Market Intelligence
The excitement of the real deal
The article discusses the recent trend of auctions of individual car collections, with several auction houses having conducted successful sales in recent months. The author focuses on RM's Elkhart Lake auction, which saw 235 cars sold out of 235 on offer, generating $41.4 million in takings. The author presents their five top picks from the auction, including a 1952 Ferrari 225 S Berlinetta by Vignale, a 1953 Fiat 8V Supersonic by Ghia, a 1954 Fiat 8V Coupe by Vignale, a 2011 Tesla Roadster Sport R80, and a Toyota 2000GT. The article also touches on the rising and falling trend of the historic car market and its potential future.
You might have noticed this too: in recent months, there has been a proliferation of auctions of individual collections. First Gooding with the Fabri collection, then Artcurial that slipped in a couple with Trigano (170 cars) and Lurton (47 cars plus various vehicles) and now RM, ready to prove it is still the titan it has always been, put on a sale of over 230 cars from the bankruptcy of Najeeb Khan, an outsourcing tycoon.
The “bidding wars” using the classic formula of a physical presence, the reasonable and often low prices, an excellent advertising campaign, and the possibility to see the cars live (finally!) combined with the logistical simplicity of the organization of the sale – no transfers to coordinate nor borders to cross – have been fuel to the fire for the auction houses.
And from RM, with the Elkhart Lake auction following the bankruptcy sale of Najeeb Khan, all these elements came together: 235 cars sold out of 235 on offer (all without reserves though!) and $41.4 million in takings against an initial estimate that stopped at $34.7 million which translates to 119% of the official estimates. Great job.
