Morgenrot: A good start to the new year
02/02/2022
The Scottsdale auctions are always a yardstick and indicator of what can be expected from the new year in terms of classic car price trends. Of course, a comparison with the previous year is all the more interesting. We have compiled the results of the six auctions.
| Auction house | Bonhams | Bonhams | Gooding | Gooding | RM | RM | Total RM | Total RM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Number of cars | 37 | 89 | 34 | 57 | 84 | 68 | 155 | 214 |
| Share of no-reserve | 27% | 47% | 19% | 32% | 46% | 41% | 31% | 40% |
| Number of cars sold | 29 | 83 | 24 | 48 | 69 | 63 | 122 | 194 |
| Sales quota | 78% | 93% | 71% | 84% | 82% | 93% | 77% | 90% |
| Deviation of V-price from estimate | -0,8% | +16,6% | +0,13% | +7,55% | +5,77% | +18,26% | +2% | +14% |
| H-bid in relation to the estimate | 85% | 102% | 85% |
93% | 91% | 104% | 87% |
100% |
| median sales price USD | 203'324 | 144'209 | 291'729 | 141'338 | 479'545 | 681'414 | 324'866 | 322'320 |
| Total sales USD | 5'896'400 | 11'969'360 | 7'001'500 | 6'784'250 | 33'088'620 | 42'929'100 | 15'328'840 | 20'560'903 |
This year, significantly more cars were offered at the three auctions of Bonhams, RM/Sotheby's and Gooding & Co than in 2021 (from 155 to 214).
The proportion of "no reserve" lots increased, which shows a certain confidence in the bidders.
The sales rate rose from 77 to 90 percent. Sale prices exceeded estimates by 14% in 2022, compared to only 2% the year before.
More importantly, the highest bids reached exactly the median estimate on average, whereas a year earlier only 87% of this was bid.
95 of the 215 cars auctioned in 2022 achieved a top bid above the median estimate! Twelve cars were sold for over one million USD, with the front-runner being a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL with aluminum body, which achieved USD 6.825 million (EUR 6.123 million, CHF 6.347 million) (picture above).
Overall, sales were up by around a third, although the average selling prices per lot remained roughly the same. These figures and results can therefore be interpreted as a sign of confidence.
P.S. The results of the individual auctions, for which auction reviews were of course also published, can of course be looked up in the Zwischengas auction database. Here are the direct links:
Bonhams Scottsdale 2021, RM/Sotheby's Arizona 2021, Gooding & Co Geared Online Scottsdale Edition 2021, Bonhams Scottsdale 2022 , RM/Sotheby's Arizona 2022, Gooding & Co Geared Online Scottsdale Edition 2022.
