Buongiorno lettori. Next Saturday is my birthday and I want you to join me for the party.
It’s at 43 Via Alfredo Dino Ferrari, Maranello at 4.30pm. You can’t miss the place — it’s got a big yellow Ferrari sign on a red background. Look, it’s just near Enzo’s home. Well it used to be his home but given he’s brown bread and gone to that mighty racetrack in the sky, he’s probably not living there any more. If you want to get to Maranello early we’re having cocktails near chez Enzo on this Friday from 5pm to 7pm.
Don’t be worried if you see a lot of people you don’t know. They are just other rich codgers RM Sotheby’s have invited to a small auction of old locally made cars. It’s the Fezzer company’s 70th anniversary, so it will be an all Fezzer sale. Can I just add: you will have to pay $650 to get in but that does include a catalogue and free drinks and canapes, but not my birthday present.
Now I don’t want to scare you off, but a scale model of an 812 Superfast will cost around $450,000. A Ferrari book adorned with 30 carats of diamonds is a snip at $300,000. Of course, there’s a 2004 Enzo for $3 million and a 1959 250GT LWB California Spider for $15m. But lettori, my tip is the barn find, original condition 1969 365 GTB/4 Daytona Berlinetta Alloy for $2m. This is the only street version Enzo built with an aluminium body. This was the ghost car. Most experts didn’t believe it was ever built. But Makoto Takai had it secreted away in Japan for 40 years. Most of you would have known Makoto. He was a trickster, always hiding things around the house. You’d being having a few sakes and whooshka he’d pull out an old sperm whale from under the floor or a Ferrari 365 GTB from the broom cupboard. But he didn’t leave the car in great condition. In fact, nearly all the cars on Bush Mechanics were in better shape.
Talking of Ferraris, it’s worth looking at the lessons from the Monterey Auctions. Basically, whoever invented economics was right. When you have low supply and high prices, new supply comes on the market. It’s hard to think about classic cars, particularly classic cars like this, but it’s what’s happening. Every year at Scottsdale and Monterey there are a lot of auction houses selling a lot of cars.
As Colin Comer from specialist collector car insurer Hagerty says: “Take 1963-65 Shelby 289 Cobras, for example. Somehow every auction had one, and the ones that sold, despite wildly varying quality and histories, all landed between $1m and $1.2m hammer prices. If there had been only one great 289 Cobra for sale in Monterey, I think it would have sold for at least 20-30 per cent more than what we saw for the three.” While the best cars are still bringing top money and ‘‘classics’’ under $100,000 are moving, the reality is auction sell through rates are down and all those autos in the middle are retreating to 2012 values.
Back home it was licence plates that set Monday’s Shannons Sydney Winter Classic Auction on fire. Shenzen billionaire and wine collector, Peter T’seng, who starred in the Australian wine doco Red Obsession, paid $2.4m for NSW licence plate number 4. Pete is the world’s biggest maker of sex toys and while in Sydney drives a red Fezzer that he guarantees he won’t hide in a barn. But I am concerned that he says: ‘‘When I was younger, I preferred sex. Now I prefer wine.” Not a good sign Pete. Shannons sold two old 1970 Falcons sold for over $200,000 each and numberplate 321 brought $192,000.
Moving back to Italians, Sergio Marchionne is the chairman of Ferrari, Maserati and CEO of Fiat Chrysler. He turned around both Fiat and Chrysler but now has the problem of where the company goes next. He doesn’t have the cash to take F&C into electric vehicles (a good thing, I think) so he has been looking for a buyer for the whole show. So far it looks like he will have to sell bits, with Great Wall said to be bidding for Jeep. Maserati and Alfa could be next. I would love Peter T’seng to buy Alfa. Think of the synergies with his sex toy operation.
