Ten things to take away from Monterey Week 2017

Once again, a pre-War car triumphed at Pebble Beach. Congratulations, then, to longstanding collector Bruce McCaw and his rakish 1929 Mercedes-Benz S Type. With ‘car week’ now officially over, let's take a look at the emerging trends from the event.
 
1) The Empire Strikes Back. Despite many youthful challengers vying for the top spot on the 18th Fairway, it was an old-school leviathan that carried off the top prize. How much longer can the establishment hold off the whipper-snappers weaned on modern Lamborghinis and McLarens?

2) The Titans should not clash. Holding two sales simultaneously on Friday night did neither RM nor Gooding any favours. At least a two-hour stagger next year, please.
 
3) The devil is in the detail. Gooding's matching-numbers, 2.5-litre Jaguar SS 100 sold for a strong $561,000. RM's car, lacking its original engine, fizzled out.
 
4) When a car's really for sale, the buyers will come. Just before their auction began, RM announced that the entire Ferrari Performance Collection was now to be sold without reserve. Guess what? The cars flew. A reminder of Milan 2016?
 
5) Spot the new buyers. Younger, affluent collectors from the new economies, with different tastes and priorities, were out in Monterey in force. See point 1.
 
6) Long-term ownership pays off. Witness the pair of tired 300 SLs at Gooding and the $1.1m ‘Lindauer’ Cobra at RM: genuine, single custodianship commands bragging rights, and that translates into dollars.
 
7) The Porsche Carrera RS market is on hold, waiting for a stellar example: only then can we assess true market values. Faced with a mixed bag of RSs this weekend, we’re none the wiser.
 
8) Cars with stories? Return to sender. Anything needing excuses either sells on price or goes home.
 
9) Losers: a multiple choice. Better-balanced catalogues prevented single-model meltdown, but the Ferrari ‘Daytona’ remained in the doldrums due to oversupply this week. Late-model Porsches seem to have cooled, too.
 
10) Winners: British sports-racing cars. RM maintained the momentum it set by selling the 'best ever' D-type in 2016. The DBR1 and Works prototype DB4 GT did well, while over at Bonhams, a four-way bidding tussle on the McLaren F1 ended in a $15,620,000 invoice for the next owner. Plus taxes.
 
With events spread over just two days this year, matters started with lukewarm flirting on Friday, climaxing to a crescendo on Saturday. And the car market did okay, too.

You can download a provisional list of all cars sold by Bonhams, Gooding & Co and RM Sotheby's sorted by make and model HERE.

Photo by 'Thomas'