SCM Analysis
Detailing
This car sold for $1,705,000, including buyer’s premium, at Gooding & Company’s inaugural Amelia Island Auction in Florida on March 12, 2010.
I don’t know if this is a world record for an essentially run-of-the-mill RS 61 Spyder or not, but the price is considerable. This is also one of those sales where the most notable fact about the transaction is the price. Let’s look at the car first, before adding in a view of the market, and finally, the issues in the auction room itself that may have supported this impressive result.
The marque
In the 1950s and ’60s, Porsche defrayed much of its racing costs by selling essentially the same car as it was campaigning to others. While certain details may have been adjusted in favor of the Works cars, the customer machines, especially the RS 60/61s, were as capable of winning major races as the factory team cars given the right drivers. Works RS 60s were manufactured in serial from 718040 to 049; the customer cars ranged from 718051 to 078. While some Works cars were fitted with 8-cylinder Type 771 engines, the main difference lay in the factory team cars having split front torsion bars and a different fuse block location.
Even the factory’s “trick” annular disc brakes could be bought over the retail parts counter to upgrade the customer’s efforts. The close correspondence between Works and customer cars helps to flatten the normal premium ascribed to factory racing cars in other marques as, with Porsche, the difference lies in the car’s history and provenance more than actual morphological differences. Special factory “tweaks,” say Le Mans body modifications, were routinely removed after the event and, consequently, are ephemeral to such cars’ history. But for the uniquely styled, long-wheel-based W-RS, the factory RS 60s are indistinguishable from customer cars, except to the truly eagle-eyed.
Finally, similar to many racing sports cars of the period, Porsche Spyders are excellent dual-purpose collectibles. They can easily win on the track and yet are just as satisfying to drive on the road in tours such as the Colorado Grand, where I saw our subject car many years ago. This property makes them all the more desirable to the market.
The car
The provenance of this “no stories” car is complete and known from day one. Despite being sold to the U.K., the subject car’s first-class SCCA racing pedigree probably resonated with the U.S. auction audience. Our subject car’s first owner, Bob Holbert, ranked as one of the finest Porsche drivers in the country. Its subsequent ownership by Tom Payne and capable clubman Millard Ripley meant our RS 61 never failed to race at the sharp end of the pack, albeit not at international world championship venues. Fortunately, not only was our subject car driven quickly, it was driven safely as well, suffering no significant racing damage during its active life.
Equally fortunate in its retirement, it went through a series of sympathetic hands. Ultimately, it was held for considerable time by Warren Eads, a noted Spyder authority, whose own ownership attested to the quality of 070. Consequently, potential auction buyers had the assurance that the car had in the past been vetted by experts and worked on by noted marque specialists like engine man Al Cadrobbi. Assured that the notoriously expensive-to-overhaul roller crank engine was in top shape with few hours of use, buyers could bid with confidence.
The market
Despite the weakness of the economic recovery, serious collectors like the prices they are seeing. Many experienced collectors are buying high-quality, first-class cars when such cars turn up. Whether these collectors believe such purchases are useful inflation hedges, or whether they think prices of cars are only going to go up, and are therefore buying now while prices are attractive, is hard to determine.
Here’s the hitch. By and large, the cars coming to market are the seconds and thirds, not the great and wonderful top-of-the-market objects that command huge prices. Today, there is a lot of unmet demand for top-flight pieces and not much supply. In the case of our subject car, we do have one of the rare, first-class collectible automobiles coming from respected long-term hands. The seller has been widely known to be liquidating his collection to fund charitable activities. Such a dynamic makes for buyer confidence.
The auction
On the day 070 was sold, the room was hot. As one participant said, “This was the first auction of the season when the sun was shining and many of those in attendance wanted to kick the season off by buying a car.” Additionally, while the amassed cars were respectable in scope and identity, there were relatively few-perhaps only six or so-cars of impeccable, first-class quality. Our RS 61 was one of these. Compounding the effect, the successful buyer had recently sold another car for presumably a substantial profit and was looking to reinvest the proceeds to limit his U.K. tax exposure on the gain. With tax-impacted dollars, he was able to pay up accordingly. Combined with an underbidder who instructed his agent, “Don’t lose the car,” the stage was set for an excellent result for the seller.
There you have it: a top-of-the-heap model of first-class quality and condition; excellent provenance; a confidence-inducing sales scenario; two determined bidders, one of whom was playing with discounted dollars; and the result follows naturally.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were six more RS 60/61s on the market within a week after this sale. Well sold.