Sports Car Digest - The Sports, Racing and Vintage Car Journal
Sports Car Digest focuses on Classic Car Auctions, Concours d’Elegance, Vintage Car Racing, Road Rallies and other historic automotive events.
Russo and Steele, Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, California, August 17-19, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor Russo and Steele finally completed its long-awaited move from the Marriott’s dark, low ceiling, loud, sweaty upstairs ballroom to a new location in a series of tents on Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf parking lot this year. The cars got previewed in a parking … [Read more...]
Bonhams, Quail Lodge, Carmel Valley, California, August 17, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor Bonhams moved its sale to the back of the Quail Lodge property in 2012 giving itself much more room to maneuver. It also bifurcated its two-day sale, offering motorcycles on Thursday and [mostly] automobile lots on Friday. In contrast to everyone else at Monterey Week Bonhams … [Read more...]
Mecum Auctions, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California, August 16-18, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor This was Mecum’s fourth year at Monterey, an expansion which many considered risky at best and foolish at worst. The Mecum team has shown that it was intelligently conceived and nearly flawlessly executed and the Mecum auction now captures the third highest sale total on … [Read more...]
RM Auctions, Portola Hotel, Monterey, California, August 17-18, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor RM scored two of the epic transactions in Monterey this year. The first was the Mirage/Ford GT40 for a cool $10 million hammer, $11 million with commission, a Friday evening result that reset expectations across the Monterey auction blocks by vastly exceeding it $7.4 million … [Read more...]
Report by Rick Carey, Auction Editor It’s been a week since Monterey wound down. It is, by any measure, the best car-week in the world. The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance leads the way, closely followed by the Reunion and a whole litany of events – Gordon and Molly McCall's Airport Party, Concorso Italiano, the Carmel Concours on the Avenue, innumerable marque events and – … [Read more...]
RM Auctions, The Inn at St. Johns, Plymouth, Michigan, July 28, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor RM Auctions returned to the Concours d’Elegance of America at the Inn at St. Johns in Plymouth, Michigan on July 28 for the second year at this successor to the Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance. The cars in the auction were by and large classics, antiques and pre-war … [Read more...]
Bonhams, Goodwood Festival of Speed, Chichester, Sussex, June 12, 2012 Report by Rick Carey | Photos courtesy of Bonhams Bonhams sold $34.9 million at its Goodwood Festival of Speed auction. It would have been handily over $35 million at last year’s more robust £/US$ exchange rate. In the overall scheme of things, $35 million is a healthy auction, number 33 on my list of the … [Read more...]
Barrett-Jackson, Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa, California, June 22-24, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor In its 41st anniversary year Barrett-Jackson appeared for the third time at its newest venue, the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California. This is, among all four Barrett-Jackson locations, the best site for B-J’s collector car event … [Read more...]
Leake Auction Company, Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 8-10, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor The Leake Auction Company continued its 40th Anniversary year with its annual Tulsa auction at the Expo Center, a 10-acre clear span structure sponsored by Quick Trip, those “QT” signed fuel and replenishment centers located along Interstates. Leake had made prodigious, and … [Read more...]
Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor Ever dreamed of driving an Alfa 8C? Watching black and white videos of Monza, the Mille Miglia, the Targa Florio, Monaco and the old Nürburgring and imagining what it was like for Borzacchini, Ferrari, Campari and the Figlio del Diavolo, the Devil’s Brother, Tazio Nuvolari behind the steering wheels of these narrow, lightweight and … [Read more...]
Mecum Auctions, Salmon Brothers Collection, North Little Rock, Arkansas, June 16, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor Mecum Auctions hasn’t been noted for single-owner collection sales. Until now. The sale of Tom and Don Salmon’s collection was not only a commercial success, bringing $6.8 million in total sales on the cars alone but also in putting on an essentially … [Read more...]
Bonhams, Greenwich Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich, Connecticut, June 3, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor In its fifth year at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance Bonhams achieved its highest sale total and strong mean and median transaction values and sell-through rate in a diverse auction with Rupert Banner on the block. A downpour Saturday morning – and a site … [Read more...]
Mecum Auctions, Spring Classic, Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, Indiana, May 15-20, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor Since moving from the fields north of Belvidere, Illinois to Indianapolis, Mecum Auctions’ Spring Classic has grown nearly exponentially. Even though the 2012 Spring Classic didn’t replace Mecum’s January Kissimmee auction, which Mecum … [Read more...]
Branson Spring Collector Car Auction, Branson Convention Center, Missouri, April 20-12, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor Branson’s Leap Day EF3 tornado, just 7 weeks before the scheduled Spring Branson auction date, injected more than a little uncertainty into this year’s version of the Cox family’s semi-annual event. The Convention Center’s highrise Hilton … [Read more...]
Barrett-Jackson, South Florida Fairgrounds, West Palm Beach, Florida, April 5-7, 2012 Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor 2012 marked the tenth anniversary of Barrett-Jackson’s first sale in Palm Beach. Its success has conclusively proved the attraction of B-J’s “event” format and led to other B-J events in Las Vegas and Orange County. Each of the Barrett-Jackson … [Read more...]
