As Arizona auction week approaches, Barrett-Jackson remains the show in Scottsdale, last year selling 1,481 cars for $103.4-million.
But RM Sotheby's reigns as the gold standard, the Blenheim, Ont.-based business averaging $497,994 each for 126 vehicles at last year's Scottsdale sale, against Barrett-Jackson's average of $69,820 (U.S.).
International rivals Gooding & Co. and Bonhams trailed RM Sotheby's with averages of $441,521 and $191,896 respectively, among six auctions the same week.
Burt Reynolds topped Barrett-Jackson's list of "recognizable celebrities" last year, accompanying the 1977 Smokey and the Bandit Pontiac Trans Am Barrett-Jackson hammered to a new home for $550,000. Well-weathered rocker Steven Tyler has a car for sale this time around.
The treasure hunters seeking platinum-status classic cars, however – and these are players recognizable for the most part only to each other, from frequenting major auctions at Amelia Island and Monterey – head for the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix on Jan. 19-20, where last year RM Sotheby's stature was gilded by selling a prewar Mercedes-Benz 540K for $9.9-million. That was an Arizona auction record, eclipsing the $9.6-million for a Ferrari 250 LM race car at RM's 2015 sale.
"Having the highest average price is a nice stat to have, but the reality is that one or two cars can make the difference," says Gord Duff, who joined RM in 1998 and is one of 15 car specialists bringing consignments to the Scottsdale auction. "We judge more on our sell-through rate, which is consistently 90 per cent. That comes down to our consigning the right cars and doing a good job presenting them."
RM Sotheby's highest estimate this year is $7.4-million to $8.4-million for another Mercedes-Benz 540K, this one a Special Roadster. That said, Bonhams lists a 1952 Ferrari 340 America and a 1963 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight each with $7.5-million to $9-million estimates, together capable of boosting Bonhams' average price to the top.
Beyond bragging rights, however, collectors focus on Scottsdale as the year's first indication of the state of the market. Sales declined last year, the six auctions totalling $250.6-million, down from $292.5-million in 2015. Further slippage could fuel panic among profit-driven collectors.
At RM Sotheby's, 2016 global auction sales fell to $380-million from $525-million in 2015. Meanwhile, its Auctions America company – specializing in lower-priced collector cars – recorded $68.8-million in sales, up from $67.5 million.
Likely as a consequence, Sotheby's, the London-based auction giant, slotted Ken Ahn into RM's headquarters as president in November. Ahn had been the key player in Sotheby's decision to purchase 25 per cent ownership of RM in 2015, with the option of later increasing its stake.
Ahn was unavailable for an interview, but the Harvard MBA is described in the company magazine, SHIFT, as having been Sotheby's senior vice-president charged with "developing and implementing growth strategies, financial management, and enhancing business value."
In its own review of 2016, RM Sotheby's claimed continued industry leadership – with the footnote that its reduced revenue was largely due to construction at its Monterey auction site reducing the number of cars on sale last August to 100, from 150 in 2015. Highlights included selling the 1956 Le Mans-winning Jaguar D-Type for $21.78-million, the most ever for a British car sold at auction. RM Sotheby's sold 1,286 cars in 2016, with 74 for $1-million or more.
Younger buyers are emerging, fascinated by post-1980 cars, a new category termed modern classics by the Hagerty collector insurance company. Twenty-five per cent of the cars on offer at Monterey were post-1980.
"All those guys born in the late 1970s into the eighties are well into their careers now," Duff says. "They remember the cars they loved as teenagers – and now they can afford them."
A 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E Evo II serves as an example at Scottsdale, for which the RM Sotheby's catalogue estimates a selling price of $225,000 to $275,000, or a 1989 Nissan Skyline GT-R, with $50,000-to-$70,000 estimates.
Jake Auerbach, 27, the specialist working out of RM Sotheby's western office in Culver City, Calif., who secured the Evo II consignment, calls cars such as these "forbidden fruit." When new, they weren't allowed in the United States because they didn't meet emission and safety regulations, but they can be imported now because they're at least 25 years old.
The Evo II is especially coveted as one of 500 road-legal cars made to qualify the model for the German racing championship. Such "homologation specials" appeal to motorsport fans and video-game players. But Auerbach notes that less exotic post-1980 cars also are finding favour. "Two years ago, you'd have been laughed at if you said eighties Audis would become prized," he says. "And we've already seen the market for early Quattros absolutely explode."
Among his own cars, Auerbach's Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 – much milder than the Evo II and available in North America when new, could sell for $30,000 to $50,000.
"Every car for a time is thought of as a used car," Auerbach says. "Next, an enthusiasts' car. Then, collectible."
On the block: Five cars up for auction
1963 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight
- $7.5-million to $9-million
- Bonhams
1995 Ferrari F50
- $3-million to $3.5-million
- RM Sotheby’s
Only two black F50s were sold in the United States. One was crashed. This one survives as new, with fewer than 2,090 miles; its hardtop remains wrapped in its box, and three pieces of Ferrari luggage have never been opened. Of more than 70 Ferraris at the Arizona auctions, with estimates ranging from $90,000 to $9-million, this may be the pick.
1989 Nissan Skyline GT-R
- $50,000 to $70,000
- RM Sotheby’s
As a post-1980 Japanese car with racing pedigree, any GT-R has become investment grade. The R32, as the 1989-1994 Skyline was identified, dominated Japanese touring racing as well as winning at Spa, Belgium, and Bathurst, Australia, with twin turbos and all-wheel drive. This GT-R, basically stock, with right-hand steering, is a recent import from Japan.
1933 Chrysler CL Imperial
- $1.5-million to $1.8-million
- RM Sotheby’s
Designer Ralph Roberts crafted this one-of-a-kind Chrysler for his wife. It has passed decades in foremost American collections – Otis Chandler’s and, more recently, Judge Joseph Cassini’s – and has won first-in-class at Pebble Beach and best-in-show at St. John’s. “It’s one of the most important prewar Chryslers,” car specialist Gord Duff says. “It wouldn’t surprise me if it did more than the high estimate.”
1952 Ferrari 340 America
- $7.5-million to $9-million
- Bonhams
Imagine its price had this beauty won a big race – but clutch failure at the 24 Hours of Le Mans followed its debut DNF at Italy’s Mille Miglia. On the plus side, it was a Scuderia Ferrari team car raced by the great Piero Taruffi. For budget shoppers, Bonhams also has on offer a 1977 Honda CVCC, $15,000 to $25,000.