Mark Osborne

Founded in London in 1793 as an auctioneer of fine art and books, Bonhams today is active in over 70 categories of collectibles and conducts more than 700 sales a year.

Its International Motoring Department, led by James Knight, has four fully staffed branches worldwide, including a San Francisco office (Bonhams & Butterfields), a Sydney office (Bonhams & Goodman), a mainland Europe office in Paris, and the London office. The chairman of the Bonhams group of companies is Robert Brooks, who is also an accomplished motorsports competitor.

Bonhams charges a Buyer’s Premium of 15% on the first £30,000 ($58,800) of the hammer price, 10% thereafter. Bonhams & Butterfields charges 17% on the first $100,000 of the hammer price, 10% thereafter. Bonhams & Goodman charges 13%.

In 2006, Bonhams’s International Motoring Department sold 708 cars worldwide, for a sales total of $54,102,333. The average sale price was $76,416, and the highest sale was a 1956 Jaguar D-type, sold in Monterey for $2,097,000.

Christopher Sanger

The history of Christie’s dates to December 5, 1766, when James Christie held his first public auction. Today the company is the world leader in the sale of art, with 2006 sales totaling $4.67 billion. The British firm has 85 offices in 43 countries, and its many divisions—art, wine, jewelry, photography, motor cars, etc.—conduct more than 600 sales yearly.

Christie’s International Motor Car Department is the longest established name in the collector car market, and has been part of Christie’s success since 1972. The division consists of seven specialists based in London, Brussels, New York, Texas, and California, who regularly organize the company’s major sales in Paris, Monterey, London, and Greenwich, CT.

Christie’s holds several public auction records for cars, including the $8.7 million achieved for a 1931 Bugatti Royale Kellner coupe sold in London in November 1987, as well as marque records for Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, and Bentley.

Silver Auctions is headquartered in the Eastern Washington city of Spokane, and its enthusiasm properly reflects the area’s robust mining and logging roots.

Founder Mitch Silver began auctioning in 1979, while an administrator at Eastern Washington State College. His first auction was at the county fairgrounds, within smelling distance of the cow barns.

Such earthy roots remain the cornerstone of the company’s business. Last summer, $25,000 would have given a dedicated buyer a shot at about 50% of the 800 cars offered at Silver’s Hot August Nights auction in Reno, Nevada, the company’s flagship event. A dozen other auctions take place throughout the northwest.

Silver himself is a cancer-surviving everyman, who has hiked in 72 countries and survived kidnapping and robbery attempts. He believes that the very best deals are good for buyer and seller both, and his job is simply to bring the two, and the right car, together.

Rob Myers

Based in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada, RM is the brainchild of Rob Myers. Myers began his professional automotive career in 1976 with a restoration shop in his single-car garage. In the 1980s, he began buying and selling vintage cars, often at collector car auctions.

After doing so much business with auction companies, Myers and partner Mike Fairbairn decided they could just as easily sell their own cars. In 1991, the two formed RM Auctions, Inc.

Today, RM is North America’s premier collector car auction company, with notable events held annually in Monterey, CA, Phoenix, AZ, Rochester, MI, and Amelia Island, FL. In addition to the restoration and auction companies, RM also maintains a dedicated automobile transport business, as well as an international sales division.

RM Restorations won Pebble Beach “Best of Show” honors in 2001, 2004, and 2006. RM Auctions held its first European sale in May 2007 at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy. RM Auctions netted more than $200 million in sales in 2006

David Gooding

Gooding & Company is a fairly new player in the collector car auction world, but the firm’s principal, David Gooding, is not. While at Christie’s, Gooding helped to establish the long-running Pebble Beach Auction. He then later served as president of RM Auctions, before establishing his own firm in 2003.

Since 2004, Gooding & Company has held an annual sale at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center, with sales totals placing it second only to RM each successive year. In October 2006, the firm realized a $36m result from the sale of the Otis Chandler Collection, which exceeded initial expectations by more than $10m.

In addition to public auctions and private treaty sales of automobiles, Gooding & Company partners with Ocean Tomo, LLC, an intellectual capital merchant bank, to hold intellectual property rights auctions throughout the year.

Gooding charges $1,500 to enter a vehicle for sale, a 10% seller’s commission, and a 10% buyer’s premium.

Drew Alcazar

Russo and Steele was launched in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2001 by Drew and Josephine Alcazar. The company specializes in European sports cars, American muscle cars, hot rods, and customs, and is known throughout the auction world for the intimate, high-energy, night-club atmosphere of its sales.

Alcazar has long been a collector and restorer of vintage cars, and when he set up shop, he had a specific design for the type of auction experience he wanted Russo and Steele to embody. To that end, Russo offers a venue dubbed, “Auction in the Round,” which allows for an interactive auction block that generates excitement and urgency in the buying and selling process. The setting also focuses on the specific needs of the people most directly involved in the auction process—the buyers and sellers.

Russo and Steele currently has two collector car events each year—its flagship January sale in Scottsdale, and a Monterey sale held at the Marriott. In March 2008, the company will host its first sale in Hollywood, Florida.