Auctions Commentary from CCFS Market Analyst Richard Hudson-Evans
The Ferrari 315 Spider Scaglietti, in which Peter Collins and Maurice Trintignant came 6th place in the 1957 Sebring 12 Hours, and that Wolfgang Von Trips drove to finish 2nd overall in the 1600k Mille Miglia public roads race, may well become the top seller in a European auction this year when it goes under the Artcurial hammer 5 February in Paris during Retromobile week.
1957 Ferrari 315 335 S Scaglietti Spyer, Collection Bardinon
With the Tipo 140 V12 engine upgraded by the factory from 3.8 to 4.1-litre capacity for Mike Hawthorn and Luigi Musso to drive in the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hours, where the future British World Champion led the Maseratis and Jaguars on the opening lap at a record average speed of 203.015 kmh, the by then Ferrari ‘335’ chassis 0674 has been estimated by the French auctioneers to fetch 28,000,000-32,000,000 euros (£21,000,000-24,000,000).
After a DNF at Le Mans, and piloted again by Collins and Musso, the car went on to finish 4th in the Swedish Sportscar GP and 2nd second in Venezuala, helping Ferrari win the 1957 World Constructors’ title - before being sold to US importer Luigi Chinetti for Masten Gregory and Stirling Moss to drive to victory in the 1958 Cuban GP. Lance Reventlow of Scarab fame also drove the car in the US before, via ten years in the ownership architect Robert Dusek, 0674 was shipped to France in 1970 to become a significant item in the Pierre Bardinon Ferrari Collection, being exercised regularly and well maintained for over 40 years.
Three more significant Ferraris come to market in the main Artcurial Sale within the exhibition centre at Porte Versaille (a circa 50 strong all Citroen Day 2 sale takes place there 6 February) with 9,000,000-12,000,000 euros (£675,000-9,000,000) sought for a 1963 250GT SWB Berlinetta from the Antoine Midy Collection, 700,000-900,000 euros (£525,000-675,000) for a 1986 Testaross Spider built for the then Ferrari owning Fiat industrialist Gianni Agnelli and 1,400,000-1,800,000 euros (£1,050,000-1,350,000) for the ex-King of Morocco 1962 250GT S2 Cabriolet from the Adrien Maeght Collection.
The day before, 4 February, in the Grand Palais, where the very first Motor Show was held, Bonhams will be auctioning a 1966 Ferrari 275GTB, a torque-tube model with matching numbers estimated at 2,500,000-3,500,000 euros (£1,875,000-2,625,000), ‘Sans Reserve’. A 1990 F40 meanwhile is forecast to sell for 950,000-1,100,000 euros (£712,500-825,000).
While the night before, on 3 February, RM Sotheby’s also have an F40 for sale in the Place Vauban. Driven only 4300k since new in 1989 by the late Stefano Casiraghi, the second husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco to whom he was still married when he lost his life defending his powerboat title in 1990, it has been guided at 1,000,000-1,200,000 euros (£750,000-900,000). A 1978 512BB has a 400,000-450,000 euros (£300,000-337,500) pre-sale estimate.
Before then, 16 January during the Autosport Racing Car Show at the NEC in Birmingham, where in a 63 car catalogue sale, a right-hand drive 1974 Dino 246GT will cross the Coys auction block with £230,000-265,000 ambitions.
As Foskers of Brands Hatch, the UK’s oldest independent Ferrari specialists, report in their informative review of Ferrari trading in 2015, the last year has been a year of contrasts for both classic and modern Ferraris alike. Certain models have done very well over the last 12 months, they say, including carburettor-fed 308s, Berlinetta Boxers, the F355, 550 and 575, and the rare Superamerica in particular.
The Kent dealers cite the examples of a 950 mile HGTC pack F1 car achieving £339,000 at RM in Arizona in January and a left-hand drive Superamerica with the 6-speed manual gearbox (one of just 43 in this spec) making a whopping £661,900 in a pre-Christmas shopping spree at Bonhams in the West End last month. While F355s that were changing hands for around £70,000 at the beginning of 2015 have been trading for six figures, they claim, with the best examples still in huge demand.
They do point out though that not every model has experienced such amazing growth, and any temporary stability in values is a natural market adjustment for certain models, while many others are still on the rise.
One of their predictions for 2016 is that the market will see a purge of the large numbers of sub-par, left-hand drive Ferraris that have been imported to the UK in recent years. Many of these cars have been purchased cheaply in Europe with little thought or due diligence, they say, as some non-specialist traders try to make large profits on the back of perceived to be continually rising values in the market. In their experience, they say, most UK buyers are not interested in these cars, and are savvy enough to know that excellent UK-supplied, right-hand drive examples are much better buys.
Originality and ‘correctness’ will continue to be of major importance to buyers, they feel, especially with classic Ferraris from the 1960s and 70s. They have also had a number of enquiries from owners of Testarossas, 328s and even late Berlinetta Boxers in non-original red paint, who are interested in restoring cars back to their factory hues.
Cars in the £300,000-600,000 bracket may well see the most growth in 2016, they predict. Various models in this segment, including almost all Berlinetta Boxers and Dinos, are still popular with buyers, they feel – and they also expect to see high demand for the very best, totally restored cars, with buyers willing to pay a substantial premium for a car that is fully sorted by the right experts.
The Chinese trading screens meanwhile, along with most of the other screens that monitor the fortunes of both large and small investors around the capitalist world have turned to Ferrari Red. For in the second biggest economy on the planet, Chinese shares have fallen by 7% in one day and have fallen by 40% in the last 6 months.
By comparison, the FTSE only fell by 2%, although this did amount to £31b being wiped off the value of leading shares in one day. And even Wall Street has not been immune from the knock-on effects of the Chinese avalanche, and as commodities continue to be devalued and the price of a barrel of crude slumps to a 12 year low, the Middle East implodes by the news bulletin.
How then can the collector Ferrari commodity and the rest of the classic car market be immune therefore from apparently universal correction? Only as alternative investments, I would suggest. Although any rise in UK interest rates in an economy where our debt is at a record 80% of GDP and rising may only hasten the inevitable.