Two days before the end of each year, i.e. on 29 December, the Oldtimer Galerie Toffen organizes an auction in Gstaad. The festival tent in the glamorous winter sports resort offers space for around 50 classic cars. The auction of 45 cars, three motorcycles and a tractor began punctually at 4 p.m. on December 29, 2023 in front of a packed audience. Around four hours later, the hammer fell for the last time.
In an exuberant atmosphere, Serge Stotzer and Beat Walti managed to keep the audience in check and kept the tension high even when "the Internet" was about to play a trick on the experienced auctioneers.
53% of the vehicles could be sold directly, a further 14% were knocked down "under reserve", i.e. renegotiations are still necessary. 33 % of the vehicle lots could not be brokered.
A total of CHF 2.68 million was realized directly with the vehicles, resulting in an average of CHF 103,083 per sale.
Fiat Panda exceeds expectations
Lot 102 came early and was probably the smallest car on offer. However, the 4x4 version from 1994 was a big hit with bidders.
Like 18% of the vehicles, the Fiat also went under the hammer without a minimum bid, but the bidders drove the bids up to CHF 16,000, i.e. above the estimated value of CHF 10,000 to 15,000, which meant that the Kraxler, decked out in Gstaad Country Club colors, found a new owner for CHF 17,920 or EUR 19,269.
Ferrari four-seaters in demand
With seven cars, Ferrari was the brand with the strongest presence in Gstaad. Four of them were sold outright, three of which were four-seaters.
Coupés from Maranello with rear seats are usually among the less sought-after cars, but the two Ferrari 365s, the GT 2+2 (Queen Mary) from 1968 and the GT4 2+2 from 1976, proved the skeptics wrong who had previously warned that the estimates were too high.
In fact, the buyer of the Queen Mary (reported after the close of the catalog) paid CHF 263,200 (EUR 283,011) for the certainly excellently preserved example, while another enthusiast invested CHF 137,200 or EUR 147,527 for the likewise white hand-switched 365 GT4 2+2, both very respectable results.
Even the Ferrari FF from 2011 was sold above expectations, with CHF 134,400 or EUR 144,516 changing hands in return for the vehicle keys.
The 360 Modena F1 from 2003 was also sold directly, although the price of CHF 62,720 or EUR 67,441 was at the lower end of the estimated value.
The 512 BBi built in 1982 failed at CHF 190,000, while the 328 GTS from 1985 and a 599 GTB Fiorano from 2007 were knocked down with reservations.
"Churchill" Rolls-Royce with new owner
An interesting car for people who love history was the 1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, in which acting greats and artists, and Winston Churchill in particular, were once chauffeured.
The fully restored car was eventually sold to new owners for CHF 112,000 or EUR 120,430.
Older and very young cars with less success
The two pre-war vehicles failed to achieve their minimum prices.
Neither the elegant 1934 Alvis Speed Twenty SC Drophead "Charlesworth" nor the Bentley 3 1/2-liter Park Ward Drophead Coupé of the same age attracted bids of CHF 55,000 and 110,000 respectively.
The early Land Rover from 1952 and the rally-optimized Austin-Healey 100/4 BN+ from 1954 could also only be knocked down with reservations.
However, the opposite pole, the very young cars, were not entirely convincing either, which was perhaps also due to the high entry threshold.
Bids for the brute Mercedes-Benz AMG GT Black Series from 2022 stalled at CHF 370,000, nobody wanted to bid more than CHF 280,000 for the Porsche 991 Speedster from 2019 and the Aston Martin Vantage as a "007 Edition" with matching skis on the roof from 2021 also failed to attract more than CHF 160,000.
Bond cars not sold
The most expensive car in the auction catalog was a right-hand drive DB 5 from 1964. An estimate of CHF 800,000 to 850,000 was given, which was on the high side given the current market situation and recent sales. Under these circumstances and the fact that the exchange rate had developed very negatively in recent weeks, especially for foreign buyers, the highest bid of CHF 650,000 even came as a positive surprise.
As already mentioned, the other Bond Aston could not be sold either.
The surprising Pagoda
The versions of the Mercedes-Benz 280 SL with four seats and without a folding roof, also known as the "California", are not actually that popular in this country. This made the car on offer all the more surprising when it sold above expectations for CHF 88,480 or EUR 95,140.
You could also buy a very early 190 SL from 1955 for not much more than half that price, although it still needs a bit of work.
The extremely elaborately restored Fiat Dino Spider from 1968 with the coveted two-liter light-alloy V6 engine also found its way into a new garage for CHF 187,600 or EUR 201,720, a very decent price.
CHF 58,800 or EUR 63,226 was paid for a 1955 Ford Thunderbird, and CHF 190,400 or EUR 204,731 for the 1961 Maserati 3500 GT Touring.
A Volvo P 1800 S from 1965 fetched CHF 67,200 or EUR 72,258.
And the left-hand drive AC 428 from 1969, which was auctioned almost towards the end, also found its way into a new enthusiast's garage for CHF 134,400 or EUR 144,516.
The same was achieved by the equally rare Bristol 408 from 1965, which was actually a "restomod". It fetched CHF 179,200 or EUR 192,688.
It is certainly also worth mentioning that the three American super classics, a Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, a Chevrolet Corvette C2 "Split Window" and a Ford Thunderbird all successfully passed into new hands.
Not all super classics with new owners
In addition to the cars already mentioned, the collector's vehicles that were not sold or only sold under reserve included many super classics, such as the Aston Martin Vantage V550 from 1994, the Maserati Bora 4.7 from 1972 and the Mercedes-Benz 300 SE "Königsflosse".
Overall, however, Serge Stotzer and his team must have been quite satisfied with the results, especially as one or two cars that were only knocked down under reserve are likely to find a new owner in the subsequent negotiations.
