Report and photos by Rick Carey, Auction Editor
The Gooding & Company Scottsdale Auctions 2011 was presented on January 21-22 at the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Benny Caiola late model Ferraris, the Fiat 8V Supersonic, Tucker #10, barn find Cobra CSX 2289 and other headline cars made Gooding & Company’s fourth Scottsdale sale an important auction.
But more than that, delicacies like the Stutz Speedway Six Brougham, “Bonnie Jean” the Renault AX and the Kurtis family’s 500S resurrection made it a celebration of the diversity and wide ranging appeal of the automobile’s history.
It is place where all sorts of auto enthusiasts feel at home, rubbing elbows with mega-collectors, brokers, writers, restorers and dealers who share the same fascination. You make your living trading cars, writing about them, restoring them? No problem. You’re part of the party. Sure, money talks, but appreciation of the mystique of old cars (and new ones, too, as shown by the Audi R8, Ferrari FXX, Corvette ZR1 and Saleen S7) counts more.
As it has since 2008, Gooding’s sale topped the charts with the most expensive car, the highest sale total, and the highest mean and median transactions. Its 93.8% sale rate was impossible to fault, as we’re fond of saying. The amenities are the best, including the Friday morning breakfast which has become one of the week’s must-attend events.
Gooding sold a 300SL for $951,500 … and it was a Roadster, not a Gullwing. They also sold the most magnificently restored, presented and prepared XKE vintage race car I’ve ever seen for only $96,800, a huge value.
There’s a diversity of cars, and the history of automotive evolution, design, elegance and luxury in the following report that is delightful to report. The prices weren’t always great, but the cars were never boring.
Jonathan Sierakowski contributed many of the following reports. His assistance, knowledge, insight and support was invaluable in Scottsdale.
Gooding and Company Scottsdale Auction 2011 – Auction Results
| | |||||||
| | |||||||
Gooding and Company Scottsdale Auction 2011 – Day One Auction Report
(See Reference – Auctions Explained, A Note on Conditions and Character).
Lot # 001 1959 Austin-Healey 100-6 BN6 Roadster; S/N BN6L3511; Engine # 26DRUH70399; Healey Blue, White/Blue leather, White piping; Estimate $75,000 - $90,000; Visually maintained, largely original, 3+ condition; Hammered Sold at $42,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $46,200 -- Chrome wire wheels, blackwall tires, hardtop, overdrive 4-speed. Two owners, from new. Repainted, carpets and seats reupholstered in 1989. New chrome wire wheels and stainless steel exhaust. Good paint and interior, otherwise original and very well preserved in California and Montana. One family owned from new. No Reserve. Generously estimated but appropriately priced by the Scottsdale bidders, this is an intriguing but not especially exciting Big Healey.
Lot # 002 1960 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible; S/N 00867S107207; Engine # 107207F0420CT; Black, Silver coves/Red vinyl; Estimate $90,000 - $120,000; Visually maintained, largely original, 3 condition; Hammered Sold at $68,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $74,800 -- 283/245hp, dual quads, 4-speed, spinner wheel covers, whitewalls, WonderBar radio, two tops, Positraction, A/C and alternator added. Good paint, chrome and interior. Represented as numbers matching. Chassis and underhood maintained but not restored. An attractive and practical driver. No Reserve. An attractive driver which brought an appropriate price despite being egregiously over-estimated in the catalog.
Lot # 003 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 Coupe; S/N 1G1YR26R495800397; Cyber Grey/Black leather; Estimate $80,000 - $110,000; Unrestored original, 2 condition; Hammered Sold at $80,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $88,000 -- Chrome 19’/20’ optional alloy wheels, Blue calipers, memory seats, Bose premium sound system, navigation. 596 miles and like new. Chipguarded nose. No Reserve. The ZR1 is a great value off the showroom floor at just over $100,000. At a 20% discount it's an even better deal even if it is 3 model years old. The new owner still has depreciation to worry about, though.
Lot # 004 1966 Ferrari 330 GTC ; S/N 8773; Engine # 8773; Silver/Red leather; Estimate $250,000 - $300,000; Cosmetic restoration, 3+ condition; Hammered Sold at $200,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $220,000 -- Chrome spike Borranis, Michelin blackwall tires, period cassette stereo. Good paint, chrome and very attractive interior. Chassis repainted over superficial prep. Owned since 1977 by Bob Culver, engine rebuilt in the mid-90's by Bob Wallace and Lee Stayton at Miller Motorcars, cosmetically restored in 2009 by Berlinetta Motorcars and Autosport Designs and given new Borranis. Given its history the 65,427 km on the odometer are probably all it's covered. No Reserve. This is a deserved premium for known history, long ownership history and an unusually well-preserved originality coupled with sympathetic mechanical and cosmetic attention as needed. The ‘superficial prep’ of the chassis may even, given this car's history, be a plus in attesting to its background. Well received, and bought for an appropriate price.
Lot # 005 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad 2-Dr. Wagon; S/N VC56J027517; Sand Beige, Colonial White/Beige cloth, leather; Estimate $50,000 - $90,000; Customized restoration, 2+ condition; Hammered Sold at $46,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $50,600 -- 350 V-8, 700 R4 automatic, 9’ Ford rear axle with limited slip, A/C, Sony stereo, 15’ Budnick alloy wheels with Bridgestone Potenza HP 41 Blackwall tires. Excellent paint, chrome and interior. Show car presentation now with a little age but not much use. No Reserve. Sold at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale in 2004 for $63,720. It can't have deteriorated much since then, which makes this transaction's amount more a question of time, place and whim than of value and confers good value on its buyer here.
Lot # 006 1967 Jaguar XKE SI Roadster Race Car; S/N 1E13524; Engine # 8L90694; Tungsten Silver, Cranberry stripes/Black cloth; Estimate $125,000 - $150,000; Competition restoration, 2+ condition; Hammered Sold at $88,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $96,800 -- 4.2 dry sump engine, triple 48 DCOE Webers, Tremec T-5 5-speed, braced rollbar, centerlock Dunlop-style wheels, Goodyear Blue Streak tires, fire system, fuel cell, Recaro seat, side exhaust, cutdown full width windshield. Very neat and tidy, finished, trimmed, polished and painted everywhere, never raced and pristine. Excellent cosmetics. No vintage racecar should look this good and its appearance substantiates the $225,000 said to have been spent on its restoration and preparation. An amazing car. No Reserve. To someone who wants to go vintage racing in a GT3-spec XKE this constitutes a huge -- no, let me re-state that -- a HUGE value in meticulous construction, preparation, materials and workmanship. The seller must have felt it was too pretty to race since it never got exposed to the vicissitudes of wheel to wheel competition. At this price, though, it can be risked and the hobby will be richer for its addition to the field.
Lot # 007 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Fastback; S/N 0F02G204682; Grabber Blue, Black stripes/Black vinyl; Estimate $100,000 - $130,000; Recent restoration, 2 condition; Hammered Sold at $77,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $84,700 -- 4-speed, Hurst shifter, P/B, no P/S, wing, slats, pushbutton radio. Restored like new with excellent paint, chrome and interior. A really nice example documented nearly from new. No Reserve. Both the buyer and the seller should be satisfied with this result for this very attractive and well-documented Boss 302.
Lot # 008 2009 Audi R8 Coupe; S/N WUAAU34249N002617; Ibis White/Black Alcantara; Estimate $110,000 - $130,000; Unrestored original, 2 condition; Hammered Sold at $95,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $104,500 -- Chipguarded nose, stainless steel cat-back exhaust, heated seats and anything else Audi could find in the goodie locker. 4,694 miles from new. Almost a full tank of gas, too. No Reserve. More exclusive that the ZR1 that sold a few cars earlier but also not as powerful and $15,000 more on the hammer.
About Rick Carey
From the photo and text one would have to say that the Stutz DV32 phaeton was really the outstanding lot of the sale.
From the photo and the text, the Stutz DV32 phaeton was probably the outstanding lot in the sale.
I wouldn’t argue with that opinion, but the Fiat Supersonic was enough to make my knees weak. So beautiful, so important to postwar design history and so original, it left little to be desired.