What better prelude to the 72nd Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance® than to buy a car (or few cars) from the auctions held in conjunction with this pinnacle event? If you’re bidding or selling, the action is at the auctions, of course. We’ve assembled the auction itinerary here and selected some highlights from the Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding & Company, Mecum, and RM Sotheby’s sales.
Giotto Bizzarrini, who died in spring 2023, left a legacy that includes the Ferrari 250 GTO, the first Lamborghini V12 engine, and the car that bore his name, the Bizzarrini 5300 GT. Few of these stunning Italian sports/GT cars were made, all powered by Chevy Corvette V8s for spellbinding performance and easy serviceability. A class win at Le Mans in 1965 established racing pedigree. At its Monterey Auction this month, RM Sotheby’s is offering an impeccably finished 5300 GT with a pre-sale estimate of $880K-$1M.
Car collectors heading to Monterey Car Week in August will have plenty of treasures vying for their money, including two 1967 Ferrari 330 GTS models in very different condition offered at the RM Sotheby’s auction. A restored blue car originally owned by artist James Wyeth looks like it just drove off the showroom floor, and it has won many awards. A silver 330 GTS offered will need restoration. It’s one of 20 rare Ferrari that sat in a Florida barn for years before Hurricane Charley destroyed the building in 2004. The Ferrari then sat in an Indianapolis warehouse until this year. Offered at no reserve, it will definitely be going to a new home.
You can’t get a manual transmission from Ferrari or Lamborghini today, but collectors are willing to pay hefty premiums for their last stick-shift models. This trend specifically applies to the cars that offered the choice between the real manual and the “robotized” manual, which Ferrari called F1 and Lamborghini called E-Gear. Today, a Ferrari F430 with the stick-shift can command a 100% premium over the F1 model. Some independent shops are even providing conversions back to full manual transmissions. Is that a wise purchase?
For those who have ever argued whether the 1968-1974 Dino was a “real” Ferrari, rest assured, it is. The debate was rooted in Enzo Ferrari’s decision to name the sports car for his son, Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari, who died in 1956. The young engineer had provided inspiration and technical input for a race-winning V6 engine that, a decade later, powered this pivotal road car in the Ferrari lineage. It was the exotic automaker’s first mid-engine model and the progenitor of a line that continues today. Recent near-million-dollar auction sales for Dinos have drawn attention.
The letters on your modern car’s trunk lid might have no real meaning, but the “S” on the back of a classic Porsche 911 signified a major performance upgrade over the standard car. Porsche’s marketing for the original 911S cautioned, “This is no car for a novice.” The 911S rewarded skilled drivers while being known to put a scare into those unfamiliar with its handling traits. RM Sotheby’s is offering a rare concours-restored 1968 911S at no reserve at its Amelia Island auction in March. Expect hot bidding.
Major auto auctions held in conjunction with the world-renowned Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance in Florida offer some of the world’s most desirable collector cars, and Premier’s regional sales managers will be there for the action and to meet customers. In the meantime, they have posted their own “Cars to Watch” as picks for cars most likely to sell well. Except for one American supercar making the list, it’s a German and Italian feast.
The 2023 collector car auction season got off to a roaring start in January. The Bonhams Scottsdale auction reached $30M in sales, and RM Sotheby’s reported $44M. The big surprise came from Bonhams, where a 1912 Simplex brought $4.8M, a record for a pre-WWI car. Supercars were still supreme, though, with a Ferrari LaFerrari getting $4.075M at RM Sotheby’s and, earlier in the month, a Ferrari F40 topping the Mecum sale in Kissimmee, Florida at $3.135M.
BMW’s Z8 is the kind of car that many wish BMW would build again. Two of those cars – a standard BMW Z8 and the Alpina version, called the BMW Alpina Roadster V8 – recently sold earlier this month at RM Sotheby’s Miami auction. Offered by two different owners, and both with under 23,000 miles, each car sold for exactly the same price: $229,600. Read the backstory on the Z8 and the Alpina Roadster.
