Auctions 2025: A Tasty Preview
11 January 2025 12 min read 16 images
Photo credit: Barrett-Jackson, Bonhams, Mecum, RM Sotheby's
Welcome to 2025! And we’re looking toward the future. Predicting it? Let’s not exaggerate. But preparing for what lies ahead is interesting.
January is all about the auctions in the USA, starting with Kissimmee. The kickoff has been slightly delayed this year, taking place from January 7 to 19, featuring heart-stopping cars.
Obviously to follow the top lot of the sale: the 1969 Porsche 917K that was the star car in the movie "Le Mans" starring Steve McQueen. The actor has had some difficulties in recent enchantments; his cars have always attracted considerable interest but not such as to make the prices fly. This one, however, is really special and the eight-figure amount is easily expected. But how high will it go?
Race cars will take center stage in the Florida auction. There is also the famous "Essex Wire," the 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 Competition that has won more than any other ... snake. Here the figure may indicate a lot about how the industry is going, but even though lower than the Porsche, expectations are still in the millions.
Other cars to follow are definitely the pair of 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Z28s with illustrious racing pasts. Both used in the Penske-Sunoco team, both driven by American legend Mark Donohue. One is the one driven at Marlboro (Maryland) under the checkered flag that earned his first TransAm victory (28 more would follow in just three years). The following year he chose the other Camaro-also a 1967, however-and won anything. With this example he finished first at Sebring TransAm, third overall at the 12 Hours of Sebring, and after eight consecutive victories, he also took home the title of championship winner.
Not only track cars, though, because among the more than 4,000 cars in the catalog, many will be road cars. The most charismatic is undoubtedly the Jaguar E-Type S1.5 4.2 Roadster nicknamed "Shaguar." This spider has been painted in the livery of the English flag, and it is not a quirk of the previous owner but a very specific marketing choice. It is in fact the real Shaguar used in the three films in the Austin Powers series. The series was not epic, however, it is still an important piece that could raise the price Let's wait a few days and find out.
Without Worldwide's auction, which was cancelled this year, here we are straight into Amelia Island, which is growing all the time.
Of course, doing the honors will be the marquee events of Barrett-Jackson, which has recently changed its website and, admittedly, is a bit ... chaotic. Whatever, it's the cars that count, and this year it will also bring a modern Ferrari SF90 Stradale. Year 2022, just 1592 miles and custom red livery (with black interior and red seats). The modern hypercar market has been reflective in the last months of the year, we'll see if the beginning of 2025 will bring new blood.
The Shelby GT500 Fastback will be another car I will be checking out. Recently this model has not had particularly striking results, the market does not seem to have stopped but no outstanding examples have come on the market, this wait however may be coming to an end. Year 1967, restored to show condition it has all the accessories you need: air intakes on the hood, the rear spoiler and brake discs. This lot may be what collectors are looking for.
RM in contrast to others, decided to push a little harder with lots. Here, then, is a 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Tour de France. With a decent sporty past and an (original) color scheme of gold and red interior-more elegant than sporty but beautiful nonetheless-it is a single louver, with fairing headlights and an untouched interior. These cars have been "short of breath" in recent years but at $3.5-4.5 million it is one of the cheapest examples of the decade. Is this also due to the absence of the indispensable Ferrari Classiche certification?
I am curious about one of the wackiest cars of the week. It is the 1955 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT Outlaw. Prepared by Thornley Kelham, the top Lancia expert in the Anglo-Saxon market, it was rebuilt in the outlaw style between 2017 and 2019. The U.S. market is the most receptive for restomod cars, but the Lancia brand is more heartfelt on this side of the Atlantic, and the $600-800,000 estimate seems an ambitious target.
Bonhams, in the same days, could make history thanks to a Lamborghini Miura P400. Year 1967, orange color with black interior, restored in 2016 to the highest possible standard. This led in that year to winning all the major events dedicated to the model's 50th birthday: the Quail, the Italian Concorso Italiano and the Miura 50th Anniversary. The condition is competition-like but the estimate of $2.2-2,600,000 puts it in pole position for the model's new record.
We now come to Europe where in Paris, two weeks later, we find Bonhams . A pair of Ferraris compete for the top lot in the sale. On one side is the 1950 Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchetta while on the other is a 1955 Ferrari 555 Super Squalo Formula 1 car.
At the moment there is not much information but already from the photos it is clear that it has had numerous appearances at the Monaco Historique and is presumed to have an important history. Both estimated EUR 4-6,000,000 are offered from the same collection without reserve. I expect a frothy sale.
A Bugatti will also be offered without reserve: a 1925 Type 35 Grand Prix Two Seater with an impeccable history that has remained in the hands of the same family for over sixty years. The estimate is EUR 900-1,300,000 but it must be said that this model is the least desired of the various versions in the range.
RM in Paris will also have a Bugatti among the top lots of its enchantment. But it will not be a historic one but a very recent Bugatti Centodieci, the first to be offered on the market. Produced in honor of the EB110 this example is Quartz White with Beluga Black interior and has traveled only 437 km. The estimate of EUR 10-15,000,000 could turn it into the most expensive Bugatti ever sold (it is currently at about 11 million).
New this year is that RM will have two days to sell all the cars, and the first will be the sale of a collection of some eighty Porsches from the same garage, headed by a 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS Lightweight. After a period of descent it seems that the prices of this icon have stabilized and the EUR 900-1,200,000 testify to that. But being unreserved (like the others in the collection) buyers may be surprised.
I kept the Indianapolis Motor Speedway aside.
The U.S. museum commissioned RM to liquidate all the cars that had nothing to do with the famous circuit connected to it, and true myths came on the market.
On Feb. 1, the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Stromlinienwagen, the only one ever offered on the market, will be offered in Stuttgart. The story is ... I can't find adjectives to describe it: ex-Juan Manuel Fangio, ex-Stirling Moss, fastest lap at the 1955 Italian GP at Monza. Actually, this sale will sanction a comeback: in 1965 Mercedes-Benz gave this very car to the Museum, which after six decades will offer it again. The estimate is as impressive as its importance: over EUR 50,000,000 (no, I did not put too many zeros).
Just four days later it would be the turn of the 1964 Ferrari 250LM that won at Le Mans in 1965. Driven by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt on behalf of NART it was the only unofficial Ferrari to win the French endurance race and also the last Ferrari to win Le Mans until last year. After two more Le Mans (1968 and 1969) and three 24 Hours of Daytona, the car arrived in the American museum from where it has not moved since. The condition is exceptional, identical to how it was after the last success, probably between the folds of the leather one can still find traces of the champagne used to "water" the car after the victory.
In short, 2025 has only just begun but already it is shaping up to be crackling.
CLASSIC CAR MATCHER