Learn firsthand the ins and outs of proper car auction etiquette from Premier Financial’s Southeast Regional Manager, Chris Warren, in his interview with The Weekly Driver.
It’s not just the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, dozens of displays, concours, and auctions packed into just a few days of Monterey Car Week this August.
There’s always a crop of newcomers and those reluctant to participate, lacking a clear understanding of the protocol and unwritten etiquette involved in serious car auctions. We asked a group of the world’s most experienced car auction participants for insider tips to avoid making rookie mistakes at a car auction.
Is it possible to choose one Ferrari that epitomized the marque in its classic era? Selecting a “top five” would be hard enough. Yet, when you consider that Ferrari road cars remained closely related to its GT racers for the first 15 years or so of the marque’s history, there is one that leaps forward: the 1959-1962 250 GT Berlinetta SWB.
Going into the weekend, there had been much buzz around two much-publicized “barn finds,” or more accurately, cars that had been evicted from a condemned garage earlier this year, a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB long-nose alloy coupe and a 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 Roadster.
The 1965 Maserati Sebring offered by Bonhams was built in July 1965 and delivered to a customer in Rome. Although the car’s history after the first owner is not well known, its equipment and Azzuro Vincennes color with Senape interior have been verified by the Maserati Classiche program.
A week of auctions in Scottsdale, Arizona tallied $230+ million for more than 2,600 cars covering the entire automotive spectrum. The top 10 sales accounted for nearly $36.3m. Four of the top 10 sales were Ferraris.
At its Scottsdale auction, Bonham’s is offering an outstanding example of the breed. A 1972 model, this Daytona Spider was fully restored in the 1990s. An award winner at multiple events, the Daytona is also Classiche certified by Ferrari. The pre-sale estimate is $2.4-$2.8m.
Over a four year period, 7,085 were made, with most sold in the U.S. Many Tiger owners modified, raced and wrecked their cars, and so models left in stock or near-stock condition are relatively rare. Bonhams is offering such a car, a 1965 Tiger that remained in the hands of its original owner until 2014. The red Tiger has a pre-sale estimate of $90,000-$120,000 and will be offered without reserve.
