Hello there.
here's some notes about the F Cars on auction last night our time. Comments are entirely personal and mine alone! Saw Sean there last night too - but we had a much shorter drive home than him!
Some big sales were missed, but there were also some good results, so RM boss Rob Myers didn’t look as stressed at the end of the night as he did during the evening! For a while he was wearing a groove in the carpet with his pacing about!
Anyway, a selection of results for your interest: These are all UK Pounds hammer price, need to add 10% commission and applicable taxes
250GTE (2895GT) – very tidy car and recently regularly used. Different (restamped) engine of right type. Sold for 60k pounds. Good buy for someone
512BBi (047865) – Black with tan, recent cam belt change, nice looking car, all there and no apparent stories – sold 65k pounds
330GT Mk 2 (07353GT) – first RHD Series 2 330GT. Recently restored, tidy, but not concours immaculate, would be a good user/driver, or concours car with some fettling. 1965 Earls Court Motor Show Car. Passed in at 55k pounds. Would have been close to it’s money and probably fair value at around 60k.
250GT Ellena Coupe (0817GT) – Gorgeous car in Burgundy with Silver roof. Only let down in appreance by having the wheel balance weights attached to the outside of the painted rims and then held down with silver race/tank tape! Otherwise a lovely looking machine. Passed in a 120,000 pounds. Should be worth more than that. The estimate was 190-240k, and while that may be a little
288GTO (56337) – Very tidy, 15,000 km, UK delivered, but been in Thailand for some years(!) Regular but light use and well maintained by all accounts. Passed in at 325,000k on a commission bid. The owner should have taken his money and run in the current market I think! Will probably sell with aftermarket horse trading.
(this car was the 4th no-sale in a row, with a bid total of 400,000 pounds versus min estimates for the 4 lots of 620,000. Rob Meyers was looking very worried!)
275GTB/4 (09783) – “Freshened” earlier this year at a apparent cost of 60k pounds. All new paint in ‘recession red’, new seals, trim, engine ‘resealed(??) new gaskets etc. Looked very tidy. Outside laced Borrannis on the front. Passed in at 700,000 pounds. (against estimate of 775-950k) Has the 275 bubble burst? Was this guy in the market too late? He bought it Dec 2007 and probably didn’t see the sub-prime stuff coming…still, he’s got a nice 275GTB/4 and it will probably sell off for 650k or so through the trade and he’ll give up on old cars as an investment! (US titled car)
2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
Kelly La Velle & Andrew Stevens
Re: 2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
250SWB Comp Rep (1345GT). Commissioned in 1986 and completed in 1992 (by which time the owner had passed away!) and looks nice and correct in Fly Yellow. Fitted with 4l 330 engine (don’t have number noted) and done very few miles/km. Recently serviced and ready to go. Someone spent a lot of money to build this! Sold at 170,000 pounds (estimate 250 – 300k – I think arms were starting to be twisted by now!). Someoe has got a 250SWB Rep at less than replacement cost, but what do you do with it? Track days and touring I suppose, while hoping no one turns up with a real car to make you look cheap…
365 GTB/4 Daytona (14347) – Italian delivered car, been in the US but oned by a frenchman, but registered in the UK, if you can follow all that! Not immaculate, but a tidy car and apparently a good drive. Used for 1000 mile trip to Le Mans Classic earlier this year with no problems. Hopefully no stories! Sold at 120,000 pounds and if as it appears, should be a nice driver for someone.
250GTO Rep (3731) – Based on 250GTE, generally good body shape and finish, (roof line not right to my eyes) but why o why did some fool paint it modern metallic green with a yellow stripe down the middle! Screams of Datsun 240Z based kit car! Appears to have been used on track days etc in the US, but current UK rego. Passed in at 160,000 pounds. The vendor should have taken the money and run I think!
250 GT TdF (1385GT) – Silver with red stripe, Cavallino #158 cover car. Classiche certified etc etc. Late single louvre car, generally immaculate. Not much competition history, but no bad stories. Class win at 60th Ann concours etc etc. Sold (eventually) for 2, 050,000 pounds. Rob Meyers worked hard on a guy near the podium to get it up above the 2 mil mark against a guy sitting in front of us on the phone to (I believe) a Russian bidder, who just countered the bid each time in 50k increments. It eventually went to the Russian after over 5 min of Rob Meyers almost begging on his knees! The purchaser has got a nice car with tickets into most events now. Hopefully it gets used and not abused.
275 GTS (07317) – Nice looking car in Blu Chiaro (not recession red like most of them) with red trim. Not concours winner, but very tidy and would be close to it with some detail work. Passed in at 200,000 pounds (estimate 275 – 325k). I can understand why the owner would want more for it. Depends how bady they need to sell I guess.
1998 F355 Challenge (0111662) – Fitted with update kit, bug wing etc. Competition car on slicks. Raced in Spanish GT series in 1998/99 and only used for demonstrations/test days from then on. Not immaculate, just general signs of track wear & tear, but not too scruffy either. No reserve, sold at 31,000 pounds. Good value if you want a 355 race car I guess. Would require some work to get back to road specs in need.
2000 360 N-GT (0122903) – From the same team. Last raced in Spanish round of FIA GT Series in 2004. Chassis #004 of 20 Michelotto cars built late 2001 apparently. No sale at 75,000 pounds. (estimate 120-140k) What do you do with an old race car that doesn’t have a category to be competitive in and is a hassle to live with?
F50 (105193) – Build # 148 of 349 and delivered new to Paris address of HRH Price Saud Bin Fahad Al-Saud etc etc and lived mainly in Monaco until 2002 when sold to UK. Done less than 3000km. Recently Classiche certified. Sold at 290,000 pounds (after 5 no sales – RM breathed a sigh of relief!). A fair price I guess (est 300-380k) and sets the current market value for them.
365 GTB/4 Daytona (14347) – Italian delivered car, been in the US but oned by a frenchman, but registered in the UK, if you can follow all that! Not immaculate, but a tidy car and apparently a good drive. Used for 1000 mile trip to Le Mans Classic earlier this year with no problems. Hopefully no stories! Sold at 120,000 pounds and if as it appears, should be a nice driver for someone.
250GTO Rep (3731) – Based on 250GTE, generally good body shape and finish, (roof line not right to my eyes) but why o why did some fool paint it modern metallic green with a yellow stripe down the middle! Screams of Datsun 240Z based kit car! Appears to have been used on track days etc in the US, but current UK rego. Passed in at 160,000 pounds. The vendor should have taken the money and run I think!
250 GT TdF (1385GT) – Silver with red stripe, Cavallino #158 cover car. Classiche certified etc etc. Late single louvre car, generally immaculate. Not much competition history, but no bad stories. Class win at 60th Ann concours etc etc. Sold (eventually) for 2, 050,000 pounds. Rob Meyers worked hard on a guy near the podium to get it up above the 2 mil mark against a guy sitting in front of us on the phone to (I believe) a Russian bidder, who just countered the bid each time in 50k increments. It eventually went to the Russian after over 5 min of Rob Meyers almost begging on his knees! The purchaser has got a nice car with tickets into most events now. Hopefully it gets used and not abused.
275 GTS (07317) – Nice looking car in Blu Chiaro (not recession red like most of them) with red trim. Not concours winner, but very tidy and would be close to it with some detail work. Passed in at 200,000 pounds (estimate 275 – 325k). I can understand why the owner would want more for it. Depends how bady they need to sell I guess.
1998 F355 Challenge (0111662) – Fitted with update kit, bug wing etc. Competition car on slicks. Raced in Spanish GT series in 1998/99 and only used for demonstrations/test days from then on. Not immaculate, just general signs of track wear & tear, but not too scruffy either. No reserve, sold at 31,000 pounds. Good value if you want a 355 race car I guess. Would require some work to get back to road specs in need.
2000 360 N-GT (0122903) – From the same team. Last raced in Spanish round of FIA GT Series in 2004. Chassis #004 of 20 Michelotto cars built late 2001 apparently. No sale at 75,000 pounds. (estimate 120-140k) What do you do with an old race car that doesn’t have a category to be competitive in and is a hassle to live with?
F50 (105193) – Build # 148 of 349 and delivered new to Paris address of HRH Price Saud Bin Fahad Al-Saud etc etc and lived mainly in Monaco until 2002 when sold to UK. Done less than 3000km. Recently Classiche certified. Sold at 290,000 pounds (after 5 no sales – RM breathed a sigh of relief!). A fair price I guess (est 300-380k) and sets the current market value for them.
Re: 2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
275GTB/4 (9803) – very original car 24,000 miles, 3 owners from new, 30 year old Silver paintwork showing plenty of patina. Nice to see one not ‘over glossy’ and red – US titled car. Classiche certified and generally a nice car that begs to be used and enjoyed. Sold at 525,000 pounds and I think that the purchaser got a good buy. You can’t build originality into a car. I hope it gets used and enjoyed as it is.
1965 250 LM (6173) – Another headline car for the show. Sold April ’65 to Scuderia Sant Ambrocus Racing Team. Class winner in 65 Targa Florio. Converted for road use late 1960s, sold to US and used until a major accident in about 1973. Sold to new owner, who rebuilt it, finishing in 1977 and then proceded to enjoy it for the next 20 years. Sold again in 2000 and regularly used in competition since then. Crashed again on Modena Centro Oro Classic, but rebuilt and well maintained since. Sold (eventually) for 2,050,000 to the guy who underbid on the 250TdF. (estimate 2.5 – 2.8 Million pounds). RM had to work hard for this one too! Hope we get to see it back out on the tracks soon.
1964 250 GT Lusso RHD (5685GT) – currently fitted with engine 3069GT from 250GTE, but correct style 168U (#4467) block comes with the car. Original engine threw a rod at about 145,000 km while still in the hands of the original lady owner, Mrs Campbell-Golding and she demanded a new engine from Maranello Concessionaires! Originally Blue Chiaro, but painted light metallic green early on as it was the colour of her favourite scarf(!). Recently repainted a metallic blue colour that to my eyes doesn’t suit the car as it looks too ‘modern’ a finish. Still, an original RHD UK delivered car in pretty nice shape. Not sold at 269,000 pounds, very close to reserve we were lead to believe and again RM worked hard to get it there. (est 320-360k). Possibly will sell with later negotiation. Should do so I guess.
1967 330GTC (09607) – originally Bianco with nero trim, but now finished in very attarctive gunmetal/silver grey with tan trim. Nice looking car with very few visible flaws. Italian delivered, been in the US from early 1970s and came to Germany in 2003 when it was repainted. Sold at 125,000 pounds and worth it I think.
1963 250 GT SWB California Spider (Spyder?) (4121GT) – Chris Evans was sitting in the front row and probably thought “why did I pay an (alledged) 5 million pounds for a car with a non-original engine, when this no-stories car was passed in at 2,625,000 pounds, long way short of 3-3.5 mil estimate” . Car is (unfortunately) in ‘recession red’ but has it’s original hardtop still finished in the original silver grey colour. It was even used in the Charlies Angels II film if that matters! Not immaculate and the hardtop needs work, but it should be used and enjoyed before being repainted back to it’s original colour from the 1975 Ford Dark Red that it is! RM were a bit flat after this no-sale I think. Has the market for them tanked already?
1968 365GT 2+2 (12025) – Sister (or brother!) car to our own one (#12009) and probably the next RHD one built. 1968 Earls Court Motor Show car. Not immaculate but very tidy and begging to be used. Was in the Ferrari UK collection from 2000-2002 (I assume they had it on display in the showroom or something like that) and photographed for the book “ A Guide to Ferrari Road Cars”. Classiche certified. Getting late in the evening, down to the last 8 lots of 100 cars, this sold to a guy for 40,000 pounds – one of the bargains of the evening. (estimate 60-80k). Spoke to him afterwards and he seemed happy with his purchase – as he should be!
1968 275 GTB/4 (10545) – looked spectacular and immaculate in black with tan trim (originally metallic silver grey with fawn). Recent comprehensive and expensive rebuild by Terry Hoyle and class winner at the FOC concours in July. Original car ordered and delivered with some unusual options such as GTC seats, power windows, different pedals etc. Details UK history from new and immaculate car. Passed in at 600,000 pounds (est 750-800,000) If you wanted a concours RHD 275, then this was probably the one to go for. Was possibly put on too late in the evening for the serious bidders, but perhaps it was a later entry for the auction.
Will detail some of the other cars for interest a bit later on if you want me to!
1965 250 LM (6173) – Another headline car for the show. Sold April ’65 to Scuderia Sant Ambrocus Racing Team. Class winner in 65 Targa Florio. Converted for road use late 1960s, sold to US and used until a major accident in about 1973. Sold to new owner, who rebuilt it, finishing in 1977 and then proceded to enjoy it for the next 20 years. Sold again in 2000 and regularly used in competition since then. Crashed again on Modena Centro Oro Classic, but rebuilt and well maintained since. Sold (eventually) for 2,050,000 to the guy who underbid on the 250TdF. (estimate 2.5 – 2.8 Million pounds). RM had to work hard for this one too! Hope we get to see it back out on the tracks soon.
1964 250 GT Lusso RHD (5685GT) – currently fitted with engine 3069GT from 250GTE, but correct style 168U (#4467) block comes with the car. Original engine threw a rod at about 145,000 km while still in the hands of the original lady owner, Mrs Campbell-Golding and she demanded a new engine from Maranello Concessionaires! Originally Blue Chiaro, but painted light metallic green early on as it was the colour of her favourite scarf(!). Recently repainted a metallic blue colour that to my eyes doesn’t suit the car as it looks too ‘modern’ a finish. Still, an original RHD UK delivered car in pretty nice shape. Not sold at 269,000 pounds, very close to reserve we were lead to believe and again RM worked hard to get it there. (est 320-360k). Possibly will sell with later negotiation. Should do so I guess.
1967 330GTC (09607) – originally Bianco with nero trim, but now finished in very attarctive gunmetal/silver grey with tan trim. Nice looking car with very few visible flaws. Italian delivered, been in the US from early 1970s and came to Germany in 2003 when it was repainted. Sold at 125,000 pounds and worth it I think.
1963 250 GT SWB California Spider (Spyder?) (4121GT) – Chris Evans was sitting in the front row and probably thought “why did I pay an (alledged) 5 million pounds for a car with a non-original engine, when this no-stories car was passed in at 2,625,000 pounds, long way short of 3-3.5 mil estimate” . Car is (unfortunately) in ‘recession red’ but has it’s original hardtop still finished in the original silver grey colour. It was even used in the Charlies Angels II film if that matters! Not immaculate and the hardtop needs work, but it should be used and enjoyed before being repainted back to it’s original colour from the 1975 Ford Dark Red that it is! RM were a bit flat after this no-sale I think. Has the market for them tanked already?
1968 365GT 2+2 (12025) – Sister (or brother!) car to our own one (#12009) and probably the next RHD one built. 1968 Earls Court Motor Show car. Not immaculate but very tidy and begging to be used. Was in the Ferrari UK collection from 2000-2002 (I assume they had it on display in the showroom or something like that) and photographed for the book “ A Guide to Ferrari Road Cars”. Classiche certified. Getting late in the evening, down to the last 8 lots of 100 cars, this sold to a guy for 40,000 pounds – one of the bargains of the evening. (estimate 60-80k). Spoke to him afterwards and he seemed happy with his purchase – as he should be!
1968 275 GTB/4 (10545) – looked spectacular and immaculate in black with tan trim (originally metallic silver grey with fawn). Recent comprehensive and expensive rebuild by Terry Hoyle and class winner at the FOC concours in July. Original car ordered and delivered with some unusual options such as GTC seats, power windows, different pedals etc. Details UK history from new and immaculate car. Passed in at 600,000 pounds (est 750-800,000) If you wanted a concours RHD 275, then this was probably the one to go for. Was possibly put on too late in the evening for the serious bidders, but perhaps it was a later entry for the auction.
Will detail some of the other cars for interest a bit later on if you want me to!
Kelly La Velle & Andrew Stevens
Re: 2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the report!
For most of us on this forum, seeing a drop in prices is a good thing. As much as it was fun to watch the prices go up on the cars we have sitting in the garage, selling was not really an option to me. Now that prices are falling a bit, there's more optimism that we can buy something! I'm not sure if they'll fall to 1991 or 1999 prices, but as I've been saying you don't have to sell at the tippy top, nor do you have to buy at the absolute bottom to get a good deal. It's those that wait for those extremes that miss the boat.
Good luck to anyone thinking of buying!
Tom
Thanks for the report!
For most of us on this forum, seeing a drop in prices is a good thing. As much as it was fun to watch the prices go up on the cars we have sitting in the garage, selling was not really an option to me. Now that prices are falling a bit, there's more optimism that we can buy something! I'm not sure if they'll fall to 1991 or 1999 prices, but as I've been saying you don't have to sell at the tippy top, nor do you have to buy at the absolute bottom to get a good deal. It's those that wait for those extremes that miss the boat.
Good luck to anyone thinking of buying!
Tom
'63 330 America #5053
Re: 2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
I'm sure the guys at RM won't agree with you Tom, but I do! Perhaps that dream GTC or Lusso will get back in range sometime! 
Watching Rob Meyers was interesting sport last night. As I mentioned, he wore a groove in the carpet for a while first up, and then bounced around the room like he had ants in his pants, twisting vendors and prospective purchaser's arms alike. We saw at least two instances where vendors (in the room) dropped reserves with his cajoling to get the cars into play. Even with the record car on the night - 1997 McLaren F1 at 2.3 million pounds (!) they had one guy who wanted it regardless of price, and they had to push along other guys to bid against him to get it up to the record price. My unofficial opinions of course! My general comments on the night here:
By my records, at the hammer there were 37 no sales, but I assume there will be some wheeling and dealing afterwards. Along with about 15 ‘no reserve’ cars out of 100, RM must be a little disappointed with the result. They are probably wishing that they had run the auction 6 months ago. Generally, with the cars that did sell, they had to work hard to get the money out of the bidders. At times it was like watching them pulling teeth for cars that were sub 20,000 pounds, battling to get another 1-2,000 pounds for them. Whilst there is still money about for the right cars, some very nice machines didn’t sell, some should have sold for the prices offered and there were few instances of ‘excitement’ in the room. It appears that even the people with money to spend are generally sitting on their hands at the moment. There were people from the US and Europe as well as the UK there, but not a lot of active bidders. I guess you could sum up by saying that the market is still very nervous at the moment and looking for clear direction. Until sellers get more realistic and buyers sense that the market has settled, then we will continue to see some price falls and cars unsold. Full official results should be on the RM website for your interest!
Watching Rob Meyers was interesting sport last night. As I mentioned, he wore a groove in the carpet for a while first up, and then bounced around the room like he had ants in his pants, twisting vendors and prospective purchaser's arms alike. We saw at least two instances where vendors (in the room) dropped reserves with his cajoling to get the cars into play. Even with the record car on the night - 1997 McLaren F1 at 2.3 million pounds (!) they had one guy who wanted it regardless of price, and they had to push along other guys to bid against him to get it up to the record price. My unofficial opinions of course! My general comments on the night here:
By my records, at the hammer there were 37 no sales, but I assume there will be some wheeling and dealing afterwards. Along with about 15 ‘no reserve’ cars out of 100, RM must be a little disappointed with the result. They are probably wishing that they had run the auction 6 months ago. Generally, with the cars that did sell, they had to work hard to get the money out of the bidders. At times it was like watching them pulling teeth for cars that were sub 20,000 pounds, battling to get another 1-2,000 pounds for them. Whilst there is still money about for the right cars, some very nice machines didn’t sell, some should have sold for the prices offered and there were few instances of ‘excitement’ in the room. It appears that even the people with money to spend are generally sitting on their hands at the moment. There were people from the US and Europe as well as the UK there, but not a lot of active bidders. I guess you could sum up by saying that the market is still very nervous at the moment and looking for clear direction. Until sellers get more realistic and buyers sense that the market has settled, then we will continue to see some price falls and cars unsold. Full official results should be on the RM website for your interest!
Kelly La Velle & Andrew Stevens
Re: 2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
By the way Tom, if you need a hand to get the other head off the car, let me know !I may have a day spare on our trip if I don't want to do the Sex in the City tour... 
Kelly La Velle & Andrew Stevens
-
Sean Bramhall
- Posts: 109
- Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:09 am
- Location: scarisbrick england uk
Re: 2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
Hello All
A 240mile trip there stopped in ACE cafe on way with my mate meet some guys from HR Owen London and got a tour round there new work shop WOW fantastic workshop 22 ramps (I think) ALL full must have been 100 plus cars the best set up I have seen> Bumpedinto Andrewand Kelly (Small World eh) interesting sale results will be in the motoring press I think most cars were not top end but middle of the road stuff in my humble option the F1 made strong money. A lot of people watching the market I think but the Bentleys did good money
sean
A 240mile trip there stopped in ACE cafe on way with my mate meet some guys from HR Owen London and got a tour round there new work shop WOW fantastic workshop 22 ramps (I think) ALL full must have been 100 plus cars the best set up I have seen> Bumpedinto Andrewand Kelly (Small World eh) interesting sale results will be in the motoring press I think most cars were not top end but middle of the road stuff in my humble option the F1 made strong money. A lot of people watching the market I think but the Bentleys did good money
sean
How many Ferrari's do you have to collect to be a collector 64 330GT (6155), 90 Testerossa, Austin Healy 100-6 911 964RS a merc SL280,SL500 pagoda Morgan plus 4 Bentley S3 and Brooklands oh Wife say's I've got MAD CAR Dieseeeeeee
Re: 2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
Will have to get us in there for a look sometime Sean - even if it is just RR & Bentley stuff! Good to catch up with you & Stephen again. Hope it wasn't too cold on the way home! As a southern hemisphere guy I can't get used to this thing of it getting dark at 5.00pm yet...
Andrew
Andrew
Kelly La Velle & Andrew Stevens
Re: 2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
For Tom's interest as much as anyones, the 250GTE sold was the one we saw and spoke to the guy at the Goodwood revival carpark. Thought I recognised the rego number...
Kelly La Velle & Andrew Stevens
Re: 2008 RM Auction - Battersea, London
Thanks, but I managed to pull the second head off tonight. I've got a competent machine shop to replace the seats, and a plan to document some of the work, so stay tuned!klv wrote:By the way Tom, if you need a hand to get the other head off the car, let me know !I may have a day spare on our trip if I don't want to do the Sex in the City tour...
Tom
'63 330 America #5053