Silverstone Auctions Race Retro sale 2015 – results & analysis

Silverstone Auctions Race Retro sale 2015 – results & analysis
24th February 2015 Team CSF
Classic Lancia Delta motor car.

Silverstone Auctions Race Retro sale 2015 – results & analysis

Silverstone auctions presented a wide variety of relatively affordable classics at Race Retro this year with estimates ranging from between £6,500 and £270,000. As usual the Silverstone had managed to find some very low mileage cars and there was a healthy proportion of LHD cars available for sale as well.

What did well?

Three “delivery mileage” Italians a Ferrari Testarossa, an Alfa Romeo SZ and a Ferrari Mondial T all made strong money, underlining the appetite for “as new” Ferrari’s and Italian metal. A well known 400 mile Ferrari 456 M which had been on display for a number of years at a London dealer managed to sell for more than the dealer’s asking price which demonstrated the power of an auction and also got us wondering why anyone would pay an extra £20,000 to buy a car from an auction instead of a dealer. A Porsche 911 SWB made a worthwhile trip from Norway to sell for just under £135,000 inc premium and Porsche 964’s had a good day.

 

What didn’t do so well?

Two Lotus Cortina‘s sold for  well under the asking price, early 911’s didn’t perform as some might have expected with a couple of cars being withdrawn prior to the sale (one of which had been floating around on eBay for a while). An unused  Lancia Delta Integrale Martini from Italy didn’t find a buyer and nor did a LHD Ferrari 575 SuperAmerica from Germany that would in theory have mad a good buy if bought within estimate.

 

Patterns and trends

Silverstone auctions put together a good selection of cars in a market where it is increasingly difficult to find quality vehicles. We are continuing to see the gap increase between the best cars and the rest and compared to 2014 the number of cars selling below median estimate has risen from 40% to 50%+ and stayed there – in other words, more cars aren’t making the money. Early 911’s have (for the time being at least) gone off the boil slightly, Ferrari continues to perform well as a marque with the Testarossa increasing in popularity as we predicted 12 months ago. Hot, mass market saloons and coupe’s from 70’s,80’s and 90’s such as the Lancia Delta, Lotus Cortina and Ford Escorts and Sierras are also beginning to see prices plateau. There were also a large number of non-UK and LHD drive cars as auction houses continue to pump cars into the UK market.

 

The numbers

Total lots86
Sold lots6676.74%
Unsold lots2023.26%
Sold over estimate1011.63%
Sold under estimate2832.56%
Sold in lower half of estimate1618.60%
Sold in upper half of estimate910.47%
Sold in lower half of estimate or below4451.16%
Sold in upper half of estimate or above1922.09%
Sold at median estimate11.16%
Sold within estimate – ACCURACY2630.23%

 

Click here for full results with estimates and heatmap.

 

Silverstone Auctions Race Retro (2)