The three major auctions staged last week on Amelia Island in northeastern Florida have posted their final figures, which include post-block sales slightly higher than the preliminary figures reported by Hagerty.
Gooding & Company topped all sales, posting $35.9 million in transactions (compared with a $35.5 preliminary number). RM Sotheby’s reported $27.7 million (compared with the preliminary $27.6 million figure) and Bonhams did $13.5 (compared with a $13.2-million earlier figure).
At Gooding & Company, five of the top-10 sales were Porsches, and two of those were for auction-record prices, leading auction-company founder David Gooding to comment in a news release, “We are proud of our strong, curated lineup of collector cars that delivered the highest sale total of the week, produced the most valuable car sold, and exemplified our desire to bring the best cars to market for our clients.
“These results prove that our Amelia Island sale is a premier auction venue for offering significant Porsches, as well as highly originally and significant cars with rich, compelling stories.”
In addition to a 1993 Porsche 964 Turbo S Leichtbau and 1976 Porsche 934, Gooding claimed world auction-record prices for a 1952 Ferrari 212 Europa cabriolet, a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 Sb coupe, and a 1953 Fiat 1100 coupe.
Three of RM Sotheby’s top sales were pre-war classics. The company also handled the sale of the “Exclusively Porsche — The 964 Collection,” a group of 11 limited-production cars assembled by a single owner.
“Our 20th anniversary Amelia Island sale showed robust demand across the market with a strong 86 percent sell-through rate,” Gord Duff, RM Sotheby’s global head of auctions, was quoted in the company’s post-sale news release.
“We saw a number of long bidding contests drive results well over estimate for cars in virtually every category… To be able to sell both a Marmon Sixteen and a 911 Carrera RS 3.8 for record prices on the same night speaks to the expertise of our team of specialists as well as our client reach.”
Bonhams claimed world auction-record prices at its Amelia Island sale for a 1992 911 Turbo 3.3 coupe and 1989 911 Carrera 3.2 Targa, as well as for a 1947 Delahaye 135MS coupe by Pininfarina and a 1919 Pierce Arrow Series 51 4-Passenger Tourer.
“There was a very robust international component to the sale this year,” noted Rupert Banner, Bonhams’ group motoring director. “Cars were bought and sold around the world and the depth of bidding here at Amelia Island was impressive.”
Sell-through rates for the three sales were impressive, with Gooding at 95.4 percent, Bonhams at 87 and RM Sotheby’s at 86.
RM’s next sale is scheduled for April 6-7 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Bonhams next U.S. auction is scheduled for June 3 at Greenwich, Connecticut. Both will join Gooding & Company on the Monterey Peninsula in August.
