TIGOSE NEWSLETTER (SEPTEMBER)
AUGUST USA MARKET NEWS
August: it was all go at the American auction weekend. The shape of things to come?
Montery Peninsula’s feeding frenzy: five auctions, 750 cars sold and more than $300m spent.
Gooding, RM/Sotheby’s and Bonhams were responsible for over 90% of the sales.
This year, total sales added up to $325,060,100, almost 9% down from last year (against a 33% increase of 2014 over 2013).
In 2014, 84 cars were sold over the $1m threshold, against 72 vehicles in 2015 (-14.29%). The number of cars sold, however, was higher in 2015 (329 vs 327), which means that whilst one out of four cars was worth $1m+ before, in August 2015 the number was down to almost one out of five.
However, seven lots were sold over $10m in 2015, against five, last year.
Interesting purchases across the auctions:
The 1964 Ferrari 250LM, the most expensive car sold over the weekend, passed hands for a record $17.6m (the previous record is $14.3m) – a purchase overseen by TIGOSE Member DK Engineering.
The 1961 Ferrari California SWB sold for $16,830,000 was not a record sale, whilst the Ferrari 410 SuperAmerica (Pininfarina-bodied) ex-princess Soraya was, as it sold for $5,087,500.
The Ferrari 250 GT SWB, with one-off Bertone body, was sold over the top estimate, for $16.5m, though the others were not as popular: an aluminium competition version remained unsold, whilst the one which got third place at the 1959 Tour de France (Ferrari Classiche-certified) sold for ‘only’ $8,525,000 – a real bargain, all considered.
A real record was achieved by a 1961 Ferrari 250 GTE Serie 1, sold for $797,500 (almost double the previous record). Long gone are the times when these cars were being cannibalised to create replicas.
An absolute record for any British car, the 1998 McLaren F1 (LM) sold for $13,750,000; the 1952 Jaguar C-Type Lightweight which participated in that year’s Le Mans, securing fourth place, sold for $13.2m.
Porsche record goes to the 956 which won the 24-hours in 1983 (sold for $10.12m).
The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona prototype got a new top price for the American market, at $1,045,000. Yet, Daytonas didn’t fare as well as one would have hoped: in 2014, four Daytonas passed hands with a price tag over $800k; this year, none did (apart from the prototype already mentioned).
There were models which disappointed their sellers: the Mercedes 300SL, both Gullwing and Roadster, for example. Last year, the former achieved $1.16-2.53m (lowest and highest price). This year, the range was $1.16-1.65m.
The topless versions got between $1.13m and $1.81m last year. This year, three models were sold and three remained unsold. The average price for the Roadsters was around £1.17m, i.e. a little higher than the lowest price in 2014.
Probably the most interesting downward market trend affects the Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS: average prices have gone down from $818,500 to $660,000. For $950,000 one can purchase the competition, lightened version; in 2014, the asking price was around $1.2m.
Another casualty is the Ferrari 275 GTB/4: in 2014 they were worth $3.75m/$4.62m – excluding Steve McQueen’s, which was sold for $10,175,000). Now? A more sensible $3.3m/$3.96m. There was even one which remained unsold at $2.2m.
EVENTS
TIGOSE Member Laranca’s boss, Richard Shaw, won the U2TC race at Spa Six Hours in September.
TIGOSE Member JD Classics’ own Ferrari 275 GTB Alloy Body was on Safety Car Duty at the Goodwood Revival; they also had winning cars: two poles, three wins and four podiums.
More details here: http://www.jdclassics.co.uk/news/2015/Goodwood-Revival-2015/3765.htm.
TIGOSE Member DK Engineering wasn’t to be outdone, and sent 12 Ferraris to Goodwood Revival. One of them was the 1957 Le Mans Class Winner 500 TRC (which DK Engineering have prepared and raced for over 25 years). Read more here: http://www.dkeng.co.uk/news/Latest_News_and_Events/71/Goodwood_Revival_2015.html
PRESS COVERAGE
TIGOSE was in the press last week, as Classic Car Weekly approached us for a quote about the government’s new plans to apply a levy to businesses in order to cover the costs of apprenticeship. Here’s the article:
We’d love to garner opinions about the matter among TIGOSE Members; we intend to send a short questionnaire, but do get in touch with your stance and/or thoughts, if you prefer.
MEETING WITH IMI
Founder Michael Scott had a meeting with the International Business Development Manager of IMI in September, to discuss ways in which the IMI and TIGOSE can be of mutual help. Plans to expand the apprenticeship programme abroad are also on the cards.
….and talking about the Apprenticeship Programme….
TIGOSE’s training provider, Emtec Colleges, has produced a leaflet to illustrate the benefits of participating in the Apprenticeship Programme. Here it is:
Do let us know if you would like any hard copies.
New TIGOSE Partners and Members
We welcome three new Commercial Partners this month: Enviro-Strip Ltd, System Store Solutions, and Classic Management, as well as two new Members: Majestic Motors and Motorsport Transmissions.
A press release went out about the ever-growing TIGOSE membership; find a copy of it here: https://www.tigose.com/news-events/2015/09/the-international-guild-of-specialist-engineers-expands/
More Members and another Commercial Partner are due to join in October. Watch this space.
Message from the chairman about TIGOSE General Meeting
Chairman Eddie Hoare wrote to all TIGOSE Members and Partners a few weeks ago about our General Meeting. Here’s a reminder:
Back in January, Michael announced he had created a Company Limited by Guarantee and handed the ownership and intellectual property of the Guild to the Members. A board was appointed and was charged with running the affairs of the Guild. The board in turn appointed 96 Enterprises to manage the affairs of the Guild and I in turn agreed to stay on as Chairman until an Engineer could be appointed to take over.
Due to the pressures of the historic racing calendar we have been unable to get a quorum to attend the last two board meetings. To solve this problem we need more engineers on the board and we need to summon a general meeting to understand from the Members what they really want from the Guild, agreeing a proper timetable of meetings and events which does not clash with Members’ commercial activities, race meetings and other events.
My intention is to recommend to the board we call a General Meeting on 4 November at 6.00pm, (in central London, further details to follow) and seek as good an attendance as possible to agree an agenda for 2016, which not only includes events, but the development of the Apprentice Scheme and tackles other issues such as registration of historic vehicles by the DVLA.
In advance of calling that meeting if any Members would like to put themselves forward for membership of the board we will be delighted to consider them for a role.
Michael and I would welcome your views and any offers of support at board level.
TIGOSE MEMBERSHIP’s BENEFITS
TIGOSE Members are aware that there is a range of offers and preferential rates by special arrangements within the Guild’s community. TIGOSE’s website hosts a page about it:
https://www.tigose.com/news-events/category/offers/
This page lists all offers and anything specifically targeting TIGOSE Members. If any Member wishes to contribute to it, promote their own offers or let other Members know of specific deals, contact Angie Voluti (angie.voluti@tigose.com) and the page will be updated as well as circulated among the Members.
As always, let AV PR know if you have any news you would like to share with the TIGOSE community and the outside world. Current and archived news, events and Member-related information are to be found here:
https://www.tigose.com/news-events/
… echoed here:
….and reiterated here:
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