Bonhams Peterson Museum Sale Observations

Good day to all. I attended this past weekend's sale and have some observations to share for those interested. We had nine lots consigned and I had mandates from three different clients to purchase if at all possible four different consigned lots. For privacy and business reasons I will only disclose details on one of the lots I was instructed to purchase. This was Lot 180; "A 12 Gauge High Standard Riot 18-7 Model K-120 pump action shotgun."

I arrived early for the sale to meet with Steve McQueen's ex-wife, Neile and Steve's business manager and financial advisor, Bill Maher. Both were extremely helpful and gave great insight onto a lot of the background related to the Manson murder's in relation to the McQueen family at that time. Later after the arrest of the Manson family, Steve "borrowed" the shot-gun for many memorable scenes in the movie the Getaway. It was then returned to Bill Maher who has had it ever since. I inspected the gun in detail and Bill advised me that except for the film sequence firings of the gun, it had otherwise never been fired and had not even been cleaned after use in the movie.

The auction began at 11:00PM and the lots moved quickly and without exception most sold well over low estimate with many going well over their high estimates. I was completely and totally outbid on three of the four lots I attempted to buy. I contacted my client interested in the Shot-Gun and advised him that if he really wanted it, he would need to rethink his maximum comfort value. The pre-sale estimate was $10,000 to $15,000. (Without the McQueen connection this would normally have been a $375 to $550 shotgun.) I took the bidding to $18,000 but realized that no matter what, the high bidder was not going to stop until he had won the sale. I advised my client and the bidding ended and the gun sold at $19,000. I have now been informally advised that the high-bidder would have gone to $50K if necessary.

The same situation occurred time and time again on the various memorabilia lots with staggering prices sometimes bordering on insanity being paid for items that would otherwise command nothing at an average yard-sale.

This same situation has recently repeated itself in the past month at a high-end watch sale. Specifically, special complication watches and minute repeaters, both "pice-unique" and the limited production watches in the $100,000 to $1M range sold at well over high estimates etc...

We have found a similar situation with our recent vehicle sales. The market and demand for "special and unique" collectibles has outstripped our ability to acquire new inventory to replace that which we have sold. I am hopeful that the economic turmoil and currency shifts will free up some additional vehicles.

Regarding the Bonham's Peterson Auction itself, as a consequence of the interest and the shear number of memorabilia lots in the sale, the auction dragged out and the MotorCycle and Vehicles were many hours late coming up for bid. The audience was both hot and tired after four+ hours and the crowd thinned out quite a bit when the first of the bikes and cars finally took the stage. There were no notable sales of any of the reserved lots and none of the three Ferraris achieved reserve. The auction itself ran almost until 9PM when the final bike crossed the stage. I would say there were many bargains on the bike side but no steals in the vehicles that actually sold.

Of the nine lots we consigned, five were sold and four did not. The auction company has however indicated the likely possibility of selling at least one and possible three of the no-sale lots.

Respectfully,

Bill Noon

 

Hi Jim,

it was actually rather uninteresting from my point of view.

All were production cars, all were nice but none were special enough or cheap enough to change the mind of Memorabilia Collectors and MotorCycle buyers to switch buying modes.

One thing for sure, despite not having a "car" buying crowd, they sure put on one heck of an auction and show. I am still in shock at the prices paid for mostly "house-hold" items. The tie-in to having part of the "McQueen" mystique was however undeniable and despite the prices paid, I wish I had bid a little harder and little more often myself in order to have purchased some additional lots.

By the way, none of the sales were "phony" or bid-up just to hype an item. The auctioneer had no issues when a lot failed to get interest and simply passed it and moved on to the next lot.

Warm regards,

Bill

 

Hi Jim, Tex,

I won't be headed to London.... My wife is expecting and I will find myself traveling very little this year and into next except for some local races with my old Maserati and some of the West Coast Shows and Auctions. Wish I was headed to London, especially with the massive currency corrections from just two months ago! Should be quite the sale as usual.

I still have and still prefer the Benelli Super Auto 90. With the extended magazine tube, you can actually have 9 rounds (8 in the magazine and one in the breach) in the gun. I first used one when living overseas in the Persian Gulf quite a few years ago and there remains to this day few tactical shotguns that will equal its capabilities.

Having said that, I can think of very few weapons with as much character and charisma as Steve's shotgun from the movie Getaway. The auction had quite a few stills from the movie and just being able to hold the gun gave me chills. In my opinion, he was, remains and always will remain even many years later the ultimate in coolness!

I got home after the auction pretty late but one of the HD channels was showing the Great Escape. No long ago, I watched the San Pebbles for the first time in many years. His acting talents and ability to carry a character in full detail with very few lines has even today few equals... Sure wish I could have had a chance to meet him.

The closest I ever got was many laps in his 917K from the movie Le Mans. I was able to give it to Steve's son Chad for some really memorable laps around Willow Springs. Chad even took his own son onto his lap for some rides same as Steve did when they where filming for the movie in 1970.

I have said it before... no two-ways about it, I have been one very lucky man to have had so much in my short life. I still would not want to be anyone but me!

Warm Regards,

Bill

 

Hi Mike, I saw you being quiet and coy on the middle right but did not want to bug you. It was a tough crowd. I went around and introduced myself to quite a few buyers of the big ticket items. Interestingly, most were pure private individuals buying with their heart and deep pockets. Only three of the in-house bidders I met and spoke with were they as "professionals" buyers and traders.

The sale was interesting after you left but wayyyyy toooooo lllllooooonnngggg!

Cheers,

Bill