Pricing Falters at Classic Car Auction
While demand for used vehicles has pushed up auction prices, the collector car market has lost traction.
At a Bonhams & Butterfields auction in Carmel, Calif., this week, car collectors ponied up $14 million for vehicles including a 1933 black convertible Duesenberg (which sold for $1.4 million) and a 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster (which went for $804,500).
The $14 million collected, though, fell short of the $21 million netted at last year’s event — and was a far cry from the $35 million organizers had anticipated. Among the unsold inventory: a 1939 Auto Union racer that was estimated to fetch as much as $10 million, and a 1937 Bugatti estimated to go for as much as $6 million.
At a Bonhams & Butterfields auction in Carmel, Calif., this week, car collectors ponied up $14 million for vehicles including a 1933 black convertible Duesenberg (which sold for $1.4 million) and a 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster (which went for $804,500).
The $14 million collected, though, fell short of the $21 million netted at last year’s event — and was a far cry from the $35 million organizers had anticipated. Among the unsold inventory: a 1939 Auto Union racer that was estimated to fetch as much as $10 million, and a 1937 Bugatti estimated to go for as much as $6 million.
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Comment by David Ruggles on August 28, 2009 at 4:56am -
This whole collector car thing has been boom and bust for as long as I've been watching. I got heavily involved in it after Enzo Ferrari died and his cars went through the roof.
The Ferrari boom drug along other collector cars, including American muscle cars. It hit its peak at Barrett Jackson in January 1990. I can remember selling a 1972 Ferrari Dino Spyder for $200K. We had recently paid 1.2 million for a Ferrari 288GTO and overnight it became worth 350K. Ouch. Excellent examples of late 60's Z28 Camaros ran 15k to 18K. They can easily hit 75K these days. The collector business is full of risk and seems to directly mirror the general U.S. and world economy. When irrational exuberance occurs in the regular economy, the same will occur in collector cars. The advent of collector car auction TV has spurred interest in collector cars. It remains to be seen what will happen when us baby boomers die off. Most of the cars from 1970 through 1990 lack collector appeal. Unleaded fuel in 1971 forced lower compression ratios and smog controls and catalytic converters stifled performance. It took a long time to bring performance back. Front wheel drive and low performance don't bode well for general values during that era. As a consequence, I expect 1960's U.S. muscle cars and heavies to continue to strengthen, with the occasional market correction.
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