250 GTO "bombs" at auction...?
Discussion
This has the potential to be a watershed week, with so many auctions each having at least one headline potential record-breaker. You have to wonder how much money there is out there looking to change hands in one single weekend. If a few more cars fail to reach the expected numbers, it could easily throw some serious doubt into the marketplace.
Bonhams have issued a back slapping press release...
"Carmel, California – Thursday, 14 August 2014 – The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta has become the most valuable car in history to be sold at auction when it realized $38,115,000 (£22,843,633 or €28,528,626) moments ago at Bonhams' Quail Lodge Auction in Carmel, California.
Surpassing the current record of the most valuable car sold at auction, which was also set by Bonhams with the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R F1 Racer that sold for $30-million at Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed Auction last year, the Ferrari GTO had been the subject of intense international interest.
Bidders from around the world were in attendance in the audience and on the telephones. The auction pavilion was filled to total capacity with overflow on the lawns watching the happenings live on the numerous television screens. After the start of a passionate bidding war that at times resembled a tennis match, complete with moments of silence interrupted by cheers, the audience erupted in applause when the fall of the gavel confirmed the final price.
Says Robert Brooks, Chairman of Bonhams, "It's been a genuine privilege to represent this outstanding car and we are absolutely delighted with today's results. We've always maintained that we would exceed the current world record and that the car would bring between $30-$40-million and today the GTO did just that."
Demonstrating the confidence in the collector car market and the strength of the Ferrari brand, today's new world record also reaffirms Bonhams' position as one of the world's leading auctioneers of rare and important motorcars.
Other cars from the very special Maranello Rosso Collection of ten important Ferraris also sold extremely well for a combined total $65,945,000 (£39,522,440 or €49,359,559)."
However the auction was often painful to watch, and considering some of the figures previously mentioned I can't see this being an outstanding result for them - still a heck of a lot of money for a car though!
"Carmel, California – Thursday, 14 August 2014 – The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta has become the most valuable car in history to be sold at auction when it realized $38,115,000 (£22,843,633 or €28,528,626) moments ago at Bonhams' Quail Lodge Auction in Carmel, California.
Surpassing the current record of the most valuable car sold at auction, which was also set by Bonhams with the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R F1 Racer that sold for $30-million at Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed Auction last year, the Ferrari GTO had been the subject of intense international interest.
Bidders from around the world were in attendance in the audience and on the telephones. The auction pavilion was filled to total capacity with overflow on the lawns watching the happenings live on the numerous television screens. After the start of a passionate bidding war that at times resembled a tennis match, complete with moments of silence interrupted by cheers, the audience erupted in applause when the fall of the gavel confirmed the final price.
Says Robert Brooks, Chairman of Bonhams, "It's been a genuine privilege to represent this outstanding car and we are absolutely delighted with today's results. We've always maintained that we would exceed the current world record and that the car would bring between $30-$40-million and today the GTO did just that."
Demonstrating the confidence in the collector car market and the strength of the Ferrari brand, today's new world record also reaffirms Bonhams' position as one of the world's leading auctioneers of rare and important motorcars.
Other cars from the very special Maranello Rosso Collection of ten important Ferraris also sold extremely well for a combined total $65,945,000 (£39,522,440 or €49,359,559)."
However the auction was often painful to watch, and considering some of the figures previously mentioned I can't see this being an outstanding result for them - still a heck of a lot of money for a car though!
Pretty much all of the other lots went within their estimates.
The major exception being the lot 6, the '53 250 Mille Miglia Berlinetta which went for 'only' about 2/3rds of its estimate, which must make it a 'relative' bargain.
FYI The buyer of the 250 GTO was a telephone bidder from outside of America and the under-bidder was an American in the room. The auctioneer worked very hard to get the bidder in the room to increase his bid each time and 'keep the car in the states'. As you can imagine each time he did increase his bid the room cheered but the telephone bidder came back with another bid quite quickly, so possibly was prepared to go higher/buy at 'any' cost......!
The major exception being the lot 6, the '53 250 Mille Miglia Berlinetta which went for 'only' about 2/3rds of its estimate, which must make it a 'relative' bargain.
FYI The buyer of the 250 GTO was a telephone bidder from outside of America and the under-bidder was an American in the room. The auctioneer worked very hard to get the bidder in the room to increase his bid each time and 'keep the car in the states'. As you can imagine each time he did increase his bid the room cheered but the telephone bidder came back with another bid quite quickly, so possibly was prepared to go higher/buy at 'any' cost......!
RDMcG said:
I am surprised but too early to say it this is peak. However, its a orange light.
Nicely put.The auction was over-hyped, but the sale was still a world record at auction. We reckoned the price was about right. The trouble about the alleged prices of the private transaction last year ($52 million) is that they are unreliable at best - after all, if you managed to buy a 250 GTO "secretly", wouldn't you want everyone to think that it had sold for as much as possible to push the prices up?
As for the other cars, many were at the bottom end of their estimates.
Market is over-hyped but still strong. The classic car media have too much at stake with customers (dealers and auction houses) to really start talking the market down but it does need to cool. The investors have really got into it in 2014, which tells a tale.
It doesn't surprise me at all if certain GTO's change hands privately for far more than this auction result. The ultra rich don't need to publicise what they paid to 'push up prices'-they
value privacy and would much rather be discreet than buy at a Bonhams auction.
Evidently Craig McCaw purchased the Stirling Moss green GTO for 35m USD -McCaw sold his
telecommunications company for 11.5 billion USD in the 1990's- folk that rich prefer
to fly under the radar.....no fun rocking up to a GTO meet and everyone knows to the penny
what you paid for your car.
Historian said:
100 IAN said:
...FYI The buyer of the 250 GTO was a telephone bidder from outside of America...
The buyer of the GTO is from the UK.PH
As I'm over in Monterey at the moment and returning on Monday I'd be more than happy to bring it back for you/them
Interesting article: http://stevewakefield.me/2014/08/15/so-why-didnt-t...
Wudee said:
That's a fake ad as far as I am aware. It's actually a toy car in the pictures. 250 GTOs are never offered publicly, the Bonhams model being an exception. Gassing Station | Ferrari Classics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff