Buying a classic or antique automobile at auction isn’t for the faint of heart.
Certainly, there’s no room for buyer’s remorse when prices soar into the mid-seven figures, as they did several times one recent weekend on the Monterey Peninsula.
After hearing the hammer drop on the sale of a splendid 1966 Ferrari 330 P3, at the Christie’s sale, the winning bidder was overheard asking a companion, “How am I going to pay for this?”
Since the escalation of bids up past $5 million was reported simultaneously in dollars, lire, pounds, marks and yen, it’s safe to assume that Christie’s would prefer cash over, say, a Discover Card or Green Stamps.
Nothing gets the heart pumping quicker than a well-contested battle of the paddles. Bystanders in the audience, though, can get just as excited by the drama being played out in front of them, as those hoping to hear the three knocks of the auctioneer’s hammer before their courage or bankroll disappears.
The winners of several such expensive duels were rewarded with loud applause by appreciative audiences at auctions staged last month by Christie’s, at Pebble Beach; Brooks USA, in Carmel Valley; and RM Auctions, at Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf.
What’s more fun, after all, than watching other people spend vast amounts of money on things they’ll rarely use?
Hundreds of interesting–often spectacular–cars were put up for sale during the weekend, which was awash in wheels and deals.
On Friday, at the Quail Lodge Resort, a sparkling sea of Ferraris, Maseratis, Lamborghinis, Panteras, Alfa Romeos, DeTomasos, Mangustas, Fiats and Bugattis attracted thousands of owners and dreamers to the scenic Carmel Valley. Three days of Monterey Historic Auto Races at Laguna let collectors put the pedal to the metal on a century’s worth of machinery.
At the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the restorers’ art was on display on the same fairway where Tiger Woods reigned supreme in June. Up the hill, in a big white tent, the Blackhawk Collection of classics enticed enthusiasts from all corners of the globe to enjoy the weekend and maybe spend a few bucks.
Each day was capped by an auction.
While several lots commanded million-dollar bids, it wasn’t unusual–especially at the two-night Monterey sale–to find fixer-uppers going at prices almost any Sunday driver could afford.
Bargains, of course, are in the eye of the beholder. While Ferraris and Bugattis aren’t likely to fall out of favor soon, there’s no telling what will be collectible 20 years down the road.
“The number of collectors of older cars is getting less and less,” said Miles Morris, senior vice president of international motor cars at Christie’s. “Unless you grew up with them or your father had one a lot of people don’t appreciate cars from the brass era . . . or understand them, for that matter. Lately, the hot market has been the pre- and post-war sports racing cars.
“Those cars are very useful. You can race them at a track or take them to rallies and tours.”
To some, paying tens of thousands of dollars for a vintage auto just for the thrill of completing a lap at Laguna Seca or Elkhart Lake might seem foolhardy. For others, completing the course at any cost is what separates gearheads from butterfly collectors.
“I’m looking to get into medium endurance racing, and this automobile already is set up like a rally car,” said Pebble Beach resident Ron Berner, after he outbid a Dutch collector for a 1957 Austin-Healey 100/6 Works Prepared SCCA Competition Roadster. “I’ll probably run myself through one of the racing schools here and take it out next year in one of the Historic races. I own a ’64 MKIII Austin-Healey, and I love it.”
Berner had engaged in one spirited duel that evening, losing to the Dutchman on a 1956 roadster. He wasn’t about to be denied a second time, even if it cost him $22,000, before commission, sales tax and license fee.
“In the first one, I just wanted to get the auctioneer’s attention,” said Berner, an art dealer. “An auctioneer always knows when someone really wants something, and I knew when to quit. I wanted the second one, anyway, which I knew was worth at least $2,000 more.
“A Works model cost the end user an extra $1,000, because it would be race-prepared.”
Was he afraid of buying a pig in a poke, albeit it a bright yellow one with decals attesting to its conquests?
“I did my research,” Berner said. “It has a provenance. Anyway, you’re not going to go in there and say the spark plugs are dirty or the carburetor is bad.
“Those things are minor. Brooks is very well known and very reputable.”
Not all bidders are as willing to discuss their strategy as Berner. Representatives of the auction companies limit their clients’ exposure to the media, especially photographers, and some bidders prefer to communicate via telephones or the Internet.
“Christie’s does a lot of research on the cars, and we write a very comprehensive, fully illustrated catalog, tracing them right back to the original owners,” said Morris, casually watching a potential bidder rev up one of the lots. “We supply plenty of information, so, if you like one-stop shopping, this is your chance to view 115 cars from the whole spectrum. It’s the rare bird who can’t find a car here in the type they might have some interest in.”
Indeed, it wasn’t unusual to see a Mustang or Camaro go on the block within minutes of a Lola racer, Delahaye Roadster and Mercedes limousine. A 1963 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt went for twice as much as Berner’s racetrack-ready Austin-Healey.
Those price tags were peanuts compared with Brooks’ showcase 1936 Alfa Romeo 8C-2900A Botticella GP and 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C-2900B Berlinetta, both of which drew high bids just under $3 million. That night, at Monterey, a 1969 Porsche 917 once owned by Steve McQueen went for $1.4 million (including premium); a purple lowrider, “Scrape,” attracted $275,000 from a museum; and it required $4.4 million to bag a 1964 Cobra Daytona Coupe.
Sunday, the Christie’s auctioneer took delight in calling out a cute little 1960 BMW Isetta, immediately after the featured Ferrari went for a commission-adjusted bid of $5.6 million. At $10,000, the 1-cylinder “Bubble” car seemed like an incredible bargain.
Different spokes for different folks.
“You lust after the cars you had as a child,” argued comedian Jay Leno, who kept his wallet in his pocket at Brooks. “Thirty years ago, a Model T was about $5,000. Now, it’s about $7,500, which isn’t that much of a difference.
“If you’re a 25-year-old guy, you don’t have any history with that car . . . you didn’t turn it into a hot rod with your uncle.”
Then, too, if a buyer isn’t conversant with the technology, he isn’t as likely to make a personal commitment to his purchase.
“Most people today don’t know how a magneto works or even what it does,” adds Leno, who isn’t afraid to get grease under his fingernails before he steps onto the “Tonight Show” stage. “As the technology moves forward, the people who remember it die off. In the old days, labor was cheap and technology was expensive, but, now, technology is dirt-cheap and the labor’s expensive.
“That’s why old cars are so expensive to restore these days. You’re doing the same amount of work as they did 75 years ago, but now you have to pay modern prices for labor, and no one can afford that.”
Leno, who has a warehouse of vintage vehicles in L.A., said he prefers to deal with a car’s owner. If that person’s garage is full of tools and manuals, he knows he’s met a kindred spirit.
Don Williams, president of the Blackhawk Collection, sells cars from a showroom and through auctions. Several of the automobiles on display in the Blackhawk tent, on the Peter Hay golf course, were prototypes or experimental vehicles.
“Auctions are like gambling,” he said. “It’s a very exciting way of buying cars, but you better know what you’re doing. The more expensive and more rare the car, the more time should go into making a decision.”
He points to an immaculate 1967 Jaguar E-Type Roadster, with a “Sold” sign on its windshield.
“This XKE is one of the finest cars in the world,” Williams said. “At auction, it might only fetch a bid of about $60,000, and not come close to meeting the reserve. That’s because it wouldn’t look any different than another XKE with a pretty paint job.
“A car’s rarity and quality of restoration sometimes have to be analyzed. The more you look at a car like this, the more you understand the reasoning behind the price tag and how the $130,000 in restoration was spent.”
For all their cachet and provenance, it’s wise to remember that the cars for sale at such events are “used” in the most fundamental sense of the word.
“The car really is sold `as is,’ ” Morris cautions. “We are only custodians for another owner. Obviously, we try to vet the car, but if we’ve been snookered and inadvertently misrepresent the car, the sale will be canceled.”
By the way, Christie’s gets a commission on the hammer price of 17.5 percent on the first $80,000, and 10 percent thereafter. If it’s a road car, the buyer pays sales tax and license fees in the state in which it will be registered.
Considering that 80 percent of the cars on the road today look as if they were cut from the same pattern, are any models likely to become collectible in the future?
“It’s tricky when so many cars are produced on a mass basis,” Morris allows. “You have to look at the small manufacturers and people who do limited runs . . . something like a Ferrari F-40 type of thing, where only 400 or 500 were built. Audi TT and Dodge Vipers, perhaps, will be worth something if they don’t make too many.
“I take my hat off to Chrysler, with all the retro styling they’re trying to do. The American muscle car is a market that’s coming on, as well.”
Leno agrees that Vipers are likely to be collectible, along with the F-1 McLaren and Cobra R’s.
“Twenty years from now, I think you’ll see PT Cruiser clubs,” he adds. “I was a kid when the Mustang came out. I remember car enthusiasts saying, `They’ll never be collectible, because Ford built 681,000 of them the first year.’
“But, people do collect them, because Mustangs are what they loved as a kid.”
FOR WHAT THEY’RE WORTH
Here are the vehicles that brought the highest bids at the Christie’s auction at Pebble Beach, Calif.
1966 EX-Scuderia Ferrari $5,616,000
1928 Maserati Tipo 26B/M 8C 2800 Grand Prix 2-seat racing car
$1,656,000
1932 Maserati 8C 3000 Grand Prix 2-seat racing car $1,084,000
1997 Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR Works sports racing car$1,051,000
1956 Jaguar D-Type sports racing car$996,000
1962 Ferrari 250 GT short-wheelbase Berlinetta$886,000
1908 Rolls-Royce 40-50-h.p. Silver Ghost open-drive D-Front Landaulette
$858,500
1954 Ferrari 750 Monza Spyder$776,000
1953-’54 Mercedes-Benz 300SL gullwing Works prototype$776,000
1971 Porsche 917/10 Can-Am Interseries race car$666,000
Here are the most notable cars sold at the Quail Lodge Resort by Brooks USA.
1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B $3,082,500
1961 Ferrari 250GT SWB Comp 61 Special $1,377,500
1955 Jaguar D-Type sports racing car $1,102,500
1962 Ferrari 250GT SWB Cailfornia Spyder $925,000
1952 Ferrari 375 Indianapolis Single Seater $739,500
1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Healey roadster/Brewster body $464,500
1951 2-liter Maserati A6G $290,000
1951 Maserati A6G Berlinetta Vignale $283,000
1961 Jaguar XKE flat-floor roadster $81,700
1956 Jaguar XK140 coupe $59,700
1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II saloon $57,500
