The 2017 Paris Sales: Artcurial crosses the finishing line at €32m+

Over a six-hour marathon, Matthieu Lamoure and Maître Hervé Poulain led the local team home, clocking up a provisional gross in excess of €32m. Inevitably, though, tomorrow’s headlines will belong to the 1965 Dino Berlinetta Speciale.

The non-functioning car, pushed across the block with a driver at the wheel, was eventually hammered away for €3.8m. No one really had an idea of the No Reserve prototype’s value, but most agreed the final figure – some €4.3m with premium – was right. The debate now rages on whether to restore it as it is, or make the car run – which it’s never done in its life.   

You can download a list of results, sorted by make and model HERE.

At a glance, from strictly provisional figures:

* €32,300,996 gross (2016: €54,437,672). 73% cars sold by number (2016: 80%)
* 1965 Dino Berlinetta Speciale top-seller at €3.8m net (est. €4.0m to €8.0m)
* Up: interesting and sporting European pre-War cars. 1935 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante Découvrable hammered at €2m (est. €1. 0m to €1.5m)
* Down: hard-to-authenticate racers (the non-selling Lola T70s), 1930s Americana in Europe, modern Ferrari supercars (another 599 GTO will be going home this week)
* Sideways: French cars sold in France by a French auction house

So how do they do it? Like the closely guarded recipes of the great French chefs, Artcurial’s success is not simply down to flying the Tricolor. A fine emulsion of vinegar served on an ice cream and fruit course at the Jules Verne restaurant on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower might seem an unusual combination, but it works. The same can be said of Lamoure, Poulain and a bid-spotter all speaking at the same time – but at least you can’t accuse every one of them of picking bids off the wall.

The sale was run at a 20-cars-an-hour clip, but with over 150 to get through it lasted well into the early evening. The saleroom was packed for the duration, filled with mostly mainland European buyers, both private and the trade.

Daytona owners will rejoice that at last one has troubled the scorers, while it looked as if the Miura SV might go for well below €2m before a trickle of tiny €25k bidding increments got it over the line at €2,050,000. That’s the equivalent of around $2.5m. The US-spec Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante ‘Prince of Wales’ sold for €464k all up. Bonhams sold a European 'carb' car for £580k – that’s the difference a set of Webers and a full-fat, European-spec engine makes.

Artcurial at Rétromobile Paris, 10 February 2017 – Provisional results

Total gross cars: €32,300,996
Number of cars not sold: 41
Number of cars withdrawn: 0
Total number of cars: 154
Number sold: 113
Percentage cars sold by number: 73%
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 59%
Number of cars met or sold below low estimate: 53
Percentage of cars met or sold below low estimate: 47%
Number of cars sold below avge of estimates: 74
Percentage of cars sold below avge of estimates: 65%
Number of cars sold above top estimate: 25
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 22%
Average price of cars sold: €285,850
Average age of cars offered: 1963
Number of cars offered at No Reserve: 66
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 43%

Note: In accordance with recognised practice, our figures do not include VAT on the buyer’s premium. Artcurial's do.

Photos by K500