Monterey, 12th of August, 2015
After the first concours event yesterday in Carmel the auction
houses finally opened previews for their upcoming sales. We were
able to have a visit at three of them before heading out for the
McCall Jet Center Party at the Aviation Center.
First in the morning was the RM preview at the Portola Plaza in
downtown Monterey. For the first time RM Sotheby´s extended
their sales calendar at Monterey to include Thursday to sell the
Pinnacle Collection of Supercars and rare classic cars.
Highlighted by a couple of Ferraris including the 250 LM, the 250
GT SWB and the 250 GT California Spyder this will be an early
indicator for the following days as this will be the highest launch
into the Monterey auction week ever with just a few cars below
the million dollar marque. Tomorrow at the same time we will
know whether there are enough people in Monterey this year
willing to spend that much money and it will also be of interest
whether these cars will find a new loving home or whether they
will end up in another investment portfolio.
But it's not not just the Pinnacle Portfolio that offers some great
cars at the RM auction. Several blue chip cars will follow on the
two subsequent days. The feature lots were displayed right at the
entrance of the Portola, including the Ferrari 250 GT TdF, the
275/340 S and the Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar C-Type to name a few.
Inside the ballroom the line-up continues with the Bentley Blower
and several Ferrari, Aston Martin and Maserati. Outside the hotel
the majority of the lots were waiting in the blistering sun to be
inspected by their potential buyers.
Official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours is again
Gooding & Company and therefore their tent is again within the
grounds of the gated community at the 17-miles drive. Entering
the tent one is welcomed by the Ferrari 410 Superamerica,
leading to the main tent with a superb collection of sports and
race cars. Although the market is still dominated by Ferrari with
the 250 GT SWB Speciale by Bertone and the 250 GT SWB
California Spyder being the lots with the highest estimates,
Gooding & Company seems to become especially known for their
Porsche offering. As one could already see in Arizona and Amelia
Island, the sale of the Pendel Collection a few years ago gave
them a good reputation in selling the cars from Zuffenhausen.
Highlighted by the Le Mans winning Porsche 956, the sale
includes a very nice Porsche 904 GT as well as a 906 Carrera 6.
What all auction houses have in common is a very high estimate
for the early 911 and the 911 S but especially the lightweight 911
RS 2.7 version. Gooding will start their two-day auction on
Saturday and they will finalize the Monterey Car week with their
sale on Sunday after the Concours.
If one did not see enough cars at the two previous previews one
could drive over to Bonhams at the Quail Lodge. Bonhams has
partnered the second important event of the week for several
years: the Quail Lodge Motorsport Gathering. Since a few years
Bonhams is gaining grounds on the American market and this
year’s sale has several highlights. Unsurprisingly the sale is led
by a Ferrari as well, this time the 250 GT Interim followed by a
212 Inter Vignale and the Fiat 8V Supersonic, the second car of
this style at Monterey after the Jaguar at RM featuring the same
bodywork. Very unusual is the Veritas with Spohn body next to it.
After the auction previews one could go to the McCall Jet Center
party, one of the most prestigious social events during the week.
At the airport the local society and the many car related visitors
could enjoy a good glass of wine or champagne in between a nice
selection of cars and planes. After having started yesterday
morning at the Quail Lodge, the Quail Rally also reached their
final destination at McCall’s and the cars made a great addition to
the field. After the national anthem and the opening by Gordon
McCall even a few celebrities could be spotted, including
Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves but also the designer of the
famous Daytona Cobra, Pete Brock. As the party started in
typical American manner at 5pm the field cleared at about 9pm
as soon as the sun had set.
After a short night the entrants of the Pebble Beach Tour
d´Elegance will line up at 7am in the morning in front of the
Gooding tent to leave the Pebble Beach grounds towards
Highway 1 on their way to the turning point at Big Sur, the later
lunch stop in Carmel before going back into Pebble where most of
the cars will be awaited by their detailers to be prepared for their
great day on Sunday.
Text & images … Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
Consolidated Monterey Auction Lots sorted by Estimate >>>
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