Which one would you have bought?
Two worlds came together at the RM/Sotheby's auction in Amelia Island yesterday afternoon. And the last car to take to the stage really summed it up: the Peel P50. As you know, this is a small car with room for one person. The vehicle was 1.35 meters long and, with a 50 cm3 engine, could travel at 50 km/h.
Bidding started at USD 25,000 and then quickly rose to USD 100,000, with the hammer falling a few minutes later at USD 160,000, which corresponded to a selling price of 176,000 relatively hard American dollars. Meanwhile, the guy who drove the car in had proved that the little car could be turned around by hand simply by lifting it up at the back. The Peel is just 0.99 meters wide.
About twice as wide and several times heavier was the Ferrari Testarossa in the popular "monospecchio" version, i.e. with the one rear-view mirror attached to the top left. 90 minutes before the Peel, the highest bidder had raised his hand at USD 165,000 and thus acquired a 390 hp red super sports car for about the same amount.
The question now is - which one would you have bought?
There would have been other alternatives for the same budget, such as a 1988 Ferrari 328 GTS, a 1963 Volkswagen T1 Samba Bus with matching camper van, a 1931 Cadillac V-12 Phaeton, a 1965 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 4.2-liter convertible, a 1930 Delage D8 C Cabriolet with a special body by Chapron, a 1930 Cord L-29 Cabriolet or a 1960 Porsche 356 B Super 90 Roadster, to name a few examples. But one person obviously really wanted the cute Peel ...
We have already published the results of the Bonhams and RM/Sotheby's auctions; we will publish the results of the Gooding auctions later today.
