The Market

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Day one for Gooding at Pebble Beach 2019

Day one for Gooding at Pebble Beach 2019 17th August 2019

It was the Santa Monica-based company’s turn to take some of the heat from the market in this year’s more challenging saleroom environment. Working on provisional figures, we predict a daily gross of around $34m and sell-through of 66%.

STOP PRESS 17/8/2019: Significant after-sales have brought that up to just under $40m, with a 69% sell-through rate.

Regular auctioneer Charlie Ross conducted proceedings in his usual entertaining manner, though he needed to draw deeply on his skills at the rostrum to drag prices up to anywhere near respectability. A classic case was the No Reserve Aston Martin V8 Zagato road car that lingered first under $100k, then stuck in the mid-$150ks before the hammer finally dropped at $330k.

He’s good, but not a magician; Astons once again took a hit, while many of the top lots failed to reach reserve. Pending post-sale deals, the 959 Sport, the DB4 GT (but they were close on that) and the black, Rudge-wheel ‘Gullwing’ look like going home.

At a glance, Friday 16 August (provisional on the night):

* Gross: $33,639,500
* Percentage sold by number: 66%
* Top-selling car: 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider $9,905,000 gross, $9,000,000 net (est. $11m to $13m)
* Well sold? $610k was a huge figure for the 1962 Porsche 356 B Super 90 Twin Grille Roadster
* Well bought? Probably the LWB Cal’ Spider, a covered headlamp car for less than $10m
* One to take away? The looks divide opinion, but the blue LHD Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato (below) for $368,000 gross (say £303k)


Cars that did sell included the 1936 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante ($1,325,000), the 1913 Isotta Fraschini Tipo IM ($2,645,000) and one of the stars of the event, the ex-Niki Lauda Ferrari 312T for $6,000,000. The latter is likely to return to Europe.

The first Singer Porsche to come to auction sold for $857,500 all-in, a little less than its estimate but still a profit for the consignor.

The affable Ross will be at the rostrum again in the morning. Sometimes these storms pass and things pick up on the second day. If anyone can make the most of the mood in the room, it's him.

Gooding at Pebble Beach, 16 August 2019 – Strictly provisional

Gross: $33,639,500
Number of cars not sold: 22
Number of cars withdrawn: 0
Total number of cars: 64
Number sold: 42
Percentage cars sold by number: 66%
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 93%
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 98%
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 2%
Average price of cars sold: $800,940
Average year of cars offered: 1972
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 38%

Photos by K500