Artcurial's auction, 5th june 2014

[Jack]

I was in Le Mans Classic last week-end. Great experiment. Nice memory!

The famous Artcurial auction's company (France) sold about 120 cars saturday afternoon. It was my first attempt to such a big event and I was pleased to be guest on the first line to follow the theatrical performance of Maître Hervé Poulain, the auctioneer! Me Poulain was a pilot and made Le mans many times. He is famous about Art Cars, especially BMW.

The big surprise was the lack of bids for the 1964 289 Cobra (VIN 6010) which made Le Mans 50 years ago, but didn't reach the minimum estimation (1,3 mio. €) and was sold for «only» 620'000 €.

I was especially interested in the 2.7 RS, one owner from new, 77'000 km, original paint, matching numbers, from France (Marseille). And I filmed the bids. Sorry for the poor quality (I-Phone...)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa4...SUI8w-eVAYGKxQ

[luke-44]

So it sold for 487000 euros? I don't know anymore. Doesn't that sound cheap in todays world? Or does a '74 not bring the money a '73 brings?

[Milou]

With 20% premium, it's almost 800.000 dollars....

[vipergruen]

20% premium is very high...it makes €100k of commision on this car only!

[Milou]

Agreed, the commision is 16% but you have to add the VAT (french tax of 20% on the premium).

[Dezzmo]

Thanks for the clip Jack, what a wonderful time you must have had. Artcurial holds one of the most impressive and tasteful auctions out there.

[Jack]

Thanks for the clip Jack, what a wonderful time you must have had. Artcurial holds one of the most impressive and tasteful auctions out there.

It was a special moment I enjoyed very much. It was also fu...g long! About 4 hours for 109 cars exactly. It started slowly because a lot of buyers were locked in the traffic jam! Which was clearly a handicap for Artcurial and the sellers. And many cars didn't reach the minimal estimations. Just a few went over the estimation, by example an Aston Martin DB2 (or 3?) cabrio «dans son jus» in perfect shape.
An «accident» happened when Me Poulain hit the hammer to a bid of 900'000 € for the black 300SL cabrio. He didn't hear another bid from the phone desk and suddenly 2 buyers had the same bid! The guy in front of Me Poulain was very angry and the auctioneer was under pressure... The auction restarted at 900'000 € and the guy quit at 950'000€, disappointed not to become the new owner of this wonderful car!
I checked on the auctioneer website, but the results were not printed so far. I look forward to see the result of the second 2,4 S (lot 293), which estimation was very low (80'000-100'000 €). By the way, a lot of estimations looked crazy to me, both ways.
But it was a very nice experiment. And I was tented many times to bet, but I staid quiet. I will have some bills for my lovely Trudi and I will be pleased to get it back!

[MTemp]

I look forward to see the result of the second 2,4 S (lot 293), which estimation was very low (80'000-100'000 €).

If I remember correctly according to my friend this 2.4S was 'reshelled' using a 2.4T shell and the VIN/ID numbers welded in…… hence the lower estimate. I would be interested in the final price as it gives some idea of how much this type of restoration/rebuild affects value. Either that or the buyer doesn't look carefully or read the description carefully enough!

Mick

[Flunder]

The big surprise was the lack of bids for the 1964 289 Cobra (VIN 6010) which made Le Mans 50 years ago, but didn't reach the minimum estimation (1,3 mio. €) and was sold for «only» 620'000 €.

From CobraNed on the SAAC site:

French auction company Artcurial plans to offer COX 6010 at their LeMans sale over the July 4-6 weekend. There is some confusion, however, as they seem to consider the car an original Cobra when the details of its history indicate otherwise. 6010 was raced at Le Mans in 1964 and was later wrecked. A buyer combined it and the wrecked CSX 2142 into one car, and attached the COX 6010 ID tag to a third Cobra (which masqueraded as 6010 for almost 20 years until a subsequent owner realized the numbers didn't match up). Following the rebuild, there was nothing left of 6010 but some paperwork and spare parts. In essence, the vehicle that was 6010 ceased to exist at this point, as it was "parted out," i.e. its critical parts were separated and used in the reconstruction of another vehicle (2142) with a chassis number that was not COX 6010. A brand new vehicle was constructed a number of years later - with a renumbered chassis supplied by a source other than AC Cars, Ltd. - and this is the car being offered at the Artcurial sale. It should be noted that neither SAAC nor the AC Owner's Club consider this an original Cobra.

[Milou]

http://www.artcurial.com/fr/asp/results.asp