B.A.T. Alfa Romeo trio sold for 15 million
10/29/2020
When it was announced on October 16, 2020 that the Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5 (1953), B.A.T. 7 (1954) and B.A.T. 9d (1955) prototypes would go under the hammer together at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction on October 28, 2020, it was certainly the surprise of the autumn auction season, if not of the 2020 auction year.
Sotheby's had already had good experiences in previous years with offering a classic or special car as part of an art auction, but the BAT trio fitted in much better with the collection of modern works of art than, for example, the Formula 1 racing car a year ago.
The auction began at 6 p.m. New York time, and despite an estimated value of USD 14 to 20 million, the three cars were not even the most valuable lot. That honor went to the untitled Rothko, which had an estimate of USD 25 to 35 million. However, it was barely sold.
Instead, there was an almost epic bidding war for a table by Carlo Mollino, which was finally knocked down as lot 16 for USD 5.15 million (before surcharge) instead of USD 2 to 3 million. And this was by no means the only art lot where the sale price was significantly higher than the estimate.
There was no on-site audience, but bidding was possible in three locations around the world (New York, London, Hong Kong) via telephone call or the Internet. Pre-bids were also possible. But it was the Sotheby's people on the phone who determined the outcome of practically all the lots.
When lot 38, the Alfa trio, finally came up after more than 90 minutes, it was of course no longer the art experts from Sotheby's but the car specialists from RM/Sotheby's who were on the hot line.
The three Alfa Romeo show cars from 1953 to 1955, designed by Franco Scaglione and built by Bertone to withstand the wind as little as possible, were called for USD 12 million. This resulted in a relatively short bidding skirmish and the hammer fell at USD 13.25 million. B.A.T. 5, 7 and 9d were sold together for USD 14.84 million (equivalent to EUR 11.27 million, CHF 12.05 million).
The new owner paid around five million American dollars per car. This makes each of these three cars individually one of the most expensive Alfas of all time; as a trio, they certainly make it into the top 5 and probably form the most expensive car lot of the 2020 auction year combined. Yet they have neither a six, nor an eight or twelve-cylinder engine under the hood, but a classic four-cylinder. The basis for the B.A.T. prototypes was the Alfa Romeo 1900, presented at the Paris Motor Show in 1950, and its subsequent faster and sportier versions.
Finally, one wonders whether the trio will remain together in the future, as it is unclear whether the individual vehicles would not be worth more in total than the trio. We'll see, but it would be nice to be able to admire the three concept cars together from time to time in the future ...
P.S. The result has of course found its way into the Zwischengas auction database !
