I do not know the issue with the 550 but the 2.7 Carrera had instrumentation that looked little off. This does not mean that this is not a real 2.7 Carrera, but if you are going to ask 6 figures you need to get these things right. If you do not you create doubt in the public resulting in a no sale. If I where to venture a guess on the Maranello, I am putting my money on a VAT issue incorrectly stated in the catalog. But I have no hard information on that. The rest of the car looks very well presented. But also possiblel that someone overplayed his hand.
Perhaps you can tell us more about the Belgian 'vignette 705' Vereeken? It is possible that the devil is in the detail and a lot depends on the country of residence of the high bidder/prospective owner. As I see it, this car would appear to have been registered in Sweden (EU). Its clearly over 6 months old and above 6,000kms recorded so if a UK resident was the mystery high bidder, there would certainly have been no VAT to pay (other than the small amount of VAT on the buyers commission). Other EU/non-EU countries will have their own import rules and regulations which may or may not have result in a prospective liability but the general concept should be caveat emptor (buyer beware). All bidders should have been pre-registered by Bonhams so the onus would be on the highest bidder to know what he was doing and to follow through and complete the purchase. Bonhams would have grounds to sue the winning bidder if he failed to pay etc. but what I find quite odd is that Bonhams took their website offline after the sale and when it came back up (not sure if that was later that evening or early on Saturday), the sale had been deleted. There simply wasn't a lot of time for protracted discussions with the high bidder about settlement, or VAT, or whatever so there must be more to it than this. P.S. Speaking of VAT, did you notice that the 911R made very strong money at €483k plus VAT. This could mean €580k (£522k) for a UK resident buyer as it very much qualifies as a New Means of Transport ("NMT") under the UK's NOVA scheme. These circumstances reminded me of the 575M that sold for €245k at Bonhams in Paris in Feb'15. That car was 13 yrs old but had just 1,927kms so still a NMT under UK NOVA importation rules. Therefore, UK VAT at 20% would have been payable if the new owner was UK resident but for the fact that this particular Holland supplied LHD car was reportedly already registered in the UK. Phew! If that car was purchased by a resident of another EU country, it is quite possible that the local equivalent of the UK's NOVA scheme would have resulted in a nasty VAT liability (but I have no knowledge of the new owners of either of these two cars or their countries of residence). #Zoute #ZutAlors!
I do not know. It is all speculation on my part. Except for the 2.7 where I had at least 2 people telling me the same independent of each other. But I do believe the words VAT and Sweden are somehow linked to the trouble. A wild guess. A diplomatic sales car that never had VAT paid... But you do agree for a lot to be marked as sold and then unmarked within hours it must be something substantial... I will make a phone call to someone who could know today.
Here is the story. I have 95% faith in this person (as in 100% does not exist). The car received actual bids up to 140-150k . The high bid was air inserted by Bonhams to get to the reserve. Nobody outbid the "air bid" by Bonhams and as a result no sale. The fact that it was marked as sold and then retracted was an honest clerical error of the person updating the catalog. What an anti-climax. The Carrera 2.7 story sticks. High reserve and a not 100% restoration. But pedigree seemed to be A-OK.
It is possible that the initial confusion/clerical error arose due to the auctioneer's actions as I recall that he used his gavel/hammer, which he wouldn't generally do when passing a lot. I can't say that I caught every word that was said (and I switched off after lot 20 as I was making pizza for a groups of kids in my kitchen at the time) but perhaps the auctioneer attempted to set the record straight at some point / later on and informed the audience that it was a 'no sale' and that interested parties could come and see him afterwards if they wanted to strike a deal, post-sale but it just wasn't possible on the day.
Or the auctioneer was convinced it was a legitimate bid....only to discover afterwards.....etc... The car has VAT paid and is a no stories car. It is in Belgium with a Belgium owner. It is available for private sale.
The Swiss car mentioned in post #2 above has been for sale since at least April 2014 when I found it listed at CHF105k. It didn't sell that summer so they dropped it to CHF91k in October '14 before they cottoned on to manual-fever upon which it disappeared only to reappear at the same dealer in May 2015 at CHF250k. After 18months, it's now back down to CHF200k... FERRARI 575M, Occasion, Essence, 37'500 km, CHF 200'000.-
The UK RHD 29k miles FHP car mentioned in post #144 back in July at the Ferrari Centre in Kent has been re-listed at 'offers over' £199,995. Used 2003 Ferrari 575 for sale in Kent | Pistonheads
Hi all, been away for a while so sorry if this is old news but there is Sebring 575 M Manual among the many varied lots on sale here. Auctioned on behalf of the Italian govt following the bankruptcy of the collector. Many of the cars look poorly cared for (and i heard many are missing documentation) for but its quite fun to wade through the huge lot list. View Lots | Classic Car Auctions | RM Sotheby's
I am super glad I held on to my 575 when buying the 8000 mile F12. The F12 is super but its an upgraded 599, nowhere near as big a step as 575 to 599. That said the 575 steers better, with FHP and in sport mode has more driver feel and feedback and is "powerful enough". The manual adds (for me at least) some reward also. I think F12 while clearly great is over hyped, feels hard work (like Clarkson found) but not in a good way but a fidgety non re-assuring way. The 599 IN ITS ERA the better car.
That's interesting, Scraggy. I think we would all be interested in your continued perspective on the two cars. When reviewing the 599 and F12 on various occasions and in various specs, I found them both to be incredibly rapid and capable, hypermanic, and just a little boring (sorry - just my view), a strange combination. But this I think is just personal taste - my reviews were glowing.
I think its easy for people to get wowed with the latest greatest and not really evaluate. None of them are a patch on my 675LT Spider I had for months and sadly "had" to sell, finest drivers car of them all and by comparison the F12 feels bland.
So Scraggy, would you say that the 599 HGTE you had (and crashed I think you said) was more entertaining than the F12? Thanks for being so honest in your writing, many people who had invested such a sum in a car would feel compelled to "big it up" in public ! I do wonder though if the F12 will grow on you, time (and a few decent long trips) will tell I guess.
The RM Sotheby's Duemila Ruote (digital) auction catalogue is now available. RM Sotheby's The Blu NART over Cuoio manual is lot 606. No reserve but the estimate is €160-180k. Very little detail provided but they do state that it has its original engine! I will have to hatch a plan to head down to Milan and check out this sale.
We have been hatching the same plan. Problem is, it's over 3 days. Milan, weekend, November: you have to be committed. Maybe we can have a Fchat party at the Bulgari.
There is a preview that begins on Thursday the 24th (Thanksgiving). I still cannot quite fathom how it will all work out as even with 27hrs in total available over the three days, it works out to be just over 2mins per lot on the assumption that they intend to run straight through from lots 101 to 848. I guess that they know what they are doing!
I am likely going. But I am sure as hell not going to sit through 3 days of acutioneers babble.... I also have a hard time making the numbers on the lot.... The info on each lot is also very thin.... Michel
Everyone in the world knows about this auction, so I wonder if there will be any good buys. Apart from for Sothebys.
I expect that we'll see some surprising results, both on the high side and on the low side. RM Sotheby's have gone to the trouble of publishing estimates, some of which appear to be comical(!), but one would hope that the 'no reserve' basis will ensure that there should be no need for the 'house bids' that we saw recently at Bonhams Knokke Heist. Interestingly, the usual 12% plus VAT commission applies. I wonder if the auctioneer will pocket all of that or if they will be expected to share some of it with the Guardia di Finanza.
