Artcurial’s €4.7m June Paris sale dominated by €1.93m Ferrari

Some face was saved by the headline 275 GTB selling under estimate for nearly €2m gross but, at just 42% sold by number, the likeable French team’s latest Paris sale lacked sparkle.

At around $2.2m, the short-nose, originally three-carb (now six), steel-bodied Ferrari was in line with recent auction results at Amelia Island, where RM sold another well-restored car, chassis 06899 GT for $2,205,000. Both were traded on the low side.

At a glance:

* Gross: €4,724,892
* Percentage sold by number: 42%
* Top-selling car: 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB (pictured, top), €1,930,800 gross, €1,650,000 net (est. €1.9m to €2.3m)
* Well sold? Not a lot
* Well bought? Maybe the 1996 Porsche 911 (993) Carrera RS Club Sport at €35k below lower estimate, €284,200 all-in
* One to take away? The 275 GTB, which was a nice car

The figures say it all: only four out of 10 cars found new owners, even some No Reserve entries failed to sell (an Artcurial speciality), and nearly every car that did failed to meet mid-estimate. The other big-ticket Ferrari, a 1991 F40, was withdrawn.

Life in the salerooms has been tough of late: 72% sold by Bonhams at the Greenwich Concours; 57% by RM at Villa Erba; 39% at Bonhams’ Aston Martin sale. A tale of woe not always down to lacklustre catalogues, but with so many auctions and so many cars, there’s little incentive for the would-be buyer to attend every one.

A significant section of Artcurial’s latest bash was devoted to Porsches collected by French shipping agent Eric Coicaud, highlighted by the 993 Carrera RS Clubsport and 2006 Carrera GT that sold only just under lower estimate for €626,400 gross.

Elsewhere, casualties on the day included the 1953 Aston Martin DB2 Drophead Coupé (crazy estimate for a type dead in the water), 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster (expensive but did tick the boxes) and 1959 Ferrari Pinin Farina Coupé (from a good home, would have sold on a better day). All were models that could be bought 24/7, 365 days a year.

Next stop is another Gallic excursion, to the rarefied grounds of Chantilly just outside Paris, where Bonhams will present 40 cars in what has been a challenging environment in the past. Bonne chance! with that, as they say in France.

Artcurial in Paris, 17 June 2019

Gross: €4,724,892
Number of cars not sold: 49
Number of cars withdrawn: 1
Total number of cars: 84
Number sold: 35
Percentage cars sold by number: 42%
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 25%
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 71%
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 97%
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 0%
Average year of cars offered: 1975
Average price of cars sold: €134,997
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 32%

Photos by Artcurial