Bonhams Annual Scottsdale Auction The Best Yet…

Filed under: Auctions,Classic News |
With Multiple Records Made And Nearly £15m Achieved 1931 Alfa RomeoScottsdale, Arizona – Bonhams’ third annual auction during the Scottsdale Car Week was a smashing success, nearly doubling last year’s total and quadrupling that of the first year. Held on Thursday 16 January under warm and clear desert skies at the beautiful Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, the anticipated auction exceeded pre-sale expectations. Buyers from around the world filled the sales tent to capacity with many more bidders participating online and by telephone. The viewing atmosphere on the lawns was relaxed, where clients could scrutinise the exceptional motorcars on offer and examine history files, while bidding inside was lively and anything but slow. Several cars were the focus of bidding wars that prompted applause from the audience, particularly those from Italian marques Alfa Romeo and Ferrari. The inimitable 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Supercharged Zagato Gran Sport Spider achieved a new world auction record for the model at £1,873,000 ($3,080,000), while the gorgeous sports racing “Tailor’s Car” – the 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Berlinetta – was bought for £1,940,000 ($3,190,000) by an American collector seated in the audience after a long and spirited bidding battle between other collectors in the room and on the phones. Another superb Ferrari became the focus of intense interest – the 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C – when it exceeded its pre-sale estimate and made £1,605,650 ($2,640,000), whereas the multiple award-winning 1968 Ferrari 330 GTC achieved a significant sales price of (£488,000) $803,000. The wonderfully preserved 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Supercharged Sports Phaeton unsurprisingly attracted bids from around the world and was sold to a well-known marque collector by telephone for £869,700 ($1,430,000). “We were thrilled with the sale and very grateful to our esteemed consignors and buyers,” said Mark Osborne, Head of Bonhams US Motoring Department. “Our sell-through rate was nearly 90% while achieving world record prices. The sale total shows tremendous growth for Bonhams and our presence here in Scottsdale. We were able to offer an excellent selection of top-tier automobiles and the market responded accordingly.” James Knight, Group Motoring Director at Bonhams, added: “Our US department delivered strong growth in 2013 and have continued the trend into 2014 with a tremendous Scottsdale auction. We are being entrusted with an ever-increasing volume of high-end motorcars and repaying our clients’ faith in us by achieving record results. We look forward to our next important auction at the magnificent Grand Palais in Paris next month.” For a complete list of Scottsdale results, please visit Bonhams.com/Scottsdale. Bonhams’ next auction of exceptional automobiles will be in Paris on 6 February at the landmark Grand Palais, held in conjunction with Retromobile. For more information, go to Bonhams.com/Paris.Tags:,