Photos: 1955 Jag D Type sells for $3.6million, and 1955 Healey ‘S’ sells for over $1million
$110.8 million changed hands at the four international classic car auctions over the 20th Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance last weekend breaking yet more classic value records.
RM Sotheby’s, the concours’ companion auction house since 1999, realised what it called a history-making $60.32 million in sales, selling all of its lots including its star — a 1960 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Cabriolet that went for a staggering $6.38 million.
The 222-year-old Bonham’s auction house had $14 million in sales at its first Amelia Island auction at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club. Its star, an original 1930 Cord Model L-29 Town Car, sold for $1.76 million.
And down Florida A1A, Gooding & Co.’s fifth auction on the island had more than $26.9 million in sales. Its Italian stallions were its top sellers — a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 for $3.3 million and a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Series II Cabriolet for $2.090 million.
High-end collectible cars did very well at the three major auctions, said Donald Osborne, an auction expert who is an editor at large at Sports Car Market magazine and owner of Automotive Valuation Services. As the concours has grown and drawn in more world-class classic cars in its 20 years, the major auction houses have stocked more rare collectibles for sale to meet increased demand.
As is typically the case in high-end auctions, the identities of the buyers and sellers were not divulged.
However, “Amelia has always been a place of great appeal for people in the business because it is truly an international event that draws the most important collectors to the event with probably the widest variety of cars at this level,” Osborne said. “That reflects as well at auction — everything from big classics and sports and racing cars to GT cars and American iron. It is all here because people are interested and the concours has attracted all those kinds of cars for years.”
IT’S NOT JUST THE BIDDERS WHO ARE COMPETITIVE
RM Sotheby’s auction on March 14 ended up with a rare 100 percent sell-through rate with 13 individual million-dollar-plus results. The last two — a 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300S Roadster and 1930 Bentley “Blue Train” re-creation — sold post-auction. That result bested the company’s record 2014 Amelia Island performance by 67 percent, RM Car Specialist Gord Duff said, a sign of the ever-expanding market for blue-chip collector cars with bidders from 22 countries.
Other million-plus sales included a 1955 Jaguar D-Type for $3.675 million; a 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider for $3.3 million; and a 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500/540 K Cabriolet A for $3.025 million. Ferraris were strong, with a 1972 365 GTC/4 going for a record $495,000. A 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z 432, the Japanese version of America’s Datsun 240Z, brought a record-breaking $253,000.
Over at Bonham’s March 12 auction at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club, there was a 79 percent sell-through rate with records for models from Alfa Romeo, BMW and Porsche. But American classics like the Cord led the way. A restored 1908 American Underslung Roadster was the focus of a bidding battle that ended with a record $1.738 million sale. A 1932 Stutz DV32 Super Bearcat sold for $1.012 million, while a 1912 Peerless Model 60 Runabout sold for $440,000. And a 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Transformable Phaeton once owned by Hollywood icon Marlene Dietrich sold for $742,500.
Gooding & Co.’s auction on March 13 at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation had more than $26.9 million in sales, with 76 out of 85 lots sold for an 89 percent sell-through rate. Seven sold for $1 million or more each, including a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Series II Cabriolet for $2.090 million and a 1991 Ferrari F40 for $1.622 million.
Even a lowly 1974 Volkswagen Thing, originally about $3,000 with only 46 hp, sold for a record $52,800.
