May 2007Market Latest
At the risk of sounding boring, it will come as no surprise to most of you that growth in the classic car market hasn’t yet shown any signs of slowing. There has been much talk recently about high profile private sales including a lovely Alfa Romeo 8C 2.9 Spyder, the most original surviving Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa and arguably the best Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, all of which achieved prices which have left most casual observers open mouthed. Add to these very big ticket items the levels reached by the most sought after normal ‘production’ Ferraris such as the 250GT SWB California Spyder and 250GT SWB berlinetta and we are witnessing a market which has now exceeded the peaks of 1989 for the very best models. Make no mistake, though, this is a selective market and there are still plenty of indifferent cars which have been stagnant for some time and may well remain so. Here’s an interesting ‘hit parade’ sample of market winners and losers over the past 18 years:
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Third time lucky? 1962 Le Mans winning Ferrari 330TRI headlines RM's Maranello sale.
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Petite Ferrari 206SP (Sport Prototipo), another highlight at RM.
Winners
| 1989 value | 2007 value | Performance (+/-) | |
| Alfa Romeo 8C 2.9 Spyder (road car) | £3,000,000 | £6,000,000 | +100% |
| Ferrari 250GT SWB (steel, good) | £800,000 | £1,500,000 | +87% |
Top finishers
| 1989 value | 2007 value | Performance (+/-) | |
| Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Touring | £70,000 | £120,000 | +71% |
| Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato (street) | £1,000,000 | £1,600,000 | +60% |
| Lancia Aurelia B24S Spyder America | £100,000 | £160,000 | +60% |
| Lamborghini Miura SV (good) | £220,000 | £350,000 | +59% |
| Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing (good) | £220,000 | £350,000 | +59% |
Mid-field and losers
| 1989 value | 2007 value | Performance (+/-) | |
| Rolls-Royce Phantom II Limousine (good) | £35,000 | £35,000 | 0% |
| Jaguar E-Type V12 Roadster (concours) | £100,000 | £80,000 | -20% |
| Ferrari 365GTB/4 Daytona coupe (good) | £300,000 | £150,000 | -50% |
| Ferrari F40 (bought on grey market) | £600,000 | £180,000 | -70% |
| Ferrari 512BBi (RHD, mint | £220,000 | £60,000 | -73% |
Although this simple chart doesn’t take into exchange current fluctuations (the Dollar/ Pound exchange has varied enormously since 1989) it does nonetheless highlight some market trends. For one, ‘buy the best you can’ is good advice in the long term although it takes courage to pay over the odds for anything. Just look at how the best 8C Alfas and Ferrari 250GT variants have performed. Secondly, tastes change: for example, look how Ferrari Boxers, so popular in the late 1980s when the design was still fresh, have fallen from grace whereas Miuras, for years considered the car of choice for the local crime boss in Italy, have become the definitive early ‘70s supercar for serious collectors. Finally, whilst there is no guarantee that past trends will repeat themselves, those cars which fell the furthest in value after their 1989 peak (F40s and Daytonas come to mind) are also amongst those which have shown the greatest increase in the past five years, during which Daytonas have doubled in value and F40s have probably added 50%, rewarding owners who took a longer term view. One might speculate that they still have some upside left.
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RM’s stunning ’53 Ferrari 340/375 with period ‘Ricci’ paper mill sponsorship.
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Supersonica! Rare and beautiful Ghia bodied Jaguar XK120 at Bonhams Monaco.
So, what’s in store in the near future? RM are crossing the Atlantic for their first European auction on 20th May, taking over from Sotheby’s (although the event is diplomatically co-branded) at the Ferrari factory in Maranello for a sale devoted to the Prancing Horse. Top lot is the 1962 Le Mans winning Ferrari 330TRI, an American owned car which will be making its third appearance at auction in the past five years. Given the attention focused on this auction, I expect RM have made sure it will sell. There’s also a petite 1966 Ferrari 206SP similar to the one offered by RM in January, but with a good pedigree, which also comes from US ownership. Although its market is limited, I expect this will find a new home. Another auction veteran, the 1953 Ferrari 340/375MM with distinctive Cartiere Ricci sponsorship (Ricci paper mills), unsold at Gooding’s Pebble Beach event two years ago, should change hands in the current bullish climate. Estimated at €2.8-3.2m, it’s not for the novice collector but is worth every penny for such fire breathing early Ferrari racer.
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Elegant Lancia Astura at Bonhams was commissioned by Count Ciano (Mussolini's son-in-law) but finished after his execution.
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The ‘Gran Turismo Classic’ collection at Bonhams Monaco is selling without reserve.
There are a few ‘fresh’ cars coming up in Maranello, notably Edsel Ford’s personal Ferrari 365GTS/4 Daytona Spyder, in bright Giallo Fly livery (est. €575-725,000) which should ‘fly’ given its provenance, plus a one-owner, 1,200km from new Ferrari 288GTO, from a deceased estate in RM’s home country, Canada. At €325-375,000, I’d be surprised if this didn’t make close to the top estimate. Best buy of all, however, is a delightfully scruffy 275GTB/4 in silver with tan interior, with just two owners and 39,000km from new. With a come-on pre-sale guide of €500-600,000, I’d wager this will make closer to €700,000.
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Bonhams' Ferrari 250 Lusso owner is hoping non original SWB engine will make car worth more.
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Edsel Ford’s personal Ferrari Daytona Spyder…it beats a Model T!.
The following day in Monte Carlo Bonhams will be holding their 13th (so the catalogue says, but it seems more than that) Les Grandes Marques sale. Cover lot is the space age Jaguar XK120 Supersonica seen at Retromobile last year (est. €370-450,000); other feature attractions include a single owner collection of DB Astons from France, plus a Dutch collection “proposed with no reserve price” including a silver Bugatti EB110 and a rare Iso Grifo 7 Litri (one of 17). There’s a beautiful 1938 Lancia Astura bodied for the 1947 Turin Motor Show by Pinin Farina (est. €140-180,000 and it deserves to make the higher figure), an ‘as new’ Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR road car (and you thought a Porsche GT1 was impractical? No wonder they all have delivery mileage…) and a 1980s supercar which is sure to do well, the late Michele Alboreto’s personal Ferrari 288GTO. This has a great story and comes with all the bits collectors love, from a signed note from Enzo himself to fitted luggage with Michele’s name: the business!
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‘The King of Cool’ Steve McQueen with his new Ferrari Lusso, thankfully not ‘retail red’.
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‘You do know I drive a Ferrari, don't you...?’
At the other end of the recommended investment scale, if you’re brave of mind and wallet you can bid on an ‘as new’ Ferrari FXX track car (est. €1.8-2.2m), a product of marketing genius of which the savvy Enzo would have been proud.
Oh, and of course, there’s a FIAT Jolly beach car which, Monaco being Monaco, will probably sell for more than you’d get for a second-hand Rolls-Royce in a provincial British auction…
Finally, we can already bring you news of some highlights coming up this summer in Monterey. Yet again (sorry), Ferrari is likely to take centre stage, with Christie’s kicking off with Steve McQueen’s elegant brown 250GT Lusso as their feature Lot. Estimated at a whopping $800,000-1,000,000 (double a standard Lusso), the owner has presumably calculated that if the King of Cool’s ‘Persol’ shades are worth $70 grand, his car must be worth at least ten pairs.
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From the Greg Garrison estate, ‘lake find’ Ferrari 410 Superamerica with wild one-off bodywork.
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‘Time warp’ last-of-the-line, Greg Garrisson's Ferrari Daytona Spyder with…72 miles (yes, 72) from new.
David Gooding has secured the best collection so far, however, with cars from the estate of the late Greg Garrison, a legendary Hollywood TV producer and Dean Martin’s manager for four decades. Mr Garrison, who I met shortly before he died two years ago, flew his own jet (into his 80s) and had collected special bodied Ferraris since long before it became fashionable. Apart from a whacky, finned Ferrari 410 Superamerica which was built for Italian Johnny Walker whisky importer Dr Enrico Wax and later stolen, recovered in a lake and rebuilt, my favourite car in this collection is the last ever Ferrari Daytona Spyder built. Owned from new by Mr Garrison, who recalled to me collecting it from the LA docks and driving it home (and never again), this original gold/ tan liveried V12 supercar has covered just 72 miles- yes, 72 miles (not thousand)- from new. I’m sure the expected bidding war will have Mr Garrison smiling from his final resting place above.