HomeMedia1939 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 sells for $18.977 million at Artcurial

1939 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 sells for $18.977 million at Artcurial

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On the opening day of its annual Salon Retromobile auction Friday in Paris, Artcurial Motorcars sold a 1939 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B Touring Berlinetta for $18,977,200, including the buyer’s fee, the third-highest result for a pre-war at auction. 

The buyer was identified by the Paris-based auction company as “a private collector from the U.S.”

“This exceptionally beautiful car is the third most expensive pre-war car ever to be sold at auction worldwide,” Artcurial said soon after the sale of the 20th lot of the auction. “It is the highest price by far of any car sold during this week of international collectors’ car sales in Paris.”

Vintage vehicles share aerodynamic design features

Artcurial added the consignor was a Dutch collector sitting in the front row at the auction and that the consignor’s father had purchased the car around 43 years earlier for the equivalent of less than $11,500. The car had remained with the family until being sold Friday.

It is believed the record price at auction for an Alfa Romeo is the $19.8 million paid in 2016 at RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale for a 1939 8C 2900B Spider. 

Among all pre-war cars, a 1935 Duesenberg Model SSJ roadster sold for $22 million this past summer at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach auction.

The Alfa up close

 

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

4 COMMENTS

  1. I for one love most all automobiles, but 18 million dollars one would think could feed a lot of people and put our homeless veterans in a nice little house. I never understood this. Must be nice but I’d rather help people in need then spend that kind of money for something that could be wiped out in a second. Just my opinion.

    • Steve,
      Technically you are 100% correct, the issue is, that argument can be applied anywhere, at any dollar level, its just more extravagant at these levels. You like cars so its safe to say you’ve spent something on cars? Whatever anyone spends, it could have been donated to a charity more worthy than putting Cragars on my Chevelle. Government spends on thousands of projects, should they fund the bridge or the homeless shelter? The wife and I went out for dinner last week, dropped $100, am I evil for doing so? You’re a car guy so you may have missed the art auction, the rare stamp auction, or buying a mansion. All the same.

      Probably won’t change your mind, but society picks and chooses every day, and if a "higher authority" is to tell you what to do – well I think you can figure out how that ends up.

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