Market Intelligence
Bonhams. Paris is well worth a vaccine
The Bonhams auction in Paris, held completely online for the first time, featured the sale of Diego Maradona's Porsche 911, which exceeded expectations and sold for €483,000. Although the auction did not set any records, it was a success, with a turnover of €3,729,645. The auction's caution led to bids with much lower average prices than in 2020. The article also highlights other interesting cars sold at the auction, including a 1961 Abarth 850TC, a 1955 Studebaker Commander Carrera Panamericana replica, and a 1971 Citroen DS21 ie Decapotable.
He’s always been a divisive character but not even I expected him to behave like this at the auctions. We are talking about Diego Armando Maradona who, I am certain had a lot of fun following the Bonhams auction “in Paris” from the afterlife, particularly when his Porsche went under the hammer. A 911 of the 964 series, Carrera 2 Cabriolet “Turbo-look” from 1992 that he bought when he went to play for Sevilla FC after seven years at SSC Napoli. At the end of the season, his contract with the Spanish team was terminated and he never played in Europe again. However, let’s return to the car: silver with a black interior and after the end of his Spanish experience, he sold it and it changed hands several times before ending up with its current owner who put it in the garage in 2016 with 121,000 km on the clock. From that moment on, it has travelled just 1,000 km. Just two weeks earlier, a [BMW i8 that also once belonged to ”El Pibe de Oro”](https://tcct.com/news/2021/03/online-rm-sothebys-mixes-it-up/)didn’t reach its estimate, so here €150-200,000, which already included a small prize for history, seemed decidedly difficult to reach. But as one might say; Maradona out-manoeuvred the defenders before scoring a winning goal and this time the car was sold for an incredulous sum: €483,000.
This was the Bonhams auction, the first one in its history held completely online (no auctioneers or hall, just keyboards and monitors): a concentration of emotions.
