Frankfurt show
has rightly dominated the PH news this week, there was an event closer to home that warranted our attention; RM Auctions London sale.
If we had a spare £1.2m...
The highlight of the auction was Lord Laidlaw's collection of historic racers. We've featured his wonderful
904/6
recently, but the other half dozen in the collection weren't too shabby either. With the Porsche, two Chevrons (a B19 and a B16), a pair of Maseratis (a Tipo 61 Birdcage and a 250S Fantuzzi), a works Jaguar D-Type and a Ferrari 275GTB/C Competizione were open to bids. With their lowest estimates, the seven were expected to make more than £14 million before the auction fees.
Unfortunately, just four cars from the collection sold. The D-Type (estimate £5.5m-£6.5m) failed to meet its reserve at £4m, as did the 275 Competizione at £2.1m (estimate £2.5m-£3.5m). With a guide price of between £2.25m-£2.75m, the Birdcage also remained unsold with a final bid of £1.6m.
The Porsche sold for £1.2m and the 250S £2.1m. The Chevrons made £268,800 (B16) and £173,600 (B19). So £14 million became three and a half, but a great spectacle nonetheless.
Seller says it's rust-free apparently
And moreover, the auction featured plenty of interesting cars away from the obvious attractions. A beautiful
Ferrari 456M GT
manual sold for £50,400, no doubt thanks to its paltry 6,000km. Following an eight-year resto in the 2000s, a
Porsche 911 2.7 RS Touring
went for bang on estimate at £319,200. And a fantastic
Lotus Elan 26R
racer, complete with a second engine and some spare wheels, somehow went for £40,000 under its guide price at £112,000.
Speaking of Lotus, there was some considerable fanfare around another Hethel-produced lot; PPW306R, the Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me. The price for a one-off piece of cinema history? £616,000.
And the oddballs? This has to take it; a non-running 1976 Jaguar XJ12 Drophead Coupe. A snip at £3,650.
For full results on the auction, and to prevent us wittering on all day about the cars, see RM Auctions results page. And get saving for Hershey in October...