Buyers are quick to bid big as the global concours circuit restarts, along with the live auction
Last week, the global Concours circuit emerged from its Covid-induced closedown as the Concours of Elegance at UK’s Hampton Court Palace took place – with spectators, live auction and all.
Handled by Gooding & Company, the Concours of Elegance played host to the first live auction since the beginning of the year. Over the downtime it seems bidders had grown antsy, with the sale achieving numerous make and model records of unprecedented value.
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15 of 16 cars successfully found new home, with sales totalling an eye-watering GBP£34 million (AU$60 million).
The highest achiever was a tremendously original 1934 Bugatti Type 59 formerly owned by King Leopold, selling for GBP£9.5 million (AU$16.7 million) – and setting the record for any Bugatti sold at public auction.
A 1928 Bugatti Type 35C Grand Prix also made history, selling for GBP£3.9 million (AU$6.9 million), the highest ever paid for a Grand Prix example at auction.
The headline sale of a Bugatti Type 57S Atalante made for a hat-trick of record-setting Bugs; as one of 17 of its kind in existence, the rare art-deco car sold for GBP£7.9 million (AU$14 million).
Elsewhere, a gold 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV Speciale doubled its low-end estimate of GBP£1.6 million, fetching GBP£3.2 million (AU$5.6 million) as well as title for most expensive Miura sold at auction.
The cheapest car sold at Gooding & Company’s Concours of Elegance sale was a 1959 Lancia Flaminia 2500 Sport, which sold for a humbling GBP£310,500 (AU$546,968) – almost one hundred thousand pounds below its bottom-end estimate.
The only car that failed to sell was a 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato. It was originally estimated to fetch up to GBP£10 million.
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