Amelia Island, Florida, 13 March 2015
The much-anticipated addition to the Amelia Island Car Week –
whose cornerstone is the renowned Amelia Island Concours
d’Elegance – was Bonhams’ inaugural motorcar auction, held
Thursday, March 12th at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club. And
what a resounding success it was!
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The perfectly situated venue was teeming with motoring
aficionados and a lively, enthusiastic buzz. Attendees came from
across America as well as Europe to bid on a superb selection of
cars representing every era of motoring. Bidders, too, from
another three continents participated on the telephones and via
the internet contributing to impressive overall results.
All told, the first year auction achieved $13.95-million in sales with
a 79% sell-through rate. Furthermore, several world auctions
records were established for models from Alfa Romeo, American,
BMW and Porsche.
For pre-war American cars, the day was particularly momentous.
The rare, exquisitely preserved 1930 Cord Model L-29 Town Car
with coachwork by Murphy attracted enormous interest and sold
to a US collector for $1,760,000. The beautifully restored 1908
American Underslung Roadster was the subject of a protracted
bidding battle and set a new world auction record – beating
Bonhams’ previous world record – at $1,738,000. Then there was
the incredible, super fast 1932 Stutz DV32 Super Bearcat that
made $1,012,000. Also, the 1912 Peerless Model 60 Runabout
sold for $440,000 while the 1911 EMF Model 30 Factory Racer
was bought for $242,000.
European and British cars also provided some excellent results.
The 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Transformable Phaeton
previously owned by Marlene Dietrich sold for a healthy $742,500,
and the 1925 Bentley 3-Liter Four Seat Tourer achieved $462,000.
However, it was German and Italian cars that made new records
for Europe. The 1981 BMW M1 Coupe realized $605,000, the
1952 Alfa Romeo 1900C Sprint Coupe sold for $415,800, and the
1980 Ferrari 512 BB made $359,700 – all of which were new world
auction records for those models.
Says Rupert Banner, Bonhams Motoring Department’s VP of
Business Development, “We couldn’t be more pleased with the
results. The community of Fernandina Beach, particularly the
mayor, city council and the folks at Micah’s Place were
tremendously supportive and welcoming and it made for a very
conducive and enjoyable event.” He adds, “The results point to
continued strength in the market with particular emphasis on rare,
original condition pre-war American marques, as well as top-tier
mid to late century European sports cars.”
“Amelia Island has once again demonstrated Bonhams’ great
strength in representing motorcars across a broad spectrum of
genres,” said James Knight, Bonhams’ Group Motoring Director.
“Whether it’s a Brass Era motorcar, pre-war classic or modern
era supercar, our in-house expertise and breadth of knowledge
has become key in achieving these record prices.”
Images ... Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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