October 2015 - US auction highlights
18 November, 2015
Bonhams hosted the fourth annual Preserving the Automobile Auction at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia on 5 October. The auction, which included automobiles, Civil War-era locomotives and automobilia, achieved an 86% sell-through rate, with total sales of $3.3 million.
Unrestored and original cars commanded the greatest attention; the 1937 Morgan Super Sports from the Du Pont Collection achieved three and a half times its high estimate when it sold for $88,000 and both unrestored Cooper F3 racing cars from the same collection also found new homes, each selling for $26,400. Notable highlights included the top lot, a Ferdinand Porsche-designed 1936 Wanderer W25 K Roadster, which sold for $319,000 (estimate of $350,000 – 450,000) and set a new auction record, as did the 1908 Rainier Model D which achieved $253,000 (estimate $250,000 – 350,000).
RM Sotheby’s two-day Hershey sale achieved a 96% sale rate and a sale total of $16.3 million. Brass Era machines led the way, headed by a 1913 Pierce-Arrow Model 66-A which sold for $830,500 (estimate $550,000 – 650,000), trumping the pre-sale star a 1911 Oldsmobile Autocrat 'Yellow Peril' which fetched $698,500 (estimate $700,000 – 850,000).
Rounding out the top three, and leading the selection of early European vehicles in the sale, was the 1914 Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost Landaulette, which brought $577,500 (estimate $500,000 – 700,000). Elsewhere, a number of lots far exceeded their pre-sale estimates, including a 1923 Duesenberg Model A selling for $374,000 (estimate $225,000 – 275,000), a 1911 National Model 40 made $385,000 (estimate $200,000 – 275,000) and a 1934 Pierce-Arrow Model 840 A changed hands for $154,000 (estimate $75,000 – 100,000).