Market Intelligence
USD 55,975 – the price of a meal with Ettore Bugatti and Enzo Ferrari
This article talks about four objects whose history is more valuable than their economic worth. The first object is a prototype of Nike shoes developed by Bill Bowerman, the athletics coach at the University of Oregon, and Phil Knight in 1969. The shoes were sold for USD 437,500 at Sotheby's auction. The article then discusses a racing suit worn by Ayrton Senna during the 1987 season and his go-kart sold at RM Sotheby's in 2018. Another item is the Porsche engine for helicopters sold for USD 14,400, which was used for the first drone in history. The article concludes by talking about the sale of concrete panels installed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race to show drivers their location, which were sold for USD 12,000 and EUR 11,050 at different auctions, respectively. These panels were removed in the 1960s, and many of them had Michelin's road signs under the kilometers marking. Lastly, the article talks about Ferrari Cavallino Porcelain Dinnerware Set by Richard Ginori sold for $18,400, commissioned by Beppe Neri, the late manager of the ‘Ristorante Cavallino,’ located directly opposite Ferrari’s historic entrance.
In 1969, Bill Bowerman, an athletics coach at the University of Oregon, keen to develop a new concept in sports footwear, experimented with his wife’s waffle iron, creating, together with his partner Phil Knight, a new type of sole for running shoes. Nike was born! The first lot of 12 pairs of shoes was delivered (probably as a gift) to US athletes ahead of the 1972 Munich Olympics. Last July, a single pair of these prototype shoes (never worn) crossed the block at Sotheby’s for USD 437,500! A pair of shoes might seem to have nothing in common with cars and the car world, were it not for one consideration: 99% of the value of those shoes was down to their history, and just 1% to the product per se.
Here, then, we take a look at four examples of objects whose history, far exceeding their economic value, determined their worth.
Let’s take racing suits. In this category, I am tempted to start by citing the sale of the suit used by Steve McQueen in the movie Le Mans (sold for EUR 48,000 by RM Sotheby’s in Monaco in 2018), but this example doesn’t really count: after all, simply the name Steve McQueen raises the value of anything associated with it. The lot that immediately preceded it on that occasion was the suit worn by Ayrton Senna during the 1987 season. This fact alone is enough to justify the EUR 38,400 paid for it. But there is more to this suit than that: it is the one he used at 1897 Monaco Grand Prix, the year he notched up the first of his six victories there. And if that were not enough, this race was the last Formula 1 GP ever won by a Lotus. Is that enough history for you?! Considering that this purchase represents an almost EUR 10,000 saving compared with the Steve McQueen suit, if I were the buyer, I’d be tempted to spend the difference on Senna’s go-kart (this fetched GBP 12,000 at an RM Sotheby’s sale in London, also in 2018), but that’s another story…
