£15.5m 1995 McLAREN F1 SOLD BY GOODING AT PEBBLE BEACH CALIFORNIA IN AUGUST HIGHEST PRICED CAR AUCTIONED IN 2021. £4.7m SIR LEWIS HAMILTON DRIVEN 2010 McLAREN MP4-25 F1 IS UK AUCTION TOP SELLER UNDER RM SOTHEBY’S GAVEL DURING BRITISH GP AT SILVERSTONE. HAGERTY MONITOR 12,500 CLASSIC AUCTION SALES OF £310.4m IN UK AND EU, 14 GOING FOR OVER £1M
2021 SALES REVIEWED
The Hagerty Price Guide – which Classic Auction Review surfers can access via clicking onto the Hagerty logo among ‘The Really Useful Services’ on our Home Page - actively tracks market values so owners, as well as buyers and sellers, have an accurate picture of their car's worth. RH-E
During the 2021 auction season, Hagerty reporters tracked more than 12,500 UK and European auction results, over double those observed in 2020. The numbers were huge: a total of £310.8 million in classic and collector vehicles sold, including 14 for over £1m, a significant increase from 10 last year.
Some of this increase was undoubtedly due to the expansion of Hagerty’s valuation operations, now called Automotive Intelligence, which tracks auctions, insured values and other data sources all around the world. But the increase is also a result of continued confidence in the market after the brief pause in early 2020. The specialist vehicle market seems to be moving onwards at a rate almost entirely unconnected to the pandemic.
Throughout this year of increased sales, it is inevitable that certain vehicles stand out, say Hagerty. These are sometimes the most valuable, the rarest or those that indicate an emerging trend in the market, but others are notable just because they are really interesting cars. Here is their selection of 2021’s most influential global classic vehicle sales -
Most valuable: 1995 McLaren F1, £15.5m
Starting with the biggest sale of 2021 – the 1995 McLaren F1 sold by Gooding & Company at Pebble Beach in August. The final result was $20,465,000 (£15.5m) just shy of the Hagerty Price Guide condition 1 ‘concours’ value. The gobal insurance brokers and now lifestyle brand are aware of other, private sales that have been higher, but this was a world record price for the F1 at public auction.
Formula One royalty: 2010 McLaren MP4-25, £4.73m
The first of Lewis Hamilton’s F1 race and Grand Prix-winning cars ever offered to the public, it won the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix. This car is undoubtedly a piece of motoring heritage, as it was raced by Hamilton against the other dominant F1 legend of the modern era, Michael Schumacher. Sold by RM Sotheby’s at a special, single-lot auction at the British Grand Prix, it sold for £4.73m, just short of its top estimate.
Turning Japanese: 1998 Subaru Impreza STi 22B, $317,555 (£240,000)
As Hagerty has written about a great deal this year, Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) car values have been flying high in America. Some, like the 1998 Subaru STi 22B, don’t yet even qualify for the country's 25-year import rule (only vehicles aged 25 or older may be imported to the US without having to meet the national vehicle regulations), but that doesn’t put buyers, off as seen back in April when the STi 22B sold for a record-breaking $317,555 (£240,000), via the Bring A Trailer platform.
The model hasn’t yet achieved the same level of value in the UK: back in May, one of just 16 UK-spec 22Bs was sold by Silverstone Auctions for £171,000, more than expected, but still a long way short of the Bring A Trailer record. Then, in November at their NEC Classic Motor Show sale, Silverstone tried again – this time with a 15,500-mile from new example, estimated at an eye-watering £230,000 to £280,000. But although bidding reached £200,000, it did not sell.
Auction Wreck of the season: 1960 Jaguar XK150 S Drophead, £90,000
There are some auction results that are surprising, even to the seasoned observer, who thinks they have seen everything. Offered by Bonhams MPH in May, the 150S had been crashed by its previous owner in 1996. And it wasn’t just a small shunt: spinning off the road into a tree, the car took a huge impact to the front and sustained damage all along the right-hand side. The driver’s chest broke the steering wheel and his hair was still embedded in the windscreen! And yet, someone saw the potential for restoring this car back to its glory days and paid a very robust £90,000, just shy of the £102,000 Hagerty Guide value for an ‘Excellent’ example.
Group B missile: 1988 Audi Sport Quattro, €2.017M
An undoubted highlight of the Artcurial Paris sales of February 2021, exceeding its expectations by the largest amount and selling for €700,000 over its €1M to €1.3M pre-sale estimate. Hagerty has tracked the values of all UR Quattros increasing significantly over the past 18 months. However, the value achieved – three times the top Hagerty Price Guide figure for the standard Sport Quattro – set a new level.
British appreciator: 1993 Jaguar XJ220, £460,000
An exceptional XJ220 with just 385 miles on the clock in factory Monza Red, and a clean bill of health from marque specialists Don Law Racing, its sale may mark a watershed for the model.
A highlight of the Bonhams Goodwood Revival sale, it was the first time an XJ220 had exceeded the (then) Hagerty Price Guide top value of £445,000 and is a record price at public auction. It was quickly followed up by RM Sotheby’s sale of a similarly impressive example in their London sale in November which exceeded its pre-sale top estimate, selling for £432,500. As inflation erodes the vaIue of the pound in your savings bank and you need more of them to buy the same commodity - in this case, an XJ220 - it is notable that ten of the highest 11 values of the model at auction have been since 2019.
One once Royal owner: 1981 Ford Escort 1.6 Ghia, £52,640
Hagerty has tracked examples of the third-generation Ford Escort selling for more than £50,000, but they have been low-mileage examples of sporting models, such as the RS Turbo and RS 1600i. So, what made a slightly tired, 83,000 mile, 1.6 Ghia example, offered by Reeman Dansie, so sought-after? In May 1981, it had been gifted as an engagement present by Prince Charles to the then-Lady Diana Spencer. This sale, in a specialist Royal Auction, fetched around ten times what Hagerty expects a very good example to reach Di provenance.
On-line milestone result: Ferrari F40, £1,000,500
The Market’s July sale of ‘F40 BLU’, a 1989 Ferrari F40, for £1,000,500, was another watershed moment: the first time a car sold for over £1m in a dedicated UK online auction. Interestingly, it lacked the originality usually demanded of such top cars, having been painted in Porsche Aqua Blue, but made up for it in on-line presence, generated by its owner Sam Moores, the Car Chat podcaster and photographer. Interestingly, four bidders were still competing even after the car had reached £980,000! Hagerty has tracked the values of F40s rising steadily over the last few years: from 2016 until 2021, top values in the Guide rose by 11 per cent.
Two more exceptional examples sold in the US at Monterey in August, one for $2.89M (Gooding & Co) and another for $2.42m (RM Sotheby’s). With over 50 per cent of F40 owners who insure with Hagerty born since 1965 (up from 28 per cent in 2018), younger money is coming into the market, reinforcing the F40’s position as a key collectable car in the present climate.
Resto project of auction year: 1982 Lamborghini Countach LP500S, £257,600
Appearing to be a basket case, but actually a supercar in component form, albeit in urgent need of saving. And yet this 1982 Lamborghini Countach LP 500S restoration project was sold by Historics at Ascot Racecourse in September for £257,600, well over £180,000 top estimate!
The LP500s (often called the 5000s) was the original Athena poster model. This one, stripped down and ready for a full restoration, was an ultra-rare right-hand drive example, one of just 37 made. The ‘Excellent’ value at the time was £334,000, not giving the new owner too much leeway for a full-cost restoration, but then again, it's rare for buyers in this sector of the market, where money isn't always a concern, to be presented with a blank canvas to restore to their own specification.