Artcurial’s €36.2m 2022 Rétromobile auction

After all the big-ticket lots were sold on Friday, Saturday’s proceedings were always going to be more low-key. The second day of Artcurial’s 2022 Rétromobile event added just €2.7m to the overall gross.

Top selling car on Saturday was the 1991 Ford RS200 that achieved €287,680 all-in (est. €180k to €260k). It proved a good day for Gp. B rally machinery, as the 1986 MG Metro 6R4 coming from the same private collection achieved a mid-estimate €192,560 gross. The seller had also consigned a 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evo II at €100k to €150k. That sold for €185,600 with premium.

At a glance (two days combined):
 
* Gross, motor cars: €36,152,852 (2020, €20,625,226)
* Percentage sold by number: 82% (2020, 72%)
* Top-selling car: 1968 Porsche 907 €4,292,000 gross, €3,800,000 net (est. €4m to €6m)    
* Well sold? €4,068,000, around $4.5m on the day, was massive money for the barely used 1996 Ferrari F50 liable to heavy recommissioning costs and potentially large tax liabilities if exported from Monaco
* Well bought? Other than the bargain 1960s Spanish trials bikes which went for a song, choosing something fitting the location, how about the two-owner 1986 Renault 5 Turbo 2? Not as desirable as the more exotic Turbo 1, this one was estimated at €45k to €65k and went for €77,720 gross

Looking at the two-day sale overall (Sunday was dedicated to automobilia), it beat the equivalent event in 2020 on almost every metric, as the figures below show.

Good 'DB' Astons went well, away from the flock of No Reserve Middle East cars offered frequently by Bonhams, but the DB4 and DB5 were very well restored examples from the collection of Aston Martin Paris CEO Alain Aziza. The Zagato-bodied Alfa Romeos and an OSCA proved a mixed bag: the SZ Coda Tonda and OSCA 1600 GT sold; the SZ Coda Tronca and TZ did not.

In an auction with a good sell-through rate of 80%+, there were few failures. These included the BMW CSL and expensive reproduction 1935 Bugatti Type 57 ‘Aérolithe’. The black 1950 Porsche 356 Pre-A 1100 found a new owner post-sale way under its €450k to €600k estimate, for €415,000 all-in.

Despite the rescheduled March 2022 Rétromobile being a smaller occasion than it usually is in February, everyone agreed it worked. And those who decided to stay away missed a positive event  that reinforced the strength of the classic car industry this year, for all the worldwide troubles on everyone’s mind. Artcurial’s strong auction results bear this out.

Artcurial at Rétromobile, Paris, 18-19 March 2022 – results (2020)

Total gross cars: €36,152,852 (€20,625,226)
Number of cars not sold: 36 (43)
Number of cars withdrawn: 1 (2)
Total number of cars: 200 (151)
Number sold: 164 (108)
Percentage cars sold by number: 82% (72%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 60% (43%)
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 50% (50%)
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 76% (81%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 14% (9%)
Average value of cars sold: €220,444 (€190,974)
Average year of cars offered: 1964 (1960)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 58% (47%)

With thanks to Hammer Price

Photos by K500