Bonhams’ $14.3m 2019 Scottsdale sale

Playing to a select but discerning audience, auctioneers James Knight and Rupert Banner sold 109 cars to produce an on-the-day gross of $14,295,560. Top seller was the elegant and stylish 1951 Maserati A6G/2000 Spyder, well bought (and sold) for $2.755m all-in.

The Brits rattled the auction along at a good lick, starting on the dot at 11:00 and finishing just as RM’s Maarten ten Holder took to the rostrum at the Biltmore.

Only two cars topped $1m with premium – a sign Scottsdale Week is reverting to its blue-collar origins.

At a glance:

* Gross: $14,295,560 (2018, $25,201,400)
* Percentage sold by number: 88% (2018, 86%)
* Top-selling car: 1951 Maserati A6G/2000 Spyder, $2,755,000 gross, $2,500,000 net (est. $2.8m to $3.4m)
* Well sold? Tricky, as only 5% of the cars beat top estimate
* Well bought? The Maserati A6G/2000 Spyder was exquisite. Freed from its chunky estimate, it was a wise purchase
* One to take away? Tone it down a bit with a subtle repaint and add some careful distressing, and the 1959 Devin Special ($40.3k) makes a competitive mount for European racing. No one will really know what it is, or what should be under the bonnet…

Many entries were no strangers to the market, a big turn-off, and lack of matching engines scuppered the chances of the Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider and the Miura SV, though both attracted real bids below low estimate. Likewise the Maserati A6G/2000, which at one point in its life had packed a Corvette V8. Nonetheless it sold, to much relief all round.

Is Scottsdale week the right venue for a showroom-fresh Bugatti Chiron? Clearly not; today’s car failed to sell and surely would be a better bet at Monterey.

With none of the other big-hitters firing on the day, compared with 2018 the gross was dramatically lower. But as just about everything else sold – albeit mostly under low estimate – there can’t be too much wrong with the market, as long as the right car is offered at the right price.

Bonhams at Scottsdale, 17 January 2019 (2018)

Gross: $14,295,560 ($25,201,400)
Number of cars not sold: 15 (15)
Number of cars withdrawn: 0 (2)
Total number of cars: 120 (109)
Number sold: 105 (94)
Percentage cars sold by number: 88% (86%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 40% (65%)
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 75% (67%)
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 88% (83%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 5% (12%)
Average price of cars sold: $119,130 ($231,206)
Average year of cars offered: 1968 (1971)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 80% (65%)

Photos by K500