Market Intelligence
Historics. Smart Formula
The article discusses how classic car auctions are not just for the rich and famous, but are accessible to anyone with a reasonable budget. The article focuses on the recent Historics auction in the UK, where over 85% of the classic cars sold were less than £50,000. The auction had an excellent mix of affordable, important, and unusual cars, and was successful in terms of sales percentage, which rose to 88.15% by value. The article also highlights some of the cars that sold at the auction, including a 1969 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Roadster, a 1987 BMW M5, and a 1995 Jaguar XJS Celebration Convertible.
Those who don’t know otherwise, think that the world of historic car auctions is an exclusive club for jet-setters who meet in exotic locations and bid millions of pounds to take home some shiny trinkets. In reality, things are quite different: while it might be true that only the news of million-dollar sales arrives on TV, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Not to knock the spectacle of auctions, the truth is that, according to an analysis I did before the pandemic, over 85% of all classic cars sold at auction in the United Kingdom were sold for less than €60,000 (£50,000). Yes that’s a considerable sum, but it’s not much more than you’d pay for a new medium-large sized SUV.
The Sale at Historics on 18th April was a beautiful example of how to put on a successful show: some 82.3% of all cars sold did not exceed that threshold and only 6 cars (less than 5%) exceeded €115,000 (£100,000). I’d hardly call this an exclusive club.
