Is this the biggest Classic Auction blunder ever?

[RDMcG]

The overall results across the global auction scene for the last few months have shaken a downward trend and I think it is more than the cars or the fashion. My sense is that we have a recession of some severity on the way and people will wait not till prices drop further.

[Miserablegit]

Isn’t it funny how when the screen was showing tens of millions there seemed to be plenty of bidders but when it dropped back to a (mere) $17m the heat had left the bidding. Pure speculation clearly.
Can’t say I see the interest in that car despite/because of its history. A golf R is quicker

[RDMcG]

Miserablegit said:

Isn’t it funny how when the screen was showing tens of millions there seemed to be plenty of bidders but when it dropped back to a (mere) $17m the heat had left the bidding. Pure speculation clearly.
Can’t say I see the interest in that car despite/because of its history. A golf R is quicker

Well, they're both VWs

[Cheib]

Unsorted said:

Cheib said:

I don’t think thie soft tone to the auctions has got much to do with the last week...market has been slipping for a while. Some cars have sold at 50% of estimate .

This guy has put out some interesting stuff over the last few days on his Twitter timeline

https://twitter.com/torquespeak/status/11626351719...
https://twitter.com/torquespeak/status/11626951963...

Thanks for posting and credit to Ed Callow @torquespeak for Tweets.

Wonder if the (pretty shocking) results below a one off or the signs of a price reset to lower levels. If from Nick Mee (what someone said, I have no idea if the case) he knows the market better than most. Guess all will be revealed as further auction results are posted.

I think the market is generally pushing lower and will continue to do so....things had got very out of hand! Saw a friend of mine recently who follows the market pretty closely and is I think relatively well informed...he said the market on things like Daytona's is pretty stuck. Buyer and sellers are divided by 30 to 40%.

[RDMcG]

In the US the magazine Sports Car Market is a very good guide to values and publishes all major auction results. The last few editions have been painting a more sober picture than in the foamy days. Cars like the '73 RS are way off their highs and lesser Porsches have all dropped.

[Yodafone]

From inside auction room

https://youtu.be/PrELIz226vQ

[E36Ross]

What I don't understand is the people actually bidding the 50/60/70 million dollars?

Surely they were watching the screen and wondering WTF was going on

[Roo]

Is that the same auction house that's well known for being tardy in settling up with their vendors?

[RDMcG]

E36Ross said:

What I don't understand is the people actually bidding the 50/60/70 million dollars?

Surely they were watching the screen and wondering WTF was going on

My thought exactly...who for instance actually bid (say) $50 million? They would have seen it on the screen. Might be some very relieved bidders out there.

[EarlofDrift]

ash73 said:

Cupramax said:

Incase anyone hadnt seen it Harris driving video of the very car.

https://youtu.be/HaDWPBco07w

Shed of the week?

It might be a historic motor but those panel gaps are something else.

[PorkInsider]

RDMcG said:

E36Ross said:

What I don't understand is the people actually bidding the 50/60/70 million dollars?

Surely they were watching the screen and wondering WTF was going on

My thought exactly...who for instance actually bid (say) $50 million? They would have seen it on the screen. Might be some very relieved bidders out there.

They didn't bid 50/60/70, though.

It was15/16/17 - hence the auctioneer saying, for example, "fifteen-million, five-hundred-thousand...sixteen-million..."

It's just that it sounded exactly like, "fifty..." and whoever was typing the score into the display was putting in what they, and we, heard.

[anonymous-user]

E36Ross said:

What I don't understand is the people actually bidding the 50/60/70 million dollars?

Surely they were watching the screen and wondering WTF was going on

Ive read this thread, most of the news articles on it (a lot are copied and pasted), and even watched the video... And I still don't fully understand it.

Were there people in the room bidding at what they thought $30m and so on?

If so, why did they stall at $17m when it was corrected? Did they not understand it?

Why, when even me as a regular Joe know, that bids do not go in increments like that. The person on the screen must not have been actually thinking, which is scary considering how much money is involved.

The person doing the announcing should be putting the numbers as they go, so there wouldn't be that confusion. The auctioneer should not be auctioneering if he can't pronounce words.

Even with all that answered, I don't think I'll still understand.

All over a quite frankly ugly (genuine) Nazi beetle with a jelly baby body. Funny world.

[PorkInsider]

2002 said:

Were there people in the room bidding at what they thought $30m and so on?

If so, why did they stall at $17m when it was corrected? Did they not understand it?

No. The bidders knew exactly what was going on.

They just stopped at 17m and he tried to get them going again.

It was the 'spectators' and the person manning the screen who didn't know what was going on.

[RDMcG]

PorkInsider said:

No. The bidders knew exactly what was going on.

They just stopped at 17m and he tried to get them going again.

It was the 'spectators' and the person manning the screen who didn't know what was going on.

Yet, somewhere the auctioneer was hearing the big numbers..he repeats $70M!! at one place clearly so he must have thought that this was a whale offer....they did not imagine those pre-correction bids.

[PS2018]

no - as @porkinsider said above, it is the auctioneers baffling pronunciation 'seven tin' million. they might want to leave the high ticket stuff to one of his colleagues in future.
we also don't know whether it was in room bids or telephone bids but as others have said, the error comes from the typist plugging the numbers into the screens with illogical bid increment movements.
The amount of time it took to realise it was embarrassing and i think contributed to the whole derailing.
It is a shockingly bad piece of auctioneering and i think no coincidence that it totally stalled at 17m after that mistake/stunt.
Unless they did a deal post auction with that highest bidder this car is now unsellable for the next few years. 20m reserve! Should have bitten his arm off at 17m. Not comparing apples obviously, probably a different audience of buyers/collectors but id far rather have the McLaren F1 which went for not much more!

[BrabusMog]

This wouldn't have happened at a Mecum auction, the auctioneer would have been saying "Seventeen-teen-teen" etc etc. No ambiguity there!

Is the auctioneer South African? That's about the only reason I could think he would make such a hash of the pronunciation.

[W11PEL]

PS2018 said:

no - as @porkinsider said above, it is the auctioneers baffling pronunciation 'seven tin' million. they might want to leave the high ticket stuff to one of his colleagues in future.
we also don't know whether it was in room bids or telephone bids but as others have said, the error comes from the typist plugging the numbers into the screens with illogical bid increment movements.
The amount of time it took to realise it was embarrassing and i think contributed to the whole derailing.
It is a shockingly bad piece of auctioneering and i think no coincidence that it totally stalled at 17m after that mistake/stunt.
Unless they did a deal post auction with that highest bidder this car is now unsellable for the next few years. 20m reserve! Should have bitten his arm off at 17m. Not comparing apples obviously, probably a different audience of buyers/collectors but id far rather have the McLaren F1 which went for not much more!

Totally agree.

This is a disaster. The seller must be seething.

That aside I think he is insane posting a 20m reserve. I’d have run a mile with 17m. He’s had it 40 years. So we can assume paid a fraction of that amount.

It’s his to do with as he pleases but on every level this is a balls out FAIL.

[PS2018]

yes you are right, unless the seller took an arrogant view/can afford to say 'its 20m or no sale' then he was crazy to leave 17m on the table for that thing. They even had time to call the seller (who one might think would want to be contactable when his lot is crossing the block) to ask if he wanted to give discretion to hit the 17m bid while the auctioneer desperately tried to find fresh bids for about 5 minutes.....
unless 17m was a fake bid....and the 16m bid too...and.......

[Greg the Fish]

RDMcG said:

I do not believe there is any conspiracy, but I would suggest that an auctioneer should have impeccable diction, especially in a widely publicized auction like this one.

Agreed

Like this wonderful bit from the inimitable Charlie Ross

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBrzx63yyvY

[Dinoboy]

I must be the only person who thought it was fairly clear he was going up from £13m in £500k increments. The error is with whoever controlled the screen.