Gooding at Hampton Court Palace, 30 August 2024: Taking Care Of (Local) Business

By Steve Wakefield

3rd September 2024

Back in 2020 Gooding held their highly anticipated debut auction at the Hampton Court Concours of Elegance just outside London. Just over two weeks ago the family-run Californian specialist auction house grossed “over $108 million” (and counting) at Pebble Beach. So what does this weekend’s comparatively ‘boutique’ affair at Hampton Court tell us about the condition of the European market in late summer 2024?

The auction here four years ago of entries consigned from Belgian arch-connoisseur Hubert Fabri was a one-off. It was a day when the stars aligned and all but one of the 15 cars offered found new owners. The headlining 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports (est. "In excess of £10m", £9.535m gross) has now just won Best of Show at Pebble Beach, underlining the continued stature of truly great pre-War cars.

This time the gross total, with undisclosed after-sales, is unlikely to breach the £8.25m mark, at a modest 54% sold by number. Great location, event and weather, best-in-the-business auctioneer Charlie Ross, some well-presented, good quality but very optimistically estimated cars in a bespoke 24-car catalogue – what’s going on? Here’s the K500 take.

At a glance:

* Gross, motor cars: £7,417,125 (2023, £9,819,438)
* Percentage sold by number: 54% (2023, 55%)
* Top-selling car: 1933 Bugatti Type 43A Roadster 'Sport Luxe' £2,891,250 gross, £2,570,000 net (est. £3m to £3.5m, pictured, above)

* The immediate aftermath of the Monterey Week auctions. As we noted in our post-Pebble sum-up, if it was expensive, and appeared matronly to a new generation of collectors, it failed to fire on the Peninsula. That effect was felt last Friday.

* A question of balance. At least one of the post-pandemic must-haves (288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo, Singer 911, Countach, Miura), a well-estimated, nice-spec Ferrari 275 GTB, ’73 Porsche Carrera 2.7 RS or a Mercedes 300 SL would have lifted the catalogue and brought in a different category of buyers. The content lacked any real showstoppers.

* “It will probably sell after the auction.” True, and Gooding, RM and the others are still finding homes for expensive cars unsold in Monterey, usually at attractive discounts. Gooding’s pricey LHD Aston Martin DB5 Saloon at Hampton Court with a great spec but deserving some proper restoration went to a UK specialist at a price we believe well below its out-of-date £900k to £1.2m guide. The handsome 1935 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante that achieved £2,362,500 was “on sale” and hammered at £2,100,000 against a hard-to-understand estimate of £3m to £4m. Much of the catalogue, the pre-War cars and R-Type Continental in particular, was just too expensive in 2024. Auction houses and vendors need realism and flexibility on the day, which Gooding is known for achieving.

* Old world vs. the new. The North American market has traditionally been more dynamic and although the mood in Monterey felt more subdued this year, the combined gross for the Big Four international firms year-on-year hardly flickered. Since 2023, business in Europe has been mixed, and only a torrent of entries at No Reserve keeps the overall figures up.

In conclusion, we don’t see this one-off result as anything new for the wider market. In most cases the sold prices were normal: it was the estimates that weren’t. Sellers’ expectations in certain sectors, principally unexceptional pre-War and unexciting, homely 1950s cars whatever the prices paid 10 years ago, need recalibration.

In a world of auction and event overkill, there’s definitely a place for a carefully curated sale of genuinely desirable cars that cannot easily be “bought tomorrow” and which will still pull in the punters.

Gooding at Hampton Court Palace, 30 August 2024 – results (2023)

Total gross cars: £7,417,125 (£9,819,438)
Number of cars not sold: 11 (21)
Number of cars withdrawn: 0 (1)
Total number of cars: 24 (47)
Number sold: 13 (26)
Percentage cars sold by number: 54% (55%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 41% (37%)
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 92% (69%)
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 92% (88%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 0% (4%)
Average value of cars sold: £570,548 (£377,671)
Average year of cars offered: 1953 (1958)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 13% (34%)