Even auctions once started small
03/19/2026
People don't talk about money, and not in Switzerland anyway. More than 50 years ago, this was perhaps even more true than it is today. So it is interesting to read how the Automobil Revue, in its issue 30 of July 13, 1972 on the auction of the old Monza Museum, describes the fact that the prices for collector's cars - or as the AR used to call them: class cars - were difficult to ascertain at the time, as the scene at the time kept a low profile. In an auction, things are different now and that can be a problem for some enthusiasts.
Looking at certain prices at this auction, an uninitiated person might rightly have thought that it would be better to keep quiet about prices far in excess of 100,000 francs. However, it should be noted that the cars in question included an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza and a Maserati 250F. Let's not even mention the Ferrari 250 LM for just over 48,000 francs...
Well, the auction as a form of sale for collector's cars had also arrived on the continent in the early 1970s, following an older tradition in the United Kingdom.
The auction in Monza - or more precisely: the report on it in the Automobil Revue - prompted Martin Schröder (Schröder & Weise) to hold the first classic car auction in Germany in the fall of 1972 at his then recently acquired veteran car yard.
Scheduled for September 30, 1972, the 12 cars on offer ranged from the popular Opel P4 to a Mercedes-Benz 770K, which is said to have once been used by Reich Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. And there was also a Lancia Augusta. This was the trigger for Martin Schröder to tell us about his first auction in response to our report on the 1936 Lancia Augusta , which will go under the hammer at the Toffen auction on March 21, 2026.
Martin Schröder remembers his Lancia as follows:
"Not only was it not sold, there was no bid at all despite the crowd. Unfortunately, I no longer remember the consignor. He took the car on the road, I took it for a test drive for the catalog and he picked it up again. No further contact was made." The cover picture shows the car standing prominently next to the auctioneer's desk.
The catalog consisted of several typewritten pages with glued-in photos, which were handed over as copies. No minimum price was set, but it is a pity that the results achieved have not been preserved. According to Schröder, however, this first classic car auction is not necessarily one of the greatest successes in his long career as a classic car dealer. But his auction is a pioneering achievement! And the Augusta in question, despite not being sold, probably still exists.
Of course, we hope only the best for the example that will be auctioned in Toffen on March 21 . As always on Zwischengas.com, we will list the results in detail in our auction report. Because today, not only are classic cars usually offered with a clear price indication in our extensive classifieds section , but the price quotations of the renowned auctions can also be found here and are easily accessible at the click of a mouse! Like the prices since then, we have come a long way since 1972...
