Paris 2016 Auctions

335 S #0674 just sold for €28

 

I think it is apparent that prices are coming down. It doesn't matter what car it is. I don't know what the bottom will be...may only be a slight correction, may be more...time will tell.

 

As i wrote in the other thread, it was strange to watch. Very very slow bidding and at the end they were taking 50k increments. If you just bid 27.800.000 and then it's at 27.850.000, how can you let it go for 50k??? If you can spend 27m, then an extra 50k or even 100k is nothing, especially for something like that.

How many bidders were there? Seems 2 by phone and 2 in the room?

 

I'm watching on the web and it seems like total chaos to me. Several times the head guy has told the guy walking around to just stop and be quiet. The main auctioneer does not seem to have any idea what is going. Even with the 335S, the bidder on the floor thought he had the highest bid when in fact it was the bidder on the phone. Only late on did the the auctioneer realize and say no, no it is against you sir and he was the eventual winner. The bidder at the front thought he had the DB4 and then lost it when the bidding was re-opened.

 

€32.075m or $35,732m all in Arcturial are claiming it is the most expensive car ever sold at auction although that clearly playing liberally with the exchange rates prevailing at the time of the GTO and Fangio Mercedes sales.

 

Seemed strange to me. I just said to my wife if you turn up to bid on a car with a reserve of 33m, do you stop at 28m and say no to another $50k?

Definitely one on the phone and one in the room (right,back) but the auctioneer seemed to be asking for bids from someone on the left but I didn't see him take any.

 

Agreed on the chaotic part of the auction itself, as a French man it was already not that easy to follow but it must be totally confusing for foreigners, I do not understand why they don't have a translator to say clearly what is going on. (I don't know how it could work actually).

That said I won't be that hard on the auction house because the job done on the catalogue was pretty nice and People who are buying this 0674 know what they are doing. I doubt the result would have changed much.

For the global market.
The highest lot (let's say 500 000 and more) stop increasing or may go down a bit and that's a safe market reaction imho. But in other range (50 000/300 000 for example) it's not that clear.

Prices hammered are without fees and VAT, Need to see the final results to compare.

Just my 2 cents

 

Does anybody know how the Alfa 6C lot 178 at Artcurial did?

 

I don't know, I think the auction was a right mess. There's something to be said about the ambiance surrounding an Auction, and while Retromobile is an amazing event, a car like the 335 S needs to be sold at an event where there are racing cars driving around a track, or near a concours. We all know why it was sold by Artcurial, and at Retromobile. It's not the sellers' choice, more of a requirement. I think this car would have sold for more at Pebble, by an auction house like RM. I would also not doubt seeing it back on the market in the next 3 - 5 years.

 

At this end of the market it doesn't rely matter which auction sells it. There are only a handful of buyers happy to spend that sort of money and they are unlikely to be put off by an overnight stay at the George V.

Another one for the Wexner collection ?

 

That point is true. But put 2 or 3 against each other, with the right man at the helm of the hammer, and they wouldn't be coaxing 50k bids out of the few bidders. That's what I think, anyway.

 

Today's auction of the 335S may or may not be the most expensive Ferrari auctioned:

Most expensive car ever auctioned? It depends

 

Anyone that wanted to buy would have been bidding by phone or via an agent such as Simon Kidston so they all had ample opportunity and I don't know that anyone could have gotten much more for it. FWIW how many buyers for Ferrari are there at this level that can afford 32 million Euro, subtract the number that are only interested in the trophy cars such as GTO and Testa Rossa and see how many real purchasers were left........

IMHO I would say it was a good price although a million or two more would have been okay as well....

Also does anyone know what 250GT #4065GT went for

 

The SWB failed to sell.
Simon K was NOT bidding at all. He was on the phone with a potential client but did not bid.

Marcel Massini

 

No, it did NOT go to Wexner. His man didn't even bid.
I was standing right next to him.

Marcel Massini

 

What is the take-away lesson/vibe/state of market from this auction in your estimation?
Thank you,

Jack
NY USA

 

Can anyone help me-what did the 959 and the Alfa SZ (long tail) get bid to/sold at Artcurial? I had the two SZ's for sale at Bonham's and there were NO bids on the cars and we had reasonable reserves. Strange market-I felt Paris was the best place for the Alfas. Thanks

 

SZ sold for 500 EUR hammer, est 580-720

 

Stunning cars, especially the SZ2! Do you mean literally no bids? I should have gone to Paris...

 

ZERO vibe.
Party is over.
As said before: market correction of at least 20 percent, within the last two weeks.

Marcel Massini

 

A bit like the stock market!

 

ERA, Totally agree that Retromobile is probably the finest event of it's kind in the world and you get to see such a fantastic selections of cars. The star dealers did have a super section of cars and most were of Grade A, but these were only a small selection of the dealers represented. There were a lot of poor cars being offered and going to these events you can get a true indication of quality and quantity. I understand the 250 SWB was a swiss car so what ever price it was going to achieve would have had between 20 and 30 in tax and duty to the price the same for the F40.
I still stand by my comments that the Best cars and these are few and far at the moment attract substantial money. everything else is priced accordingly and rightly so.
In the last 2 weeks we have seen near enough world records on various Ferraris because they are grade A quality, low miles provence perfect condition
Buyers are educated, want the best and this evident.

 

French car....French auction. National confidence I think.

 

Artcurial auctions are always a mess. Hard to follow for non French speaking people as much it is hard for French people to understand Mecum auctioneers

335S has been secretly offered for sale for a while to some brokers and auction houses.
Car bought in the room by Max Girardo from RM for a US client.

Some brokers say they had better offer for the car only it had been through a discreet transaction.

 

Kind of strange that the car is bought through a competitor.

Still surprised by lack of enthusiasm for such a car. Music has stopped..