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.
The letters on your modern car’s trunk lid might have no real meaning, but the “S” on the back of a classic Porsche 911 signified a major performance upgrade over the standard car. Porsche’s marketing for the original 911S cautioned, “This is no car for a novice.” The 911S rewarded skilled drivers while being known to put a scare into those unfamiliar with its handling traits. RM Sotheby’s is offering a rare concours-restored 1968 911S at no reserve at its Amelia Island auction in March. Expect hot bidding.
The legendary Jaguar XK-120, first introduced in 1949, has played an important role in sports car lineage, both in terms of styling and performance. A very early alloy-body XK-120 (chassis number 670019), will be offered at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach auction, with a pre-sale estimate of $250K-$300K.
By all accounts, the auctions at The Amelia — now under the ownership of Hagerty — were a grand success, with the sales from RM Sotheby’s, Bonhams and Gooding & Company totaling nearly $126M. Notably, a 1937 Talbot Lago set a world record price for the marque and for French cars at $13,425,000
Here are our “Cars to Watch” for the Bonhams auction at Amelia Island, which features more than 80 automotive offerings, plus a diverse assemblage of memorabilia and collectibles and 50 vintage motorcycles.
A few Scottscale Auction highlights: a record $6.8 million for a 1955 alloy-body Mecedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing; a $335,000 sale of the 1949 “Rain Man” Buick Roadmaster convertible; and $775,000 for a rebuilt Duesenberg Model J engine – yes, just the engine. Read all the highlights here
Premier’s range of picks at the 2022 Bonhams Scottsdale Auction covers nearly every type of dream car…from a Lamborghini Countach, to an Aston Martin DB4 Series II, to a Jaguar XKE Series I, and a Shelby GT500KR Fastback. If there’s a Bonhams car that suits your taste, we’re happy to prepare you with the financing to bid with confidence.
Audacious in its design and engineering, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing made sports car history at its 1954 New York International Motor Sports Show debut.
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.
