What's going on here?
RM's London sale just became the biggest sale of the year in the UK.
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Here are your 5 headlines:
1 - Sell-through rate is back. It's been a tough few months in the UK post-election for sell-through rate. RM got things back in shape with 83% of the 60 cars offered finding homes - albeit that 83% was supported by a number of no reserve lots.
2 - It's all about the story. A little over a week ago, we saw RM sell the Rudi Klein's 'Junkyard' collection. All cars in need of extensive restoration. Many of which selling for prices way above that of fully restored examples. Yet at the London sale, the cars that struggled were those that were in need of restoration.
An Aston DB2 (est: £70k - £100k), sold for £39,100
A Bentley 4.5 Litre Saloon (est: £50k - £80k), sold for £17,250
An Aston DB Mk III (est: £80k - £100k), sold £40,250
These are fundamentally the same opportunity being offered to restore something back to its former glory. The Junkyard sale fetched world record money. The London sale was half price off the estimate.
The difference? Two things.
Firstly, down to the story. The mythical nature of what lay behind the imposing walls of the famous junkyard drove prices from the rational to the irrational. The same narrative couldn't be spun with this collection.
Secondarily, when analysing both sales people are only really willing to pay, and let's be honest here, silly money, where the vehicle is at a sufficient level.
For example the 500K was built for Carcciola, the Alloy Gullwing that sold was the only one that left the factory in black over red. The cars lower down the pecking order in that sale didn't achieve the same outlier results.
In other words, don't be leaving your MGB in a barn hoping it'll be worth £80k as a barn find in 20 years. The cars have to be of a certain level to warrant moving from the rational to the irrational and they need to have a good story behind them.
3 - What struggled. Only 1 of the 8 cars from the 1930s sold for more than their lower estimate and that's inclusive of premium. On average, 1930s cars sold for 29% below their low estimate. The 50s were the second weakest decade selling with an average delta of 15% below the lower estimate.
4 - What went well. Two cars really stood out for me.
First, the matching-numbers Gullwing that was displayed at the Earls Court Motor Show smashed through its estimate (£1.05m - £1.3m) and went for a European record at £1,445,000.
Second, the 1899 De Dion-Bouton 2¼ HP Tricycle. The desire to enjoy great experiences was ever present here and with the new owner eligible to do the London to Brighton it sold through its estimate of £50k - £60k and landed at £77,050.
5 - It's officially the biggest UK sale of the year. Total sold value as the hammer fell was £17.4m. That's £6m more than the previous holder of the title for this year, Bonhams' Festival of Speed sale.
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