Salon Privé 2014 auction results throw up some interesting numbers

Salon Privé 2014 auction results throw up some interesting numbers
5th September 2014 Team CSF

Salon Privé 2014 auction results throw up some interesting numbers

The inaugural Salon Privé auction hosted by Silverstone Auctions made for an interesting evening with results that many may not have been expecting. We examine the Salon Prive 2014 auction results to see if we can find any patterns.

With a strong line-up of cars.a grand location and some impressive pre-sale PR, buyers, spectators and pundits alike must have been keen to see what results the sale would yield after the hype of the Monterey sales.

Nick Whale and his team got off to a good start with a Patek Philippe  5960P-016, Mini Cooper S and Willys Jeep selling well but lots 105 to 108 failed to sell and lot 111 the Ferrari 250 Lusso didn’t make its lower estimate of £1.75 million, selling for £1,650,000.

The sale of Henry Pearman’s “Stradale collection” of 12 cars and motorbikes looked great on paper and started off with a bang when a 1973 Porsche 911 2.4 S Targa sold well above estimate at £170,000 but the remainder of the impressive collection  struggled with six lots remaining unsold including a Ferrari F40, a Miura P400 and a blower Bentley, and all but one of the rest selling for under the median or low estimate.  The buyers were resistant and the experienced auction team seemed baffled by the lack of enthusiasm from bidders.

The remaining 26 lots were snapped up for bids at the lower end of their estimates or went unclaimed with the exception of a Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Series II Coupe which sold for a remarkable £615,000 (estimate £375-425,000) to Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay – and who would bet against his taste in cars? He also bought a Bentley R-Type Continental and a good value Facel Vega HK500. Chris Evans bid on and won the Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder. A Ferrari 308 and Mercedes SL500 also managed to find homes for nearer their high estimates.

Ferrari 250 GT Coupe

There is a detailed breakdown of the results below, but we found the following figures interesting:

Lots sold – 64%. Way down on the numbers at Monterey.

Lots sold under estimate – 14 (25%)

Lots sold in lower half of estimate or less – 45%

Lots sold over estimate – 4 (7%)

What does this mean?

Buyers seemed (and were) unwilling to pay the prices required by the sellers, and this is evidenced by the results. Monterey 2014 was a tipping point for auction prices (if you ignore the world record breaking anomalies) outwith the very top echelon of collectors cars. Salon Privé is not yet Pebble beach and either the buyers just weren’t there or more likely they showed “discipline” in their bidding (as McKeel Hagerty would say).

Prices have surpassed value.

The market is retaining its value, but sellers, dealers and auctions have now pushed prices to their reasonable limits. There will always be exceptions to this rule but buyers are now beginning to dig their heels in. RM’s London Auction in four days time will be very interesting…..

On a separate note, Silverstone Auctions really made their mark on the global auction scene with the sale of some important cars and they should be commended for a good show.

Click here for our full results PDF