Market comment, Tim Schofield, Bonhams Head of Department Collectors' Motor Cars
Despite the challenging circumstances which arose last year, the collectors' car market, has fared better than other sectors, primarily due to the continued demand among buyers to acquire motor cars and among vendors to sell.
With the challenges of social distancing and ever-changing government guidelines, auction houses have had to adapt, and at Bonhams we pioneered the 'Live & Online' format last summer. This is effectively a traditional sale with an auctioneer at the rostrum, but without an attendant audience in the sale room – the auction is beamed online via Bonhams.com, with bidding online, by telephone or by absentee bidding.
Although some sellers were initially concerned whether the timing was right for selling a valuable collectors' motor car, our system has been successful. We continued our active programme of sales in the UK, USA and Continental Europe and have sold cars and have sold them well – many at pre-COVID level prices.
With lockdown, buying online has become so much more accepted and that has been the case for auctions, even with big ticket items. We have been selling plenty of motor cars remotely, to people who had not even seen them - although we still believe that the ability to view the lots – either in person, or via video is important.
This success has given others confidence and we have seen healthy volumes come to market and being sold for market-correct prices.
We've had notable successes at our sales across the world, despite the ongoing challenging situation.
In the UK, our modern and popular classics arm, MPH, enjoyed its most successful sale to date last summer, with a record number of registered bidders and a sell-through rate of 71 per cent and a total of £2.5 million realised, which was remarkable for our first 'live and online sale'. A stand-out result was the £165,000 achieved by a 1993 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.6-Litre 964 Coupe, after a lengthy bidding battle between the telephone and online.
A record number of customers registered to bid and 65 per cent of lots were bought online, with the balance coming via live telephone and absentee bids submitted in advance.
We continued this format into August with the Quail Motorcar Auction, which took place in our Los Angeles Saleroom, in light of the Monterey Car Week going online. We successfully sold a 1959 Porsche 718 RSK Spyder for $2,232,500 – the top lot on the day. In the same sale, a 2014 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, sold for $1,750,000.
Finally, to round off the year, a 1969 Mercury Cougar XR7 Convertible, which had a starring role in the classic Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, stirred the Bonhams Bond Street Sale, selling for £356,500 - more than twice its pre-sale estimate and setting a new auction world record for the model.
These results demonstrate that there remains an appetite in the collectors' cars community to acquire the best examples and so we are gearing up for the start of another busy year which kicks off later this month in Arizona with the Live and Online Scottsdale Auction.
This sale, which celebrates its 10th anniversary, features a world-class array of fine collectors' motor cars including a trio of continental convertibles. Leading the way is a 1959 BMW 507 Series II, estimate US$1,900,00 – 2,300,000), arguably the most collectible and coveted BMW to date. The 507 will assemble at the Westin Kierland Resort with the pinnacle of pre-war Mercedes-Benz motor cars, a 1939 540K Special Cabriolet A with coachwork by Sindelfingen, (estimate on request) and a 1956 300 Sc Roadster, (estimate US$775,000 – 875,000) considered the most desirable of post-war Mercedes-Benz.
The fast-moving pace of the car market means that our Valuation department closely monitors our client's collections alongside Locktons to ensure they are kept up to date with the market moves.