Market Intelligence
The desire to buy
This article describes the sale of a private French collection that once belonged to André Lurton, a legendary French winemaker from the Bordeaux area. The sale included cars, agricultural vehicles, and military vehicles. The article highlights four cars in particular, including a 1942 M10 Tank Destroyer, a 1943 Sherman M4A1, a 1960 Citroen M35, and a 1928 Rolls Royce Phantom I Boat Tail Tourer. The article also discusses an 1898 Fisson 8hp Tonneau and a 1956 Citroen 2CV. The sale was a success, with all lots offered without reserve and all of them being sold for more than their estimated value.
Just 13 days after the sale of André Trigano, on 27th September, Artcurial proposed a second private French collection, that once belonged to André Lurton, a legendary French winemaker from the Bordeaux area. Born in Château Bonnet in 1924, he died in the same room he was born in some 94 years earlier. He made an impression on me, as without question he was a man from another era, but one with interesting and highly original tastes.
Artcurial did an excellent job managing this sale and for sure the heirs to the estate won’t be complaining. All the lots were offered without reserve and all of them were sold, the cars alone bringing in 255% the estimated value: €1,310,060 against a forecast that totalled €513,100.
Decorated with the Croix de Guerre for fighting in the bloody battle of The Colmar Pocket, Lurton had slowly collected the “vehicles” of his life. In addition to cars, there were also numerous agricultural vehicles (including a 1915 Latil that changed hands for €62,000) and some other military vehicles. Among these, the top lots of the sale included: a 1942 M10 Tank Destroyer, which was sold for €310,000 (against an estimate of €220-250,000) and a 1943 Sherman M4A1 at €198,400, slightly above its estimate of €140-180,000.
