Once again, there was no snow in Gstaad to make the resort look truly wintry. Temperatures of around seven or eight degrees even allowed the driver of a Lamborghini Espada to drive his classic car through the village. However, these were not bad omens for the fifth auction of the classic car gallery in Gstaad. After all, if the slopes and the weather were not tempting, one could expect more visitors to the auction in the festival tent. For the fifth time, the auction was held on December 29, as in previous years, with the day of the week changing from year to year.
49 vehicles were auctioned off alongside a range of automobilia (model cars, neon designs, spare parts, etc.) from 4 p.m. on the Thursday between the holidays. The total value of the vehicles amounted to around CHF 6.7 million, a sixth of which went under the hammer without a reserve price.
Internationally created
The automobilia sold (well) in the first hour, followed by the 46 cars and three motorcycles from 17:00. Serge Stotzer acted as auctioneer and the auction was held (almost) exclusively in English for the benefit of the numerous international winter sports guests in attendance.
It took around 2 1/3 hours until all 49 vehicles were presented and the hammer fell for the last time. 23 lots were sold outright, a further 11 were knocked down under reserve. This means that renegotiations are still necessary. Since, on a long-term average, an agreement between the highest bidder and the seller is still possible for around every second vehicle after all, one can assume an overall sales rate of not quite 60 percent.
On average, bidders were prepared to go as high as 81 percent of the median estimate, and the highest bids on seven lots were in some cases significantly higher than the median estimate.
Relatively young cars, three pre-war vehicles
On average, the cars were 44 years old, with the year of manufacture ranging from 1938 to 2022. The different eras were all represented to a somewhat equal extent, with only the pre-war fraction being well represented with three cars.
The second oldest car, a Talbot-Lago T 150 C Competition from 1939, was the most expensive to sell. The new owner had to invest CHF 313,600 or EUR 318,376 to acquire a faithfully reproduced racing car with road registration and FIA papers.
The SS 100 Jaguar 2 1/2 Litre from 1938 was also sold, albeit somewhat below expectations and for a reasonable CHF 162,400 (EUR 164,873).
The BMW 327 sports convertible from 1939 could not finally be released into new hands; no interested bidder wanted to offer more than CHF 95,000, the gap to the not overly high estimate of CHF 125,000 to 135,000 was clearly too large for a knockdown without reserve.
Ferrari, Porsche and the British
The Ferrari brand was most strongly represented in Gstaad, with six cars of an average age of 28 years for sale. In three cases this was achieved immediately, in two cases renegotiation was necessary.
However, the attractive Ferrari 412 from 1987, which was almost as good as new, did not find a new owner.
Three of the four Porsches on offer were sold, and only one of the four Rolls-Royces. Jaguar (incl. SS) fared better, with three of the five cars finding a new owner immediately. Of the three Aston Martins, one was sold immediately and one was sold conditionally.
The latter was an attractive Lagonda from 1984 in top condition. Nevertheless, the CHF 80,000 offered was only enough for a conditional sale.
The only exotic brand apart from the Talbot-Lago was a French Facel Vega FV3 from 1957, which was sold conditionally for CHF 110,000.
Super classics with changing fortunes
Almost half of the offerings were in the so-called super classic category. This included most of the Jaguars and Porsches on display in Gstaad.
Two Chevrolet Corvettes as C1 and C2 (with 427 engine!) together with a Cadillac Series 62 Sedan de Ville represented the American car manufacturers.
The 1966 Corvette Sting Ray 427 caused the longest bidding war. Two telephone bidders simply refused to give in, which is why the brute convertible with sidepipes was finally sold for CHF 168,000 or EUR 170,558, well above the estimated value.
While the Lamborghini Countach LP5000 QV from 1987 stopped at CHF 430,000, a Diablo VT from 1996 was knocked down at CHF 185,000 and a Maserati Ghibli 4700 from 1971 at CHF 160,000, at least with reservations.
The elegant Lancia Flaminia 2500 GT Touring from 1961 (highest bid CHF 50,000) and the very interesting and beautifully presented Alfa Romeo 1900 Berlina Abarth from 1951 (CHF 45,000) did not sell.
Expensive bread-and-butter
On average, the vehicles in Gstaad changed hands for CHF 107,690 (EUR 109,330), but there were of course some cars that were well below this threshold.
For example, CHF 15,680 (EUR 15,919) was paid for the 1992 Fiat Panda 4x4 Trekking, a little more than the estimate.
And the Citroën 2 CV "I fly Bleifrei" from 1986 also found a new owner for CHF 25,760 (EUR 26,152), who paid considerably more than had been estimated in advance.
In comparison, the low-mileage 1989 Jaguar Sovereign 4.0i (XJ40) was a veritable bargain with a sales price of CHF 12,320 (EUR 12,508).
Younger cars for a younger audience
Typical for Gstaad was the presence of a relatively young bidding public at the fifth event. Nevertheless, some of the young cars did not sell as well as hoped.
The 1992 Honda NSX 3.0i 24V, for example, could only be knocked down with reservations at CHF 72,500, two young Bentley Continentals failed to sell, as did two modern Rolls-Royce Phantoms.
Nevertheless, a Ferrari 430 Scuderia from 2008 and a Porsche 991 GT3 RS found new owners. An elegant Bentley Azure Mulliner from 2000 also managed to do so.
The 1994 Audi RS2 was also sold, with the highest bidder paying CHF 67,200 (EUR 68,223) for this Porsche-Audi co-production, which had been further refined by Sportec.
All in all, it was a successful evening for the classic car gallery, and Serge Stotzer can be thoroughly satisfied with his first auction, which he conducted completely independently.
