Several days have passed since the last hammer fell on the final collector car auction sale on the Monterey Peninsula. In fact, even after that hammer fell, there were some big post-block deals that boosted the overall sales figure previously reported.
Now that all such deals are done, here’s a final accounting — and some comments from the auction houses themselves:
The six auctions taking place on the northern California peninsula produced $330.9 million in sales. Last year, the five auction houses with sales in Monterey reported $343 million in sales. This year, Worldwide Auctioneers made its Monterey debut, joining Bonhams, Gooding & Company, Mecum Auctions, RM Sotheby’s, and Russo and Steele.
According to Hagerty, the insurance and vehicle value-tracking company that monitors each auction venue, the overall sell-through rate this year was 58 percent, with 745 vehicles sold. The average price per vehicle was $439,361 and the median price was $88,000.
Hagerty also offered this top-10 list, which includes post-block sales:
1. 1956 Aston Martin DBR1 roadster, $22,550,000 (RM Sotheby’s)
2. 1995 McLaren F1 coupe, $15,620,000 (Bonhams)
3. 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C coupe, $14,520,000 (Gooding & Company)
4. 1970 Porsche 917K race car, $14,080,000 (Gooding & Company)
5. 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB coupe, $8,305,000 (RM Sotheby’s)
6. 1963 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight roadster, $8,000,000 (Bonhams)
7. 1959 Aston Martin DB4GT prototype coupe, $6,765,000 (RM Sotheby’s)
8. 1955 Ferrari 121 LM Spider, $5,720,000 (RM Sotheby’s)
9. 1959 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Series III coupe, $5,335,000 (RM Sotheby’s)
10. 1959 Ferrari 250 GT SI cabriolet (open headlight), $4,840,000 (Gooding & Company)
Here’s the breakdown with figures from the auction houses after they completed their post-block transactions:
RM Sotheby’s — $132,993,810
88 percent sell-through rate
“Our 2017 Monterey auction represented an outstanding success on many levels and spoke to the overall confidence of the market,” said Gord Duff, global head of auctions for RM Sotheby’s. “We saw strong prices on rare historic cars of exceptional quality, while certain areas of the modern performance market continued to trend upwards. The sustained focus and interest in late model, low-mileage supercars and hypercars from our clients made for exciting competition at the auction, while the offering of fresh-to-market blue chip classics and post-war sports and racing cars clearly underpin the resilience of the hobby as a whole.”
Gooding & Company — $91,500,000
81 percent sell-through rate
“In addition to the many record prices achieved, our auctions have demonstrated that cars of the highest quality and from long-term ownerships continue to be in high demand,” said founder David Gooding. “We certainly feel our new earlier schedule proved to be a winner for both buyers and sellers at our event.”
Bonhams — $56,430,000
80 percent sell-through rate
“We were very pleased to see so many single-owner cars consigned to the sale and we’re very pleased with the strong results,” said Jakob Greisen, vice president of Bonhams Motoring.
Mecum Auctions — $34 million
Mecum has not provided an official sell-through figure, only saying it sold 328 vehicles (Hagerty reported the sell-through rate to be 45 percent), nor has Mecum offered a comment about the sale from any of its officials.
Russo and Steele — $8.6 million
No sell-through rate reported; Hagerty reported 52 percent
“Our primary objective in Monterey in 2017 was to adhere to much more selective consignment process and as such offer the cars the market wanted at very appropriate reserves,” said chief executive and co-founder Drew Alcazar. “This simple approach equated to an exciting, dramatic sale, ending with a packed, standing room only event, every night of auction and the words ‘Sold, Sold, Sold!’ echoing throughout every corner of downtown Monterey.”
Worldwide Auctioneers — $7.4 million
70 percent sell-through rate
“Monterey Car Week is obviously the pinnacle of the collector car world calendar and we look forward to many more successful years out here on the Peninsula as we continue our corporate growth,” said Rod Egan, auctioneer and co-principal of Worldwide Auctioneers. “It would be hard to imagine a bigger audience or more extraordinary setting for this our inaugural event and we extend sincere thanks to old customers and new for their considerable support.”
