Sales figures were dramatically down this year on the Monterey Peninsula at the Brooks, Christie’s and RM auctions compared to last year’s record numbers. Interestingly, while racecars led the way last year, racecar sales at this year’s auctions were stunningly cold, despite a broad selection of excellent cars with (on the whole) good provenance.
Without question, the leading sale, both in terms of street and racecars, was the two-day RM auction. With an overall sales rate of 68% and a racecar specific sales rate of 51%, RM posted the best overall performance of the weekend. Additionally, RM also received the highest price for any car of the weekend, when a two-man bidding war drove the sale of the ex-factory 1956 Ferrari 410 Sport to an staggering $3,475,000. Other highpoints of the RM auction were the sale of a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France for $1,265,000 and the sale of a 1956 Maserati Tipo 52 200 SI sports racer for $805,000.
In terms of racecar sales performance, Brooks was next with a 39% sales rate. The one-day Brooks auction at the scenic Quail Valley Lodge was highlighted by the sale of a 1973 NART Ferrari Daytona Competition Coupe for $1,212,500, a 1958 Knobbly Lister-Jaguar for $365,500 and the ex-Parnelli Jones, Times Grand Prix-winning 1964 Cooper Monaco “King Cobra” for $156,500.
Christie’s one-day sale at the Pebble Beach Lodge on Sunday was probably the biggest surprise of the weekend with only 26% of the racecars on offer selling, despite an overall sales average of about 53%. These low sales numbers for racecars were all the more surprising considering the quality of cars being offered, including a selection of five significant Indianapolis 500 pole or race winners from the highly respected Patrick Ryan collection. Of the five Indy cars offered (including Graham Hill’s 1966 500-winning Lola T160), only the Roger Ward 1959-winning Watson roadster sold at $721,000.
Speculation abounds as to the causes of this apparent softening of historic racecar sales. Many experts point to this year’s bearish stock market as having had a “significant cooling effect on the market.” According to Christie’s Miles Morris, “We have to be realistic that the market is not as strong as a year ago, and property needs to be sensibly priced in the current economic climate.” However, RM’s David Gooding takes a decidedly more bullish attitude, “The market is still very strong for great, fresh cars with quality histories.” This idea was supported by Bonhams & Brooks’ Mark Osborne who stated, “Despite figures being down from the 2000 Monterey weekend due to a tightening market, buyers for the highest quality cars, particularly prewar examples, were still actively bidding this year.”
