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In the past thirty years this author has witnessed many auctions all
over the world, from the more sophisticated and traditional British style
of Bonhams or Christie’s, to the rather entertaining American format
of sales at Monterey and Scottsdale. However, few car auctions have surprised
so much like this sale in Italy. Much advertising had been done for this
auction and some over-enthusiastic journalists and so-called experts even
expected the star of the auction, a 1958 Ferrari 412 S Spider Scaglietti,
to fetch over seven Million English Pounds! It appears that the auctioneers simply didn’t manage to generate enough interest for their lots. The telephone bidders didn’t work either. There was just no interest at these high prices. It is also well known that collectors today know each other and know who owns what. They don’t necessarily need an auctioneer in between and are clearly not willing to pay high premiums. The bids at the auction were from the "book". In other words the auctioneer was bidding the reserve. Most no sale numbers (hammer prices) were not from buyers but from the reserve. Presentation of the cars was another problem. In contrast to American auctions, prospects were not even allowed to start engines or undertake a detailed inspection. This could also be one of the reasons for the failure. Only Ferraris which were fresh on the market, such as the rare 365 California Spider or the lovely 250 GT SWB Berlinetta (sold to a British collector), sold for quite high or at least very good prices. The Ferrari Logistics Building in Maranello provided seating for about 600 people but not all of the chairs were occupied. And northern Italy suffered from a heat wave with up to 39 degrees Celsius. The factory-owned cars were sold and the 2004 ex-Michael Schumacher F1 Ferrari went for a record of 2.4 Million Euros (hammer price). The last Enzo built (#400) was also sold and proceeds will go to charity. The other Formula One Ferraris didn’t sell, nor did the Maserati 450 S. Surprisingly there wasn’t even a 250 GT Lusso, a 275 GTB or a Daytona in this strange sale. The Enzo Prototype, more looking like a blown-up 348 TB, sold for Euro 170’000. An Enzo engine alone costs this kind of money. Ferrari collectors and dealers from all over the world were seen in Maranello, all chasing their dreams. Bill Ruprecht, CEO Sotheby’s Worldwide, said: “Today's auction represented a unique assembly of some of the world's greatest cars, which ranged from historic racing cars to some of the finest, fastest modern sports cars ever to have been produced and the sale achieved a number of world auction records. We have very much enjoyed working with Ferrari over the last six months and while we are disappointed that a number of these fantastic cars did not sell, we are pleased that we conducted this sale, which had never been done before at Ferrari and as a result had an experimental element built into it.” It appears that Sotheby’s is not half as disappointed as the vendors. Only 31 percent of the Ferraris offered were actually sold. But the poor result will most probably not have a bad affect on the Ferrari market. Let’s just hope that lessons have been learnt and everyone will soon stop experimenting.
Click here for a list of lots and auction results © Marcel Massini 01/07/05
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