391 cars worth EUR/CHF 167 million brokered in three days
The four auctions held by Bonhams, Gooding & Co, RM/Sotheby's and Broad Arrow Auctions around the Concours d'Elégance Amelia Island generated a total of USD 177.9 million (EUR/CHF 167.3 million) in sales between March 2 and 4, 2023.
Of the 455 vehicles on offer, 391 were sold, which corresponds to a sales rate of 86%. On average, 86% of the median estimate was offered. An average of USD 455,000 (EUR/CHF 428,000) was invested per vehicle sold. Impressive figures! And proof that there is still a lot of money available and that people are happy to invest in classic cars.
BAA was at the start with 108, Bonhams with 102, Gooding & Co with 155 on two days and RM/Sotheby's with 88 vehicles. In terms of the sales rate, Gooding came out on top with 95%, although the considerable 67% share of no-reserve lots certainly helped.
The per-vehicle turnover was highest at RM/Sotheby's with USD 809,757, the cars were youngest at Broad Arrow Auctions with 45 years, followed by Gooding with 53 years and RM and Bonhams with 59 and 60 years.
In terms of brands, Porsche led the way with 62 cars sold, 51 of which were sold. Ferrari was represented with 43 vehicles, 91% of which were sold. All of the 13 Rolls-Royces on offer were sold, and 94% of BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars were sold.
The highest average sales price was achieved by Ferrari at around USD 1.58 million, followed by McLaren, if one excludes the individual Pagani with a sales price of USD 5.34 million.
| Brand | Number | Age | % Est | VQuote % | VPrice USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porsche | 62 | 36 | 0.87 | 82 | 307395 |
| Ferrari | 43 | 44 | 0.9 | 91 | 1576974 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 36 | 49 | 0.83 | 94 | 501186 |
| Jaguar | 24 | 60 | 0.88 | 83 | 196246 |
| Alfa Romeo | 21 | 62 | 0.75 | 86 | 312804 |
| Chevrolet | 19 | 46 | 0.88 | 79 | 158227 |
| BMW | 16 | 36 | 0.91 | 94 | 248405 |
| Aston Martin | 13 | 46 | 0.94 | 85 | 455186 |
| Rolls-Royce | 13 | 67 | 0.9 | 100 | 270152 |
| Ford | 12 | 43 | 0.84 | 92 | 346913 |
| Packard | 11 | 87 | 0.77 | 55 | 287767 |
| Lancia | 9 | 60 | 0.73 | 100 | 457640 |
| Chrysler | 8 | 89 | 0.83 | 88 | 111920 |
| Bentley | 7 | 68 | 0.79 | 57 | 269470 |
| Maserati | 6 | 59 | 0.78 | 100 | 741000 |
| Volkswagen | 6 | 55 | 0.78 | 83 | 60368 |
| Piaggio | 5 | 70 | 0.95 | 100 | 20496 |
| RUF | 5 | 25 | 0.67 | 80 | 633125 |
| Austin-Healey | 4 | 66 | 0.86 | 75 | 147093 |
| Bugatti | 4 | 66 | 0.81 | 25 | 1132500 |
| Cadillac | 4 | 86 | 0.79 | 50 | 602900 |
| Duesenberg | 4 | 94 | 0.93 | 100 | 2081250 |
| Lamborghini | 4 | 41 | 0.92 | 75 | 360180 |
| Lotus | 4 | 39 | 0.86 | 100 | 96880 |
| McLaren | 4 | 6 | 1.01 | 100 | 1264688 |
| Moto Guzzi | 4 | 83 | 1.09 | 100 | 31080 |
| Shelby | 4 | 57 | 1.01 | 50 | 908700 |
The era statistics are also interesting. The largest proportion of the 453 vehicles auctioned were the 106 built between 1945 and 1960, followed by 98 built between 1961 and 1970. The latter also realized the highest average selling price of USD 616,174, followed by the cars built between 1931 and 1942, which sold for USD 597,321.
The highest sales rate was recorded for cars built after 2001, with 96% being sold. Cars built between 1981 and 1990 followed with a sales rate of 95%.
The sales rate for pre-war vehicles was significantly lower than for young cars, although fewer risks were taken there. The largest proportion of no-reserve lots was in the 1945-1970 model years.
It is obviously easier to give a correct estimate for younger cars, as the highest bids for the very young cars were 95% of the average estimate, while the cars from the tens and twenties achieved 76% and 74% respectively.
| Era | Number | Sales quota | % Est | Average sales price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1888-1910 | 5 | 80 % | 76 % | 370656 |
| 1911-1920 | 3 | 33 % | 74 % | 89488 |
| 1921-1930 | 18 | 78 % | 83 % | 448330 |
| 1931-1942 | 37 | 70 % | 77 % | 597321 |
| 1945-1960 | 106 | 88 % | 86 % | 284728 |
| 1961-1970 | 98 | 84 % | 85 % | 616174 |
| 1971-1980 | 49 | 90 % | 87 % | 242599 |
| 1981-1990 | 37 | 95 % | 88 % | 421355 |
| 1991-2000 | 49 | 88 % | 82 % | 398319 |
| 2001-2023 | 51 | 96 % | 95 % | 496196 |
By far the most expensive car on the three days was the Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider from 1962 at Gooding & Co (picture above). Among the ten most expensive cars were seven Ferraris and one each from Pagani, Duesenberg and Maserati.
All four auctions were documented by us, a click on the names of the auction houses above leads directly to the respective article.
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