Keno Brothers New York City 2015 – Auction Report Page Three
Lot # 116 1963 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Drophead Coupe, Body by H.J. Mulliner; S/N LSCX789; Engine # SX394C; Shell Grey/Black leather; Estimate $600,000 – $850,000; Not evaluated; Not sold at Hammer bid of $500,000. With Reserve. – —
Lot # 117 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Record Cabriolet, Body by Graber; S/N 100351; Cream/Green leather; Estimate $295,000 – $650,000; Not evaluated; Not sold at Hammer bid of $250,000. With Reserve. – — Bid to $245,788 (Euros 215,000) at Bonhams Paris auction earlier this year.
Lot # 118 1972 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3 4-Dr. Sedan; S/N 10901812006395; Black/Black leather; Estimate $480,000 – $650,000; Cosmetic restoration, 3+ condition; Not sold at Hammer bid of $375,000. With Reserve. Automatic, power windows, power sunroof, alloy wheels, Vredestein blackwall tires, air conditioning, Becker Mexico cassette stereo, Hella fog lights. – Euro-spec car bought new by Steve McQueen’s Solar Productions. Mediocre recent paint, original interior and chrome. Loose left rear door trim. Clean, orderly chassis and underbody, The quality of the 2013 repaint by Kienle is not up to the standards expected of this shop’s reputation. – This is a $50,000 car on its best day ever. The Steve McQueen provenance (and the original upholstery where Steve’s buns rested) adds significantly, but attributing a factor of ten to thirteen to its value stretches the McQueen Effect beyond the limits of its elasticity.
Lot # 119 1934 Duesenberg Model SJ Touring Berline, Body by Rollston; S/N 2543; Engine # J-514; Maroon, Black fenders and hood, Maroon padded roof/Grey cord; Estimate $950,000 – $1,100,000; Cosmetic restoration, 1- condition; Not sold at Hammer bid of $800,000. With Reserve. An original SJ that lost its blower, now with a Brian Joseph reproduction supercharger. Chrome wire wheels, wide whitewalls, dual enclosed sidemounts, outside exhaust headpipes, roof rack, luggage trunk, remote spotlight, Pilot-Rays. – Bodied by Rollston for Mrs. Constance Evans with the reinforced roof rack and other touring equipment including ample headroom for Mrs. Evans’ hats. Original chassis, engine and body. Good but aging old paint. Very good upholstery and interior trim. Chipped front axle paint. Good chrome. A cosmetic restoration but unfortunately neglected and showing it. – Offered by the Dragone brothers in Westport in May 2013 with a reported high bid of $1 million in cosmetically maintained but tired condition. Fluffed up with the repro supercharger installed and offered at Gooding’s Amelia Island auction earlier this year with a reported high bid of $775,000, the cataloged ownership history had it bought from Robert McGowan by Gooding & Company and restored for Gooding by Dragone brothers, a history Gooding categorically rejects. The bidders have spoken and if there was money anywhere close to the reported high bid this intriguing SJ should have sold. More clarity might help its history and bidders’ reception.
Lot # 120 1972 Ferrari 365 GTC/4 Coupe; S/N 15357; Gold/Tan leather; Estimate $325,000 – $450,000; Visually maintained, largely original, 3+ condition; Hammered Sold at $280,000 plus commission of 12.00%; Final Price $313,600. With Reserve. Grundig cassette stereo, chrome spoke Borrani wire wheels, Michelin XGT tires, power windows, air conditioning. – Fair repaint erratically masked and applied over old paint. Scratched trim chrome, loose door window channels. Good upholstery, interior trim and carpets. Clean, orderly engine compartment. A sound and usable driver represented as one owner and 45,842 miles from new. – An intriguing, largely original car showing its age but never messed up by attempts to make it more than it is, it brought an appropriate price in today’s C/4 market.
Lot # 121 1968 Toyota 2000GT Coupe; S/N M1010110; Bellatrix Yellow/Black leatherette; Estimate $600,000 – $1,200,000; Visually maintained, largely original, 2- condition; Hammered Sold at $610,000 plus commission of 12.00%; Final Price $683,200. With Reserve. Matte Grey alloy wheels, Bridgestone tires, fender mirrors, clock, timer, pushbutton AM radio, full tool roll. – Very good fresh repaint, good interior and chrome. Underbody is like new. Orderly but aged engine compartment with a replacement aluminum radiator. A surprisingly complete and original 2000GT with a quality repaint and 12,649 miles in exceptional condition for its age. – With 2000GTs having sold into seven figures recently this honest, well-preserved, low miles and intelligently estimated example is an excellent value, at least in the context of recent sales.
Lot # 122 1983 March-Porsche 83G Endurance racer; S/N 83G4; White, Blue, ‘Keeepy Krauly’/Black cloth; Estimate $495,000 – $950,000; Competition car, original as-raced, 3 condition; Hammered Sold at $455,000 plus commission of 12.00%; Final Price $509,600. With Reserve. – 1984 Daytona 24 Hours winner driven by Van der Merve/Martin/Duxbury, 1983 IMSA championship with Al Holbert and Jim Trueman. Clean, orderly vintage racer with a fair but sound repaint. Used, but usable. – With the Le Mans winning Porsche 956 selling at Gooding Pebble Beach this August for $10,120,000, this Daytona- and IMSA championship-winning March-Porsche is a serious value. And its ‘Kreepy Krauly’ livery is distinctive, visually quite different from another Rothman’s Porsche. The buyer got a serious race car, with a serious history and serious performance for a seriously considered price.
Lot # 123 1997 Porsche 993 Turbo S Coupe; S/N WP0AC2999VS375826; Violet/Rubicon Grey leather; Estimate $450,000 – $600,000; Unrestored original, 2- condition; Hammered Sold at $395,000 plus commission of 12.00%; Final Price $442,400. With Reserve. 6-speed, Yellow calipers, power sunroof, power windows, air conditioning, CD changer stereo, Euro bumpers. – Original throughout with some stone chips on the nose. Driver’s seat is lightly creased, otherwise like new appropriate to the 11,473 miles on the odometer. – 911-madness seems to know no bounds. This beautiful, one-owner, low miles 993 Turbo S is – aside from its Violet paint and Rubicon Grey [violet in all but the marketers’ name] interior is a breathtaking 425hp car, but visually indistinct from other, probably lesser, 911s. Paying [close enough to] half a million dollars for a car that has to be explained (‘It has K24 turbos’) along with being one of 345 built is an exercise in self-delusion, but one that is repeated often enough these days to be characterized as ‘market’.
Another pleasantly tart, gimlet-eyed report. Thank you.
Excellent write up. One point though is the Bizzarrini GT 5300, although the high sale for this auction at $1,010,800, is not a world record for the model. That belongs to chassis No. 0301 sold at the Artcurial auction in Paris this past February for $1.3 million. At the same auction an Iso A3/C sold for $1,172,643.
Mike,
Good point.
I have never been able to get a comprehensive list of results from Artcurial in any form that facilitates data entry. Matthieu gripes when their results aren’t reflected, but has never done anything to help include them, so they get passed over.
The American auction houses are, with the exception of Motostalgia, gracious, prompt and inclusive in providing results; the Brits are less so, the French are clueless about publicity, but judging from the way they conduct their auctions they seem to think all their bidders are French and the rest of the world doesn’t matter.
Rebecca Ruff has tried on behalf of SCD to get consistent, timely, complete information but without success. I’ve given up trying.
But, thank you for the clarification.
Rick
Thank you for the cogent write-up. I was amused at your comment about the restoration of the BMW 327 as being straightforward, however. That may be so for the likes of Andreas Freudenberger, but for the mere mortal these old ladies are tougher than one might think at first glance. I am the owner of one of these, it is currently undergoing restoration from having been a basket case, and it’s not a walk in the park. While it’s true that these may be quarter million dollar cars when in fine shape, I am aware of at least one that’s had more than twice that amount lavished upon it in restoration costs alone. I don’t know if paying $100k to start the restoration process makes any financial sense, but I suppose that doesn’t matter. Anyone spending that quantity will surely bring the car back to life and that truly is what matters for any real enthusiast
Apparently Peter Kumar believes there is still some meat on the bone.
http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/bmw/327/1795269.html
I was there too, along with a friend in the collector car business. Excellent and comprehensive report, except for……. no mention at all of the automobilia portion of the auction.
I generally don’t cover automobilia, or even motorcycles. There’s more than enough to keep me busy [and my feeble brain engaged] trying to keep track of the cars.
Too many cars, not enough time.
Rick
Thoroughly entertaining. Seems the higher-end market continues to gravitate towards the fashion/art world, which leaves many of us scratching our heads.
So, to summarize, people bidding on cars of this level do not require (or want) educational seminars, videos, sales pitches, and “spread-out” displays. (Some don’t even personally attend.) They would rather rely upon their own trusted advisors and/or their own knowledge and research. The 50% sell-through could happen in any small auction, but drastically scaling back the “event” could have ensured a nice profit nonetheless.
John,
It’s true that low key live sales and online sales, e.g., Motostalgia or BringaTrailer, can be successful and put more on the bottom line but that’s not the kind of exposure that brings recognition within the collecting community.
This was the Keno brothers’ debut with car collectors. They staged it carefully in a New York Fashion Week style, true to the ethos and environment of The City.
It wasn’t about maximizing the profit of this event, it was about building the Keno Brothers’
The computer swallowed the last word in the comment. Final sentence should end “brand.”
Too glitzy for my taste. The cars were not exceptional and been seen many times at many venues.