Auction woes

[Hugo]

I went to the Historics auction at Brooklands today. Lots of E Types, most of which didn't even make their reserve. A truly beautiful series 1 convertible stopped at £98,000, against an estimate of £135-£150,000. A series 2 convertible struggled to make £69,000. Best described as 'excellent' condition. Not quite perfect. Another 'excellent' or maybe 'very good' flat floor series 1 did better, but I can't remember how much! £130,000 or something? Full results will be online shortly.
So many of the cars struggled to get anywhere near their reserves. Some stopped just £500 short, many were off by tens of thousands. A Bristol 403 was optimistically listed at £50 - £58,000. Bidding stopped at £40,000, which is a very good price, as it needed a bit of work. Two absolutely stunning Corvettes were there, an immaculate 1963? model (would have won 'best in show' I reckon) which reached I think £40,000 against an estimate of £60-£70,000, and a similarly immaculate 1957 model was listed at £50-£55,000, but I can't recall what it reached.
All in all a rather plodding auction - I felt they were dragging it out to try (mostly in vain) to squeeze a few more Pounds out of the bidders. Not encouraging.

[politeperson]

I has a look at some of the cars on Thursday.

I was asked to look at the two red S3 roadsters. One with a red body and white frames, it has had loads of body "repairs" the other with holes in the bulkhead.

i decided neither were worth bothering with unless you wanted to buy work.

Then I looked at an XK140 and ended up trying to work out if anything was salvageable at all, then finally an Alfa Montreal with nice paint over loads of patch repairs. What was the point at £30,000!

On the way out I spotted a lovely XK150se auto. That was a verynice car.

The green Corvette looked very nice also.

Made me realise how lucky I am with the condition of my S2.

[Hugo]

You mean that black XK150 auto? Very nice car. Estimated at £100-£140,000. Can't remember what it went to - at least £100,000 I think. Next time I'll take a pen & paper!
The best E Type in my opinion was that beautiful Series one convertible up alongside the stage - only went to £98,000 - I was tempted myself at that price.
I thought you were oop north? Long way to come? I'm only twenty-odd miles away.

[mgcjag]

I assume those prices were were plus buyers commission.....so the £98k car was plus £10k

[politeperson]

Yes, the auction fees are hilarious. I think it costs quite alot to put on a show like that though, so I do have some sympathy.

I am down in "Landon" most weeks, doin' property.

Occasionally I use the Jag. Clients love it, so do I. Expensive though.

Costs me £4 to get from Boston to Croydon and back in the Tesla. And I get my world view of the traffic, so I can pick my route.

Its a minimum of £70 in the E for a 270 mile round trip, if nothing drops off.

Still worth it for the adventure factor!

Seems all my E type chums live in West Sussex! Might have to move one day.

I have always liked Chichester and East Dean especially.

[Hugo]

I assume those prices were were plus buyers commission.....so the £98k car was plus £10k

It would have been - if it had sold at that price!

[Hugo]

Its a minimum of £70 in the E for a 270 mile round trip, if nothing drops off.

Still cheaper than taking the train. That's crazy.

[Hugo]

Just by chance I looked on ebay.com and there is a 1963 Corvette on there listed for $320,000. The one at the auction today only bid up to £40,000, and it was absolutely stunning. Maybe I should start exporting Corvettes back to the States?

[Bobb]

I'm encouraged when I see prices drop. It means that spares will get cheaper as will insurance and I won't be so paranoid about driving her. I love going to the city market early Saturday mornings and just leaving her in the (mostly empty) parking lot. Generally I never worry, but when prices start going into the stupid range I get a bit leery. It also bothers me that some folks are more concerned with how much profit they can make rather than enjoying and appreciating the car for what they are and how they make one feel. Peter Egan, writer for Car & Driver magazine once lamented about that same problem and suggested that anyone wanting buy any special older car be required to take a test before being allowed to make the purchase.

[Nickleback]

Seems all my E type chums live in West Sussex! Might have to move one day.

I have always liked Chichester and East Dean especially.

I did , so I moved - could be worse

[cactusman]

I think the classic market may be on the turn. Speaking to a friend with Astons he too has seen sale prices moderate a bit. They can't keep going up for ever and with a relatively plentiful supply of E types, common sense may be prevailing. One wonders if a few speculators will get their fingers burned in the process

[Hugo]

Don't mention Astons to me. I d my DB6 eight or ten years ago for £41,500. Worth £250-£300,000 today. I called the market wrong on that one!

[mach2andy]

Hi Hugo
The 403 sold for £53,760 and the green 63 C2 Corvette custom sold for £56,000. I don't know if this includes buyers premium. I suspect not. The 63 Corvette would not be everybody's cup of tea, and you wouldn't want to drive that far in it with the side pipes fitted. The noise becomes tedious after a short while. The 63 & 64 Corvette's had beautiful dished instruments with cranked needles which have been lost on this car which is a great shame.

[Hugo]

Those must have been deals put together after the auction ended - there were a lot of those. That's a heck of a lot of money for a Bristol in not especially good condition. I'd better get mine up for sale methinks!

[1954Etype]

We recently had a car at Auction. Along with another bunch of e types, it failed to meet reserve. Sold it a week later for 13k more than the auction price. I'm not sure that auctions are a good measure of the market place as a lot of cars are bought and sold without even being advertised (we have just brokered deals on 2 cars last week).