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.
What better prelude to the 72nd Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance® than to buy a car (or few cars) from the auctions held in conjunction with this pinnacle event? If you’re bidding or selling, the action is at the auctions, of course. We’ve assembled the auction itinerary here and selected some highlights from the Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding & Company, Mecum, and RM Sotheby’s sales.
You can’t get a manual transmission from Ferrari or Lamborghini today, but collectors are willing to pay hefty premiums for their last stick-shift models. This trend specifically applies to the cars that offered the choice between the real manual and the “robotized” manual, which Ferrari called F1 and Lamborghini called E-Gear. Today, a Ferrari F430 with the stick-shift can command a 100% premium over the F1 model. Some independent shops are even providing conversions back to full manual transmissions. Is that a wise purchase?
“The Amelia” may have dropped “Island” from its name, but this year’s event will be special, now under the Hagerty umbrella of automotive assets. Read our detailed description of what’s scheduled, whether you’re attending in person or virtually.
Premier was honored to be a sponsor of this year’s Colorado Grand, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected charity tour events. Here are highlights of the rally, from the perspective of our Vice President of Sales, Doug Ewing and longtime Premier client Tony Connor, who spent 5 days and 1,000 miles together as co-drivers of Tony’s modified 1956 356A Porsche.
Numerous multi-million-dollar sales were recorded at Monterey this year, highlighted by a record-breaking sale at Gooding & Company’s auction of an extremely rare 1995 McLaren F1 for $20.465 million.
The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance has a new owner. The move follows Hagerty’s purchase of the Concours d’Elegance of America earlier this year, and, the California Mille road tour in 2020 and the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance in 2019.
As one of the very few personal pursuits that maintained social distancing and broke the monotony of self-quarantine, interest in driving increased in 2020.
At its expansive and eclectic Elkhart Collection auction in late October, RM Sotheby’s sold a special example of the rare 1937 Cord 812 Sportsman convertible for $257,600. Less than 3,000 of this model car were ever made.
