Artcurial sets records at its Retromobile auctions

Artcurial Motorcars has posted $62.6 million in sales (56.1 million euros for its two-day collector car auction as part of Retromobile in Paris. The overall sales figure is a 21 percent improvement over the company’s 2015 sale in its hometown, a sale that made headlines last year by including the sensational barn-found Baillon Collection.

“We are incredibly proud of the results of this historic sale in France, home to the automobile, and in Paris, the world’s capital for collectors’ cars during the winter season,” Matthieu Lamoure, managing director of Artcurial Motorcars, said in a news release.

“I am delighted by the public’s growing passion and enthusiasm for these collectors’ cars, objects that require such attention and love. And it is exactly this love of beautiful machines, an eclectic mix catering for all tastes and budgets, and above all the insistence on high quality, that marks out Artcurial Motorcars”

Artcurial reported an overall 80 percent sell-through rate and that 78 percent of the buyers were from 16 countries outside of France.

The sale got off to a spectacular start Friday when a 1957 Ferrari 335 S Scaglietti from the Pierre Bardinon Collection sold for a world auction-record price in euros and British pounds, though it fell just short of the record when converted into U.S. dollars, which are very strong right now compared with other currencies.

Converted to U.S. currency, the car sold for $37.79 million. The world auction record for a collector car remains the $38.115 million paid in 2014 at the Bonhams Quail sale on the Monterey Peninsula for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO.

The opening day of Artcurial’s Paris sale included 124 vehicles with several of them establishing record auction prices: the ’57 Ferrari 335 Sport, a 1986 Ferrari Testarossa Spider (formerly owned by Gianni Agnelli), a 1995 Bugatti EB110 SS Sport Competizions Le Mans, a 1995 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport, a 1954 Facel Vega 54 Prototype V, a 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA, a 1953 Renault Fregate Ondine cabriolet by Ghia and a 1971 BMW 2002 cabriolet.

Top 10 sales, Artcurial Motorcars Paris (day one)

1. 1957 Ferrari 335 S Scaglietti, $37,794,319
2. 1963 Aston Martin DB4 convertible Series 5, $1,644,018
3. ex-Agnelli 1986 Ferrari Testarossa Spider Valeo, $1,350,411
4. 1903 Moonbeam III (yacht), $1,234,468
5. 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, $1,064,170
6. 1995 Bugatti EB110 SS Sport Competizione Le Mans, $1,050,890
7. 1995 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport, $1,037,610
8. 1931/2012 Bucciali-Cord Type L29 modifie, $665,106
9. 1960 Maseratti 3500 GT Vignale Spyder, $611,875
10. 1968 Ferrari 330 GTC, $598,596

(Prices include buyer’s premium.)

On the second day of its Retromobile sale, Artcurial features cars from a single automaker. This year is was 48 vehicles from Citroen, 40 of them from Andre Trigano’s collection, and with six of the French cars drawing auction-record prices. Trigano drove one of his favorite cars — a 1939 Traction 11B cabriolet — onto the block.

Top 10 sales, Artcurial Motorcars Paris (day two)

1. 1961 Citroen 2 CV Sahara, $192,836
2. 1939 Citroen Traction 11B cabriolet, $186,252
3. 1935 Citroen Traction 7C coupe, $119,741
4. 1939 Citroen Traction cabriolet 11 BL, $93,070
5. 1968 Citroen ID 21 F Break, $79,790
6. 1974 Citroen DS 23 IE Pallas, $70,528
7. 1986 Citroen BX 4TC, $69,189
8. 1980 Citroen Mehari 4×4, $55,909
9. 1932 Citroen C4 G torpedo, $46,535
10. 1949 Citroen Traction 15-Six berline, $42,518

(Prices include buyer’s premium.)

Sunday, Artcurial held yet another sale, this time for automobilia and featuring 600 mascots from the former collection of Pasquale Giordano. The sale realized nearly $575,000, including buyer’s fees.

Earlier at Retromobile 2016, RM Sotheby’s posted $21 million for the sale of 48 vehicles and Bonhams exceeded $16 million at its auction.

Artcurial’s next sale is July 9 at Le Mans.