Amon/Pedro Rodríguez 1969 Ferrari 312 did not find a new home, the 1967 Gurney Eagle Mk III sold for £134,678 and the 1960 Chevrolet Corvette ‘Race Rat’ Coupé went for £379,614.

– Bonhams & Butterfields –

While Bonhams also hosted a strong sale of cars, many of the lots which were expected to fetch large sums failed to reach their estimate.

The most publicised of these was no doubt the ex-works Hans Stuck 1939 Auto Union ‘D-Type’ V12 which reached a high bid of £3,977,610 but went no further.

Other important cars that suffered the same fate included the 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Coupé (high bid of £3.1m), the ex-George Follmer 1967 Vollstedt-Ford (£55,086) and the 1952 SIATA 208CS Berlinetta (£734,408).

Many bidders were keen to point out that the world was still in a recession and suggested that some of the estimates were just too high.

On a lighter note, some machinery did manage to bring cheering news for those selling: the ex-Sebring 1953 Porsche Roadster sold for an impressive £322,803 while the ex-works Sir Jack Brabham 1961 Cooper Climax T55 ‘Slimline’ went for £130,970.

– Bonhams –

Items from Brawn GP, including Jenson Button’s 2006 Honda RA106, fetched £300,000 at Bonhams’ July sale at the Silverstone Classic, while several Jaguar Heritage Trust cars went for £261,000. Also in July the sale of the Ward Brothers’ Reserve Collection reached in excess of £2m, including an 1896 Benz Victoria which went for £221,500. Bonhams has now signed up to internet site Twitter. The auction house will be ‘tweeting’ press releases, links to its online catalogues and articles from its magazine. Find them at www.twitter.com/bonhams1793.

– Rolls-Royce museum –

Hans-Günther Zach is selling his Rolls-Royce museum which comprises 24 Rolls-Royces, three Bentleys and 50 pieces of antique furniture. Bids are being taken now until September 15 and offers of over 5m euros are being invited. The collection includes the ‘Star of India’, a 1934 Phantom II 40/50 HP Continental All-Weather Convertible for the Maharaja of Rajkot.

Please contact Mr Zach on [email protected] or 0049 (0) 6108 73282.

– H&H Sales Ltd –

The Cheshire-based auction house set a new world auction record price in its July 22 sale with a 1961 AC Ace 2.6 which went for £209,000 – the most expensive car of its kind ever sold. The ex-London Motor Show car (above) sailed past its estimate of £140-180,000 and takes H&H’s sales for the year up to £4.5 million. The July auction grossed more than £1.1m.

– Coys –

Coys is expanding its operations into the United States with the sale of a private collection of cars in Texas. The auction, which will include more than 230 vehicles, takes place on September 19.