Photos by Andrew Miterko
Well, another few auctions have come and gone and overall the results were consistent with late October early November weather, Cold and Damp. We will start with RM/Sotheby’s Porsche sale in Atlanta the take a quick peek at the Porsches for sale a separate Bonham’s auctions in Padua, Italy.
RM/Sotheby’s sale in Atlanta went much as expected with my partner Cam, and my colleagues Tim and Phil attending in my place as I’m afraid I’d get treated like Khashoggi walking into the Saudi consulate! I fear for freedom of the press!
Months before the Auction I had inspected and made offers on several of the bigger cars at the Porsche Experience Sale but the owners had visions of grandeur and they decided to consign the cars to the auction instead, Oh well, you can’t get them all.
We have a great group of collectors we help guide with their purchases and many of our clients simply refuse to buy cars at auction for the simple reason that they don’t want the prices they pay for this passion to be made public. Still others don’t mind auctions if that’s the only place they can find that particular example. Think of it as the difference between a hooker and a mistress!
As I said in my preview we were interested in watching these 8 cars:
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Lot 173: 1958 Speedster
Preview:
“This would be a nice solid start to a restoration and the “patina doesn’t lie”.
Results:
“Patina Doesn’t lie.” This car brought all the money because you know what your starting with!
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Lot 175: 1973 RS 3rd series LWT
Preview:
“Excellent, painstaking restoration done to a very high level but a 3rd series car with no LWT pieces.”
Results:
This was a great car and the owner came up short because of the time of year! this car was worth much more!
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Lot 177: 1993 RS America
Preview:
“This car recently sold for around $145K in NY but in a rare color. We will see if he cashes in.”
Results:
Well, it sold for close to what he paid for it. Consider shipping, detailing, and commissions, and he lost almost 10% in less than 6 months. It’s hard to out smart the car market when the weather cools down.
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Lot 179: 1995 RS Touring
Preview:
“Nice low mileage example.”
Results:
We bought this car on behalf of our good client and paid well under market with the commissions! Bam!
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Lot183: 2011 GT3 RS 4.0
Preview:
Average mileage, ex-Sienfeld automobile, with a stupid estimate; this is a fun car to watch!
Results:
Fun to watch was and under statement! $290K under low estimate! Seems the owner was realistic but I wonder if the guy who made up this estimate is still employed?
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Lot 196: 1985 959 Paris-Dakar
Preview:
“Rare, historic rally car. Should be interesting but estimate seems way too high”
Results:
I’m the idiot on this one! I underestimated the rarity and the providence of this car. I missed by more than $2,500,000 and if you combine this with my miss at Monterey its more than 10,000,000 on two cars. Shows what I know!!!!
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Lot 202: 1992 RS
Preview:
“The lowest mileage we’ve seen so maybe low estimate?”
Result:
The car was bid up to $530K and resulted in a “no sale”. We had made an offer on this car months ago and couldn’t get it done. Rare with delivery miles but needs to go in a special collection that understands the mileage premium
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Lot 220: “Project Gold”
Preview:
Who Knows? Proceeds to charity, but this car can’t be registered for road use; so it’s a nice paperweight for someone needs a tax write off.
Results:
Proceeds went to charity, but this car still can’t be registered for road use; so it’s a nice paperweight for someone needed a tax write off.
Summary:
You needed a scarf to attend because it never warmed up in the “room”! Prices have cooled off as the weather has cooled as it does every year. However, the prices actually have been cooling over the last three years. Great cars are very hard to find but when they do show up things get hot. These have been few and far between because – mostly -they are already in great homes. This sale was more of the same as far as factory auctions go and auctions after the August wrap up so the “Big Gun’s sat with their hands in there pockets!
The days of buying, holding for a short period of time and actually making money is over! Buy what you love and it’s never a bad investment!
Bonham’s had a sale in Padua, Italy, with only eight Porsches on the block and it’s really not worth reporting because they only sold two: A 2011 GT3 RS 4.0 with 7,600 km’s(4,800 miles) and a 1987 911 with 177,000 km’s (over 100K miles).
The GT3 4.0 sold for $268,475 but we really don’t know much about it? Sounds like a good deal, but who knows?
The 1987 911 Carrera sounds like a market-correct price for a decent G50 car.
Editor’s note: Please see the full auction results as the final story in this issue.