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The K500 insider’s guide to the 2022 Monterey auctions

The K500 insider’s guide to the 2022 Monterey auctions 10th August 2022

At an average mid-estimate $961k per car, this year’s Monterey sales aren’t quite the most expensive ever. But factor in 579 entries from the Big Three plus new kids on the block Broad Arrow, and you can see 2016’s record average of $1m for just 358 cars in context. Big figures, punchy estimates and possibly the largest-ever gross on the Peninsula coming down the track: there’s everything to play for.
 
The big factors at work this year, and some of the questions waiting to be answered, are:
 
* RM’s sledgehammer tactic in blitzing their defectors over at Broad Arrow with a knockout high-value barrage of cars: can the market absorb that much heavy metal?
 
* The changing demographics of the market, with old-school models hoping to find new generation buyers, and new-school models hoping that hope springs eternal: which will come out on top?
 
* The strong US dollar: will it hurt international demand, or is the US such a big market as not to need buyers from overseas?
 
The greatest-ever year was 2014, when Bonhams, Gooding and RM totalled $356.6m at 90% sold-by-number. An impressive 22% of the 332 cars sold (out of 369 presented) beat top estimate – feats not repeated since.
 
This time, eight cars have upper estimates of $10m+ and a further 140 cars are above $1m. The menu is a combination of traditional big-ticket Ferraris, with staples of the auction tent and a good sprinkling of recently-bought cars hoping to make hay while the sun is still shining on a hot market. Here’s our take on this year’s selling bonanza:


Life at the top
 
RM’s heavily marketed 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport ($25m-30m, above) sits at the top of the pyramid. With just one race under its belt as a works entry, the one-of-two car is best known for a life spent racing in the US. Connections to Shelby and Fangio always help interest, but it’s a Ferrari less familiar to ‘check-box’ collectors than a 250 Testa Rossa, and lacks the romance of a Le Mans or Mille Miglia entry. Big, fast and intimating, but will someone be brave enough? We hope so, but not an easy sell.
 
The same can be said for RM’s Oscar Davis Collection entries that include a brutish 1953 Ferrari 375 MM Spider ($8m-10m), a pretty but small-engined 1957 Ferrari 500 TRC ($8m-10m) and – our pick of the bunch – a US privateer history 1958 Maserati 450S ($9m-11m). With auction house guarantees, all will sell, but they are big fish in the slow-moving waters of the 1950s sports-racing market. Solid value, exciting to drive and a ticket to some world class events, but speculation spreads faster than connoisseurship in 2022 and these rely more on the latter.


From the same era, joining the large-capacity Italians are two diminutive 1959 Porsche 718 RSKs: RM’s ex-Works car at $4.8m-5.2m and Gooding’s US privateer racer (ex-Le Mans, $4.5m-5.5m, above). Though not Mille Miglia-eligible and less suited to road driving than 550 Spyders, these swoopy two-seaters benefit from the magic of the Instagram-friendly Porsche badge and might – just might – attract a broader spread of potential buyers, some new to collecting cars.
 
Bonhams last sold its headline ex-Briggs Cunningham Lightweight E-type Jaguar ‘5114 WK’ for $8m all-in in August 2017. It’s now one of the few ‘Refer Dept.’ cars in Monterey, which is often code for “Give us time to work on the reserve”. The official Jaguar ‘continuations’ do not aid its cause, but this could just eke out a modest gain.


Golden Oldies: the pre-War revival
 
Times change. You have to go to no. 31 on the list of 2022 Monterey entries sorted by value to find a home-grown, ‘Great Gatsby’ conveyance: RM’s $4m-4.5m 1935 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupé. This sector has mostly migrated to Amelia Island (or at least Florida, like their owners).
 
Significantly this year, of the top 30 cars by value, positions two to five are occupied by European pre-War classics. Included in that list are Gooding’s beautiful 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante ($10m-12m, above: we wonder how many new-generation collectors will understand the ‘Mae West’ reference to this model’s protruding headlamps), a pair of Mercedes-Benz 540K Spezial Roadsters (RM’s better-looking one at $10m-12m, Broad Arrow’s at $7m-8m) and a couple of the most iconic classic cars of all time, both offered by RM.
 
The first is the late Oscar Davis’s 1938 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Teardrop Coupé, a genuine ‘Goutte d’Eau’, with 1939 Le Mans 24 Hours history but not its original engine. Gooding sold a ‘good-as-it-gets’ example for $13.43m in March; priced at $9m-11m, this one will sell.


The second is the famous ex-Andre Dubonnet 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C ‘Tulipwood’ Torpedo (above), a car rarely seen during its current multi-decade ownership, now offered with a broad guide of $8m-12m after a brief appearance last year at Pebble Beach with a dealer asking $35 million. There’s no doubt it’s the most famous Hispano-Suiza in the world, and once restored (probably a three-year, $2 million task once you get a slot) it’s potentially a Pebble Beach winner. The main question is whether a long-lost marque only really known to old-school collectors will resonate with today’s buyers. It deserves to. RM’s timing in offering it on their first night, when the Canadians go head-to-head with new arch-rival Broad Arrow, suggests they expect it to do well.
 
In addition to the Spezial Roadsters, there are a further 10 Mercedes 500K/540Ks, all but one at RM. With this many for sale all at once, expect some bargains.


On trend
 
The almost unbelievable price of $853,000 claimed for a North American-spec, non-original colour Dino GTS ‘chairs and flares’ on Bring a Trailer this month came too late for entries at Pebble week. It’ll be interesting to see whether RM’s red ‘chairs’ GTS ($550k-650k) and Broad Arrows’ regular white GTS ($375k-425k) can back up the BaT result. Both are US spec.
 
Ten 300 SLs line up in Monterey, including a matching-numbers alloy ‘Gullwing’ at RM (at a sensible $5m-7m). Most are estimated in line with strong 2022 results, with Gooding’s 1955 Gullwing the stand-out car with its NSL engine, sports suspension and Rudge wheels, but a punchy $2m-2.5m.
 
Recent supercars from the 288 GTO onwards have hit the headlines over the last 12 months. RM has the only 288 GTO, consigned from the Pinnacle Portfolio Collection. If it sells near top estimate of $3.75m-4.25m it will be the most expensive 288 ever traded at auction. The owners got it right in August 2015 when they disposed of several other cars at the then-top of the market. Will this (and their alloy 300 SL, unsold back in 2015) repeat the trick?
 
Accompanying the GTO are three F40s (around $2m to $3m, also likely to set records) and 2022’s must-have, the F50, two of which will be in Monterey. Gooding’s car was sold by RM in March 2017 at 5,694 all-important miles for $2.64m. With 6,193 miles today, it’s estimated at $4.5m-5.5m. Broad Arrows’ 4,891-mile F50 (above) carries a guide of $4.4m-5m. Considering RM sold an F50 for $3.97m 12 months ago – albeit with the odometer on 8,000+ – that’s some appreciation curve.
 
Just one Bugatti EB110 is listed: Gooding’s 1994 Super Sport for $3m-3.5m. The same car was sold by RM in Paris in February 2019 for the equivalent of $2.3m. In the interim it’s covered fewer than 100km. You do the math…
 
Lamborghini is another marque on the move. Three Miuras will cross the block, all with pros and cons, at market+ values but we expect them to sell. The previously unloved 25thAnniversary Countach has been pulled up by earlier Countach values and bullish sellers here are hoping for $550k to $650k – both RM and Broad Arrow have cars in this range.


Forza Ferrari
 
Seventy-seven of the 579-car Monterey Week entry hail from Maranello. Other than the recent supercars, the estimates on most are ‘consistent’ rather than ‘confident’. Values of four-cam 275 GTBs have firmed up and RM’s rare factory black/black Italian-delivered example, though requiring “a significant freshening”, is offered at $3.2m-3.6m.
 
Some of the early 1950s non-competition cars look a little dated now, none more so than Bonhams’ 212 Inter Cabriolet, 212 Inter Coupé and 250 Europa GT. The two 250 GT Tour de France berlinettas (RM at $5m-6m and Broad Arrow at $6m-7m) are nothing really special, nor is the 1958 250 GT LWB California Spider at RM. Estimated realistically at $7m-8.5m, it was delivered by Ferrari in red with open headlamps – the least desirable combination – and was converted to covered lights at an unknown time.
 
Sold new to Count Volpi, the black 250 GT Pinin Farina Cabriolet S1 ($6m-7m also at RM, above) is a more exciting proposition.


The greatest comeback
 
That award goes to the 1967 Toyota 2000GT at Broad Arrow. A darling of the 2010-2015 boom, values almost halved in the following years. If you want one in Monterey now it will cost you $1m-1.2m, just about the same price as in August 2014.
 
The dogs that did not bark
 
There are some notable absentees. Just one recent-model Ford GT will be in Monterey (at Gooding, for $900k-1m). But no McLaren P1s or Sennas, both burnt out at recent auctions. Don’t expect to travel to the Peninsula for a 911 Carrera 2.7 RS Touring – there’s only a good-looking ‘Dalmatian Blue’ RS Lightweight at Gooding ($1.75m-2.25m, above, rare colour and matching numbers). And just one Shelby Cobra 289, no original 427s, no BMW 507, Countach LP400, Dino 206 or Daytona Spider.
 
Expect daily K500 updates from Monterey as the events unfold – it promises to be a memorable week.
 
2022 Monterey Classic Car auctions* – overview
 
Total average of estimates: $555.86m (2021: $383.57m)
Average mid-estimate price per car offered: $961k (2021: $892k)
Number of cars offered: 579 (2021: 430)
2021 gross: $291,150,333
2021 percentage sold by number: 89%
 
* Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding and RM Sotheby’s (no Broad Arrow auction in 2021).
 
You can download a complete lotlist of all cars offered by Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding & Co and RM Sotheby’s sorted by make and model HERE.

Monterey Week 2022 auction schedule:

Mecum – sales Thursday 18 August to Saturday 20 August. Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa, 1 Old Golf Course Road, Monterey, CA 93940. Gates open at 08:00. See www.mecum.com

Broad Arrow – sale Thursday 18 August. Monterey Jet Center, 300 Sky Park Dr, Monterey, CA 93940. Auction at 16:00. Preview Wednesday, Thursday. See www.broadarrowauctions.com

Bonhams – sale Friday 19 August. Quail Lodge & Golf Club's West Field, 27050 Rancho San Carlos Road, Carmel, CA 93923. Auction at 11:00. Preview Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. See www.bonhams.com

Gooding & Co – sales Friday 19 August, Saturday 20 August. Parc du Concours, Corner of Stevenson Drive and Portola Road, Pebble Beach CA 93953. Auctions at 17:00 Friday, 11:00 Saturday. Preview Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. See www.goodingco.com

RM Sotheby’s – sales Thursday 18 August to Saturday 20 August. Portola Hotel & Spa and Monterey Conference Center, 2 Portola Plaza, Monterey, CA 93940. Auctions at 17:30 Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Preview Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. See www.rmsothebys.com

All images copyright and courtesy of Broad Arrow Auctions, Gooding & Company and RM Sotheby's. Main image Shutterstock.