Pebble Beach 2014: Friday car auctions drive totals toward record
The auction action at this year’s Monterey Car Week is well ahead of last year’s pace and is likely to set a record for the highest dollar volume of any week of selling at the annual event.
As of Friday, $176.3 million worth of vehicles had been sold at auctions held by auction houses Bonhams, RM Auctions, Mecum and Russo and Steele.
Last year’s total at this point in the week was just $95.9 million.
McKeel Hagerty, the classic vehicle insurance and pricing expert, had predicted this year’s totals could be above $450 million, well past last year’s $312 million.
Friday night gavels came down on some extremely valuable automobiles, and as on Thursday -- when a Ferrari GTO sold for just over $38 million -- Ferrari again led the field.
RM Auctions’ Max Girardo sold a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM Coupe for $11,550,000, a little below its highest estimate. An hour earlier, RM had sacrificed a 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster for $6.3 million -- $6.9 million, once fees were added in -- despite expectations the car could fetch as much as $10 million.
Other Friday highlights included a couple of striking Mercedes-Benz coupes.
RM sold a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe for $2,530,000, and Russo and Steele sold a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster for $1,210,000.
By houses, RM Auctions sold more than $56 million in cars Friday, Bonhams $41 million, Mecum $9 million, and Russo and Steele $3 million.
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