Artcurial’s €4.4m pre-Christmas 2018 Paris sale

The engaging trio of Maître Hervé Poulain, Matthieu Lamoure and Pierre Novikoff once again took to the elegant boulevards of Paris to conduct another ‘Automobiles sur les Champs’ auction. The result last Sunday was an acceptable 66% sell-through by number and a healthy gross of €4.4m.

Top-selling car not surprisingly was the early (1957) Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, an example commissioned by the future King Hassan II of Morocco, still with its original engine, upholstery, bodywork and chrome. €997,600 with premium (say $1.137m) was probably correct on the day: the car’s originality, interesting back-story and neutral colour of DB050 Weiss was balanced by the need for some degree of expensive restoration.

At a glance:
 
* Gross: €4,402,246
* Percentage sold by number: 66%
* Top-selling car: 1963 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster (pictured, top), €997,600 gross, €860,000 net (est. €900k to €1.1m)
* Well sold? The 1964 Facel Vega Facel III Cabriolet (€35k to €50k) that achieved €78,880 all-in
* Well bought? Suitable only for serious recommissioning if not a full restoration, the one-family-owned 1962 Alfa Romeo 2600 Spider had its attractions, and at €55,680 with premium there’s money left for a sympathetic rebuild at a friendly Alfa specialist and still show the buyer a profit
* One to take away? Continuing the Italian theme, how about the 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta, a pale blue saloon in rare ‘Ti’ tune all for €17,400?

In addition to the Facel III Cabriolet, the rest of the Facels did pretty well, some of the few cars that broke mid-estimate. Overall, prices were subdued, but as we reported on Bonhams’ Padua sale, with the benefit of home advantage Artcurial leads something of a charmed life, so the 66% sell-through was acceptable.

Cars that went home included the Ferrari Testarossa, 308 GTS and 365 GT 2+2, the Maserati Bora 4.7 and the 1990 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, the latter carrying a Gold Rush guide price of €50k to €70k.

Well done the 1976 Lamborghini Urraco P300 – once a bargain-basement supercar fit only for provincial sales – that hit €110.2k gross against an estimate of €90k to €110k.

Artcurial in Paris, 4 November 2018

Total gross cars: €4,402,246
Number of cars not sold: 25
Number of cars withdrawn: 4
Total number of cars: 74
Number sold: 49
Percentage cars sold by number: 66%
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 50%
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 61%
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 84%
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 4%
Average year of cars offered: 1972
Average price of cars sold: €89,842
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 26%

Please note: in line with accepted practice, our gross figures are net of any VAT payable on the buyer’s premium.

Photos by Artcurial