Considered by many to be the bellwether of the coming year, if this year’s Scottsdale auctions is any indication, then 2013 is poised to break all records for classic car sales and valuations.
Held from January 13–20, this year’s weeklong series of auctions spread across the greater Scottsdale, Arizona area saw five major auction houses, sell over 2,500 vehicles for a stunning combined total of more than $229 million.
Photo: Mike Maez
Barrett-Jackson again led the way in Scottsdale with both the largest and most lucrative sale of the week. All told more than 300,000 people flowed into the WestWorld showgrounds to watch Barrett-Jackson sell 1,343 vehicles over the course of the week, totaling over $109 million in sales. Overall sales for B-J were up 17% over the previous year’s sale and matched their highest sale held in 2007.
Top lot at Barrett was the original 1966 Batmobile, built and owned by George Barris, which sold for a shocking $4.62 million, the highest price ever paid for a TV or movie vehicle. In addition to the Batmobile, Barrett-Jackson offered 50 select lots in their “Salon Series” which fetched $29.2 million, in their own right. Included in these was an ex-Clark Gable Mercedes-Benz Gullwing selling for $2.04 million, a 1947 Talbot-Lago T-26 Grand Sport also for $2.04 million and a 1956 Chrysler Diablo Concept Car for $1.4 million.
RM Auctions chose this year to focus their sale on a smaller number of more exclusive vehicles (74 lots), which appeared to pay off in spades for the Canadian auction house. RM’s, one-day sale at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, brought in $36.4 million, with an 89% sell through rate. This result was up 42% over last year’s RM sale, despite there being fewer vehicles on offer. According to founder, Rob Myers, “We are very pleased with the results. We strategically limited our sale this year to a smaller, more exclusive offering than previous years, yet the sales tally for our single-day event was up on our 2012 total by more than 42 percent, a significant increase that reflects not only the exceptional quality of the automobiles presented, but also illustrates the continued strength of the market for ‘best of category’ examples. The Arizona auction week is widely regarded as a barometer for the new collector car season; the results from our Biltmore sale paint a very positive forecast for 2013 and we look forward to continuing the momentum at our upcoming sales in Georgia and Florida.”
Top lot for RM’s sale, and very nearly top sale of the entire week, was the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competition Coupe, which sold for a world record price of $8.14 million. With over eight vehicles selling for over $1 million, Ferraris led the charge at RM with a 1967 275 GTB/4 selling for $1.84 million, a 1954 250 Europa Coupe selling for $1.01 million and a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB (featured in Vintage Roadcar, Jan. 2013) selling for $1.32 million.
Russo & Steele posted another strong year of results with their 13th annual “Sports and Muscle” Scottsdale sale, selling 68% of their 422 lots for a grand total of $17.5 million in sales. Star of the Russo sale was a 1958 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, which sold for $727,000, while a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Coupe fetched $605,000, a 1969 Chevrolet Douglass Yenko Camaro brought $253,000 and a 1940 Packard Darrin Convertible Custom realized $242,000. According to Russo & Steele founder Drew Alcazar, ““The Consignment Team at Russo and Steele really worked their tails off this year. With over 50 additional cars, up from last year, we had almost 750 cars on site! The overflow of cars has every facet of our operation working overtime to accommodate these clients. From additional tents, longer check in hours, and the auction block humming until past 7:30 PM on Sunday this year— Scottsdale 2013 was a fantastic success for all.”
Photo: Pawel Litwinski
Another top auction at Scottsdale this year was Gooding & Company’s two-day sale, which posted a 31% increase over last year’s sale, with $52.5 million being realized from an impressive 97% sell-through rate. Top lot for Gooding—and top sale of the entire week, as well as historically at Scottsdale—was a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider, which fetched a record price of $8.25 million. All told Gooding racked up 16 world record sales, including seven cars selling for over $2 million and 12 cars selling for over $1 million.
Rounding out the five major auction houses at Scottsdale this year was the second annual Bonhams sale at the Westin Kierland Resort. Coming off of a disappointing inaugural sale at Scottsdale last year, Bonhams showed a modicum of improvement this year with a little less than $13 million in total sales on the day and one reported post-event sale after the auction. With so many auction companies logging record sales this year, Scottsdale is becoming an increasingly challenging market for any auction company to perform in.
