by Mike –
Yesterday the Keno Brothers held their first Fine Automobile Auction, Rolling Sculpture, in New York.
I watched almost all of the auction on the Internet. There were bidders in the room, on the phone and on the Internet.
Valentino Balboni, the well known Lamborghini test driver, was on hand to introduce the Lamborghinis.
Notable sales
Lamborghini Miura P400 S, Estimate: $800,000 – $1,600,000, Sold: $870,000 (hammer) $974,000 (with buyers commission)
Bizzarrini GT 5300 Strada, Estimate: $750,000 – $1.3M, Sold: $902,500 (hammer) $1,010,800 (with buyers commission)
Nissan Fairlady Z 432, Estimate: $125,000 – $250,000, Sold: $152,000 (hammer) $170,240 (with buyers commission)
Jaguar E Type Roadster, Estimate: $390,000 – $590,000, Sold: $340,000 (hammer) $380,800 (with buyers commission)
1997 Porsche Turbo 993 S Coupe, Estimate: $450,000 – $600,000, Sold: $395,000 (hammer) $442,400 (with buyers commission)
Several cars did not meet their reserve and thus did not sell during the auction (more than 50% by my count). They may be sold after the auction either late yesterday or in the coming days. We will not the know the total results until the Keno Brothers publish their final report.
In my opinion some of the reserve prices were a little high which prevented the sale of some cars. For example the following cars should have sold at their high bid, notice how many Ferraris are on this list.
Should have sold
Maserati Ghibli, Estimate: $250,000 – $450,000, High Bid: $225,000
Ferrari 550 Barchetta Prototype, Estimate: $650,000 – $725,000, High Bid: $500,000
Ferrari 365 GTB4 N.A.R.T. Competizione, Estimate: $4.9M – $5.9M, High Bid: $4.8M
Ferrari 212 Inter Pinin Farina Coupe, Estimate: $1.3M – $1.9M, High Bid, $1,050,000
Ferrari 250 GT/E 2+2, Estimate: $495,000 – $600,000, High Bid: $445,000
There were a few record prices, or close to record prices, set which is an indication that the collector car market is healthy.
There appears to be room for the Keno Brothers to carve out their own niche in the collector car auction market which is good for both sellers and buyers. Next up for them is the 2016 Elegance at Hershey on June 11, 2016.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
I thought they were offering a very nice red 60 something Grifo?
Richard,
The Grifo did not meet reserve at $460k. I have followed this Grifo for years here: https://mycarquest.com/tag/iso-grifo-no-009
Mike, If that is the same Grifo that you and I saw at Concourso 2 years ago, I would not have sold it either! It looks like the prices were a little soft. I thought the Bizzarrini would have done more. Positively thought the Lambo would do a lot more. (That was hardly worth Valentino getting on the plane), I guess it may have been a little light since it was a first sale for them?? (I think) The Keno brothers are great guys. Their passion and enthusiasm is wonderful. I will be at The Elegance at Hershey(their next sale) showing my Iso Rivolta. I wish them luck at their next sale there. Don M
Thanks Mike! What a great car. I use to know a guy that had a very low mile Grifo that was all original. The car was in very good shape other than a few blemishes in the paint. I wonder what car would be worth more today? A fully restored example like this one, or a low millage original example with a few paint imperfections?
I think those terrible fender flairs on the N.A.R.T. Ferrari kept the price down. I’m jokimg, of course. But they sure look like a last minute addition.
Hey everybody, I like the Keno Brothers on Antiques Roadshow. They do their homework before speaking about a car or a piece of furniture. Low prices at this auction indicate a recession in our country just starting. No one could think these crazy Ferrari prices could keep headed to the moon forever ? Low prices are not because of them.
Wow, some beautiful cars. I am certainly not an expert on all cars per se however I have been buying and selling at auctions for almost 30 years. Regardless of whether or not one feels that they had the best cars in the world for sale, the Keno Brothers Auction certainly had what I would call sellable merchandise , every lot! As a dealer and I have never seen more customer confusing estimates in my life. Once upon a time a dealer didn’t see many retail people/customers at a Sotheby’s or Christies auctions , it was mostly all dealers at an auction but today the retail bidders are a driving force behind the end sale price for a great portion of the lots sold and I have never before seen an auction have an estimate for any item or car have a spread like est $600,000- $1,200,000. I certainly look forward to the Keno Brothers staying in the market place but I think they over shot and it simply backfired. To get high prices, one needs to create excitement. To create excitement one has to have the buyer feel a mix of emotions and if they end up paying a record price, they need to get there through the process of ” auction fever or paddle Tourette’s ” but not by confusion of big chump syndrome. Great auctions have heat and excitement created by one thing BIDDING, BIG BIDDING, no matter how great or expensive the item is, you have to create heat and excitement in the room and that is created by the increase in bids not the merchandise at the point of sale, they have already seen the merchandise, now they are either in the event emotionally or peeking from a distance and waiting because the bottom is already too high. The merchandise drives the people there and their interest but mostly bidding and excitement help as well as the fact that the reserves cannot be so high!!
We all know the story about the two Bulls on the hill. The son says to the father “dad, look at all those cows down there? I’m going to run down there and……..well you know the rest. Sometimes it’s better to walk, go slow and get it all of it rather than run and scare everyone away!
Thats more than two cents…
Stuart
Doug it’s hardly a recession , if you compare todays bid prices to those of just a few years ago you will see how strong these prices are! This auction was new to the marketplace and it chose a untested event date that was very late in the year. I think the keno brother did pretty good for their first auto auction effort, I’m sure each event to follow will just keep getting a little bit better.
“Thanks Mike! What a great car. I use to know a guy that had a very low mile Grifo that was all original. The car was in very good shape other than a few blemishes in the paint. I wonder what car would be worth more today? A fully restored example like this one, or a low millage original example with a few paint imperfections?”
Anecdotally speaking the market IMO seems to offer more of a premium for the all original examples. They are only all original once, and these Grifo’s are becoming increasingly rare. This does not mean that the fully restored version and the original ones can’t both bring top dollar.