Market Intelligence
2020 Auctions. A year that teaches. A lot.
The article discusses some of the most notable events and achievements in the classic car auction world in 2020. The article begins by highlighting the successful sale of the Alfa Romeo BAT cars at the Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York, which marked a significant step in the integration of cars into the art world. The article goes on to discuss the dominance of pre-war Bugatti cars in the market and the increasing interest of giants in online auctions of historic cars, with Bring a Trailer being acquired by the Automobile division of Hearst. The article also highlights the importance of physical sales for large private collections and the increasing digitization of the classic car auction world. The article concludes by discussing some of the year's auction flops and the need to learn from mistakes in the industry.
2020 was not just a pandemic: it was 12 months, 366 days, 8,784 hours or 527,040 minutes, of events, people and great achievements such as the 40 potential vaccines developed: never seen before! 2020 was also the year of over 10,000 cars offered for sale at one hundred important auctions that gave us many things to think about: what, I hear you ask? Here is our ABC...
A as in... Alfa Romeo BAT. Let’s recap: the three BAT (5, 7, and 9D) cars were sold for $14.84 million at the Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York in late October. Why it is important: with this sale, cars finally and completely entered the art world. Perhaps not yet on par with painting and sculptures (the Giacometti that sold for $25 million made that quite clear), but certainly appreciated and very well received in such exclusive and timeless company. It won’t be the last time…
The Alfa Romeo BATs: sold as art by Sotheby’s. Not surprising considering their magnificence.
