Market Intelligence
Bonhams in London: the USA is on a roll, but the “Old Continent” does not disappoint
Bonhams' auction of classic cars in London showed signs of the European market's recovery, albeit cautiously. Out of the 26 cars up for sale, 21 were sold for a total of £4,081,925. While the top lot was an Aston Martin DB6 Volante from 1968, which sold for £425,500, the 1969 De Tomaso Mangusta was also a highlight, selling for £201,250. Meanwhile, a BMW Z8 sold for £155,250 and a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost 40/50hp Tourer from 1920 sold for £89,700. The author notes that the sample was not entirely representative as 73% of the cars on offer were British.
We were waiting for this “Old Continent” auction to see if the European market shows obvious signs of recovery like we’ve seen in the USA. The answer is “yes”, but it’s a cautious one for several reasons: 73% of the cars on offer were British (19 in total) and of these, 11 were Aston Martins (42%). Not a representative sample, therefore – if there had been one or two more red Italians or silver Germans, we could have drawn more precise conclusions. Secondly, we must bear in mind that the number of important buyers in America is much higher than in Europe, as illustrated in the annual ranking of our Yearbook, The Key and this, fatally, animates exotic sales events like these.
One very positive fact remains: [after the February sell-out](https://tcct.com/news/2021/02/small-is-beautiful-gooding-bonhams/) (ok, it was just 5 lots...) Bonhams’ latest auction on 19th May in their New Bond Street headquarters in London, sold 21 cars out of the 26 on offer and an additional two changed hands after the event, raising the sales percentage from 80.76% to 88.46%.
