Saturday 27th August 2016

£16m Jaguar D-Type!

Ecurie Ecosse Le Mans winner becomes the most expensive British car ever to sell at auction

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Do you know what's more staggering than this D-Type selling for $21,780,000, or about £16.5m? The fact it was predicted to sell for more. Yep, the estimate was $20-$25m. Indeed there was said to be some anxiety in the auction hall at one point when it looked like the car might not meet its lower estimate.

Looks to be worth every penny from here

But after 15 minutes of bidding between four eager collectors, the hammer fell at that remarkable amount and a record was set: chassis XKD 501 is now the most expensive British car ever to sell at auction. It certainly wasn't short of provenance though, this being the first D-Type sold to a private team (Ecurie Ecosse) and triumphant in the 1956 Le Mans 24 Hours. The fact it has been in a collection for the past 20 years will no doubt have helped the eventual bidding frenzy.

It is in fact only the fourth time a British car has sold at auction for more than $10m, plus a massive $7m more than the previous record holder - that was a DB4 GT Zagato, sold by RM last December for $14.3m.

The other extremely significant car from the sale, and another record breaker, was CSX 2000, the very first Shelby Cobra made. Its final price was $13,750,000 (a whisker less than £10.5m), the most ever paid at auction for an American car. Like the D-Type, it comfortably surpassed the previous record holder, in this instance an $11m Ford GT40 in 2012. But with the GT40 Le Mans victory now 50 years old, could there be renewed demand for that car? One to keep an eye on, for sure.

Two records in one weekend!

It says something for these two results that a $5m Ferrari 750 Monza Spider - a record for that model - doesn't register as highly. Driven by Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby and Jim Hall in period, its final price was $5,225,000 (just under £4m).

So it would seem there's still plenty of confidence in the classic car market, if these results are anything to go by. Next up for RM is the London sale at Battersea Park, with notable lots including a Riviera Blue 993 GT2, an Aston Martin DB4 GT and a very lovely Lancia Stratos. Dig deep!

[Photos: Jaguar D-Type - Patrick Ernzen © 2016 courtesy RM Sotheby's, Shelby Cobra CSX2000 - Darin Schnabel © 2016 courtesy RM Sotheby’s]

[JNR77]

Wow, it makes its sister car MWS303 that sold at Bonhams in 2013 look cheap at £2.3m!