This year’s Amelia Island auctions numbered three, as RM Sotheby’s took its sale to Miami. The four auctions together grossed over $186M. Gooding & Company had the highest gross and the top individual sale, a single-family-owned 1903 Mercedes-Simplex selling for $12.1 million. Next-highest were three super-rare Ferraris in the $4M neighborhood, with a 1930 Duesenberg close behind. Some interesting “pairs” or rare cars turned up across the auctions, too.
What does $400 million buy today? It was enough to take home about 1,200 of the world’s finest collector cars offered at the 2023 Monterey auctions held from August 17-19. That was down from $475M in 2022, and the sell-through rate was lower, too. Just the same, some stellar automobiles traded hands in Monterey at auctions held by Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding & Company, Mecum, and RM Sotheby’s. The top sale was a 1967 Ferrari 412P racecar for $30.2M at Bonhams, while a 1957 Jaguar XKSS, one of just 16 made, was #2 at just over $13M.
Forget March Madness, Florida brought the heat to the collector car world with the quartet of Amelia Island auctions booking $186 million in sales, a record for the venue. The top sale, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider, accounted for $18M by itself. Ferraris grabbed 13 slots across the four auctions’ Top-10 lists, and Porsches took four. Modern supercars made some auction Top-10 lists, including $5.3M for a rare Pagani Zonda and $2.4M for a McLaren P1. A 1931 Duesenberg put the spotlight on Pre-war cars with a $4.3M sale.
Vintage Rallies will be postponing their New England 1000 Rally until May 2021, but plan to host two rallies, Mountain Mille and Texas 1000, this fall. Hear all about the famous and exciting past participants, from country music star Alan Jackson to Keith Martin of Sports Car Market, along with all of the amazing past rally locations.
Now that the many great automotive-based events at Amelia Island have concluded, we can look at the best of the best. At the auctions, aggregate sales were up this year, reaching $77.4 million. In addition, the 25th anniversary edition of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, held on March 8th, stands as likely the best in the event’s history.
Six auction houses are featured, showcasing cars from 1924 to 1941. Marques such as Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, Duesenberg, Auburn, La Salle, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Hispano-Suiza are among the cars up for auction.
Scheduled for Thursday January 16th and Friday January 17th from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. both days, the RM Sotheby’s auction will present a diverse selection of nearly 170 fine collector vehicles, ranging from the prewar era to the blindingly fast supercars of the present.
This August, you can have the chance to look like Gary Cooper, in a manner of speaking, by acquiring his super duper Duesenberg. On offer at RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale, it’s one of only two 1935 SSJ Roadsters by LaGrande.
The Nethercutt Museum offers a walk through the history of the automobile, showcasing over 130 pre-1970 cars broken into categories based on era of production. Next door, The Nethercutt Collection occupies the museum’s former residence, with four floors of only the finest antiques.
