Friday, 22 November 2019

Auction Previews - November 2019

This auction preview is going to have to be a short one as there aren't particularly that many amazing auctions this month. However there are two that are ridiculous which are the RM Sotheby's first Abu Dhabi auction set to take place on the 30th November after the final race of the F1 calendar, and the Silverstone Auctions auction at the Riyadh Car Show in Saudi Arabia. Two Arabian auctions filled with some truly amazing cars for sale.

Silverstone Auctions

Silverstone Auctions actually have 4 or 5 auctions this month however their Riyadh auction is one of the greatest line ups I've ever seen for an auction. Considering that they are not one of the big 4 auction houses (RM Sotheby's, Bonhams, Mecum and Gooding), they have one of the best line ups. Whereas most auctions have a few stars and the rest of the lots are generally half decent, Silverstone have opted for the role reversal as they have a few 'normal' cars such as the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and a Porsche 993 C4S and a massive amount of insane cars. These will be in order of the lots at the auction beginning with a Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale which is one of the cheapest cars to hit this auction which shows how amazing the auction is. This is followed by a 2005 Ford GT which is a superb example of the classic American supercar. Along next is the first of many extreme hypercars being the Porsche 918. One of the holy trinity of hybrid hypercars, the Porsche 918 is fitted with the Weissech package which adds the carbon body kit and an extra three noughts to the price tag. This specific example is finished in an ice white spec with a carbon roof, which should sell for over £1million. The next lot is a 2001 Lamborghini Diablo VT which is fitted with the highly desired manual gearbox from the final year of the Diablo's production. The cars now truly become insane with a 2015 McLaren P1, which is the second of the hybrid hypercar holy trinity. Finished in the secondary launch spec of Volcano Yellow, this example is extremely low mileage with less than 2000 miles from new and is another highly desired car. This is not the only P1 going under the hammer in this auction as they are also selling one of the five McLaren P1 XP's (Experimental Prototype). With a full carbon body and red accents, this car dates from 2015 and has been in private Saudi ownership since then, only leaving once to return to Woking to be personally serviced by McLaren. These two cars are both as desirable as the other. Next is the first of a pair, yes a pair, of Mercedes SLS Black Series', a limited series version of the insane SLS AMG. Fitted with the 6.3l V8 from the prior, this car featured a carbon aero kit as well as an increase in power to 622hp. Taking inspiration from the Mercedes SLS GT3 racing car that racked up 37 victories in the 2012 season, this car was a limited series masterpiece. Having one in one place is incredible however to have two, one of which has hardly been driven, is incredible. Next up is a Pagani Huayra Coupe, but not just a regular Huayra. This is the 'White Edition' which is number 5 of 100 produced, currently registered in South Africa with under 700km from new. With a list price of just under £2million with a decent mileage on it, one with under 700km will be sure to reach that price. ItalDesign also make an appearance with the final Zerouno finished in black with a tricolore stripe down the centre. At this stage of writing, there is not enough space for me to talk about every single amazingly incredible car in this auction so I may have to just mention the name of the cars which is a slight shame. However next is a Mercedes McLaren SLR 722S Roadster followed by a Mansory Vivere Bugatti Veyron, a Ferrari 599 GTZ Zagato Nibbio Spyder, a Gemballa Mirage GT, Lexus LFA, Aston Martin Rapide AMR, the incredible Pagani Zonda Riviera, the Bugatti Veyron Nocturne, a Ferrari 575 Superamerica, a restored Brabus Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, Ferrari 288 GTO, Aston Martin V12 Zagato, a Bugatti Chiron Sport, Gumpert Apollo S, Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport, Lamborghini Reventon, Ferrari F12tdf in Blu Electrico, Aston Martin Zagato Shooting Brake and a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport World Record Edition. These cars will be auctioned on the 22nd of November at the Riyadh Concours D'Elegance. Edit : They have later added a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport World Record Edition, a Bugatti Chiron 110 Ans, a Lamborghini Murcielago SV, a McLaren Senna and a white Ferrari LaFerrari.

RM Sotheby's

Much like Silverstone Auctions, RM Sotheby's key auction is in the Middle East, more specifically the United Arab Emirates at the final Formula One race of the season. Each and every car in this auction has its own story, some more than others but this auction is significantly smaller with only 42 lots with two of these being automobilia. However the smaller the auction does not necessarily mean that the small amount of lots lose any quality. The auction begins with a slightly dangerous lot for the consigner at least. It is an Aston Martin One-77 which is being auctioned off charitably in order to raise money for parks in Africa. However the car is being auctioned off with no reserve, meaning there is no minimum price it has to sell for. In theory this means that it could sell for £200k but the estimate placed upon it by RM Sotheby's is £1.5million. Next up, after a BMW Z8, is the first significant sale being the 1992 Benetton B192 which was the first car that Michael Schumacher drove in his full time debut for Benetton and driven to a 3rd place in the German and Italian Grand Prixs. This has an estimate of £850k - £1.25million due to the name on the side of the car. Next along is another classic F1 car being the Ferrari 126 C2 which is the only surviving of seven produced for the 1982 Formula One season. This car was driven to multiple podiums by both Patrick Tambay and Mario Andretti. This model was also the last car that legendary driver Giles Villeneuve drove as he crashed at Zolder, which ended up firing Giles out of the car and into some metal fencing which killed him on impact. This car has an estimate of £2million-£2.75million. Next in the long run of Ferraris includes a Verde British 275 GTS, a 458 Speciale Aperta, an F12tdf, an F355 Berlinetta, an F40 and a Daytona. Two of the cars I have not mentioned I need to talk about in detail, the first of which being the F2002. This car was driven by the legend himself, Michael Schumacher, in his world championship winning season of 2002. A portion of these proceeds will be donated to the Keep Fighting Michael foundation, which adds to the value of the already valuable F2002. This was the most successful season that Ferrari had in F1 as with this car, Michael Schumacher and team-mate Rubens Barrichello finished on the podium in every single race. This specific car was driven to victory in San Marino, Germany and France, and was the polesitter car in the Spanish GP of that year. The cars current owner took it back to Fiorano for an engine and gearbox change where he made it available for Corse Clienti racing and provided a Ferrari Classiche certification. This plus all the other factors make the estimate of £5.5m-£6.5m seem like a real bargain and whoever buys this will be the owner of an extremely important model. The second car to be spoken about in detail is only the second variant of the model to come up for auction which is the highly exclusive Ferrari FXXK. Based on the LaFerrari hypercar, this is a track only version of the LaFerrari built in small numbers for certain customers. The XX programme allows for 30 of Ferrari's most loyal customers to buy special versions of these cars but not to own them. They are instead allowed to drive them on certain tracks when they want to. The FXXK has 1035bhp which is an 85 horsepower jump from the road car and only has 250km from its one person ownership. Typically, there is no way to auction XX cars but Ferrari has allowed it but, I believe, only through RM Auctions. Previously an FXXK sold for just over £3million but this model has an estimate of £4million to £4.5million, which would smash auction records for a Ferrari XX model. Next along, they have a 2017 Ford GT for sale with prices up to £1million which is astonishing given that the cars cost around £400k new. Sotheby's just keep bettering themselves with a Jaguar CX-75, one of the stunt cars used in the James Bond film 'Spectre'. Originally, Jaguar were going to put this car into production but they ran out of money so only made 6 or 7 prototype cars. Nobody really knows how many of these were made, between 6 to 10 of them for sure. Due to the strange circumstances of this car, the estimate is just over £1.2million as a top estimate, but none of these have ever come up for auction before so this will be interesting. A Jaguar XJ220 is also featured in this auction followed up by a blue carbon fibre, 2014 Koenigsegg Agera R. One of two finished in this spec and one of 18 in total, this was the centrepiece of the Koenigsegg brand until the RS replaced it. This is a fairly high mileage Agera R with 4400 miles when these cars are usually garage queens, as well as an interesting car as it is able to run on E100 biofuel making it an extremely innovative car. Much like the Jaguar CX-75, this is the first time one of these cars is for sale in a public auction so the £2.5million top estimate could be very different. There are a plethora of high end Lamborghini's going under the hammer such as a Countach LP400S, a Diablo VT Roadster and a Diablo VT with 19 miles on the odometer from new. Along with these are a Lamborghini Diablo GT which is a one of 80 model exclusively for the European markets with an estimate of just over £750k max however last year one was sold for £815k in Monte Carlo. The other Lamborghini for sale is the Concept S which was built originally for a design showcase for the Geneva motor show however the customers loved the design so much that it was planned to make production. However, another twist to the tale is that only one mechanical model was made being this one as well as one design model with resides at Lamborghini HQ. This one off has been privately owned but now is up for sale for £1.6million as a top estimate. After the Lamborghinis we have a yellow Lexus LFA and a Maserati MC12, the latter having a top estimate of £3.5million. McLaren are only represented by two cars which are the newest GTR models. First is a P1 GTR based obviously on the hybrid hypercar McLaren P1 finished in a black and orange livery fairly reminiscent of some of the older Gulf liveries held by the F1 GTRs. Second is a McLaren Senna GTR, of which not many are actually complete yet. Based on the Senna this car has an incredible aero kit to make the regular Senna look like a Corvette C8. Both of these cars are set to sell in the £2million range. Much like the Silverstone auction, there are too many insane cars to talk about them all so I will have to just list them with some highlights having a little description. Left in the auction is a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, Mercedes G63 6x6, Mercedes SL65 Black Series, a one of 75 Mercedes SLR Stirling Moss, a one of one Pagani Zonda Aether, a Singer Porsche 911, a Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS Touring, a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, a Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport, a Porsche 911 Speedster 997, a Porsche 911 Sport Classic, a Porsche 918 Spyder, a one of one Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead designed for an Arabian Sheikh and finally a one of one Zagato Raptor Concept car. This auction will take place on the 30th November after the final Formula One race of the season. 


No comments:

Post a Comment