The past few weeks have seen a flurry of exciting Autumn auction activity. First off the mark were Broad Arrow with their inaugural Las Vegas auction in association with the Wynn’s Concours. Top seller from the 80% sell-thorugh rate was the 2010 Bugatti Veyron which set a new record price for the model at $2.2m. Other notables were:

  • Outstanding $665,000 for a 2017 F12 Berlinetta, albeit in a unique specification.
  • $1.8m for a disc-braked 300SL Roadster.
  • A beautiful LHD Aston Martin DB5 Vantage at $1.1m

In a busy couple of days for the relative newcomers, Broad Arrow followed up with a sale in Zurich the following day, the highlight being a wonderful customer Jaguar D-Type which sold at a shade under CHF 5.2m. In a sale with its fair share of modern supercars it was encouraging to see that true classics also performed well:

  • 1952 Ferrari 212 coupe at CHF 816,000 – a great result for an early, closed Ferrari helped no doubt by this car’s ex-Rossellini history.
  • 1937 SS100. Nice to see that pre-war cars can still find an appreciative home with this car achieving a well-deserved CHF 321,000.
  • 1966 Ferrari 275GTB. Stunning Rosso Rubino, alloy-bodied, long nose example of this benchmark classic made a reassuring CHF 2.3m.

Closer to home, RM Sotheby’s moved in to the ballroom of the spectacular Peninsular Hotel, London on the eve of the London to Brighton run for their traditional Autumn sale. Before any cars had their chance to shine, the die was cast when the UK registration number ‘1F’ was sold for an astonishing £905.000. When the cars did eventually get their opportunity, top price went to the 2015 Ferrari FXX-K Evo with £4.73m. Once again, pre-war greats showed some resilience with the 1937 8C2900 Spider battling its way to just over £2.8m whilst its little brother – the 6C 1750 GS Spider – almost broke the £1m barrier at £972,500. Other personal favourites from the sale were:

  • The 1980 BMW M1 that sold for a shade under £400,000. A really cool piece of 80’s wedge styling.
  • The 1988 Lamborghini Countach QV at £623,750. A RHD ’88 1/2′ example in a nice colour but less desirable with the ugly side skirts.
  • The ex-Ayrton Senna Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 which achieved £230,000. Senna’s personal car so a direct link to the legend himself.

Most recently, the Classic Car Show at the NEC played host to Iconic Auctioneer’s marathon 4 part sale across the weekend. If there is one take-away from these sales it was the irrepressible popularity of anything with a Ford badge. From a 1988 Escort 1.6GL at over £6,000 to a road-spec 1990 RS200 at £382,500, Blue Ovals of all eras performed above and beyond with very few failing to find new homes. Away from Ford, it was interesting to see:

  • The astonishing power of Youtube as Harry Metcalfe’s Jaguar XJC returned £157,500 – at least £100k more than the car without that connection might have achieved.
  • The strong £94,500 returned for the 1957 AC Aceca – a great result for a less desirable AC-engined car. Our well restored Bristol powered example can be bought for a similar price!