Get real 20 readers! Jumping Jim Chalmers’ beautiful big budget bonanza is not going to help the price of your classic car lurching ever downward.
No, the Toyota Kluger-driving Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Paul Keating, Wayne Swan and Snoop Dogg-loving Treasurer ignored the plight of old Ferrari, Lambo, Roller, Porker and Jaguar owners across this once great country.
What would his hero, Tupac Amaru Shakur (aka Makaveli, aka 2Pac, aka MC), say about this betrayal of the status anxious class? Tupac was a serious petrol head with a serious non- electric car collection, including the 1996 BMW 750 he was shot in.
Now while JC 2 might not be fighting classic car deflation, his hero’s Beemer certainly is. You can buy any old 750 in Las Vegas today for a little under $4k, but Celebrity Cars has Tupac’s up for $2.2m with the bullet holes removed.
Talking of Beemers (and soon we’ll be talking how BMW screw you on spare parts) Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay’s 1973 BMW 3.5 CSL, which he nicknamed the “Batmobile”, goes up on the blocks today at Iconic Auctioneers Supercar Fest auction at Sywell Aerodrome, soap dodger land.
This has a serious racing history and it’s eligible for some of the best historic motorsports in the world, including the legendary Le Mans Classic. This would be great buying at around $250k.
Of course, like most famous singing persons, Jay is heavily into religion, telling the old bloke over a few Coopers at the Kensi that: “I follow the religion of the trees and the greenery. I follow the religion of the moon. I believe in vibrations, which is what the whole world runs on.” Michael McMichael, so good they named him twice, nodded sagely.
Talking of Batmobiles, the 1966 Batmobile built by George Barris and Andy Perillo and the only Batmobile other than the original car that was ever driven by Adam West, is on the blocks. Of course, Bruce Wayne insisted on a black-on-black finish with red bat logos, the jet engine housing a flame thrower (which had an unfortunate habit of setting the parachute bags on fire, three rocket launchers and a radar antenna detector. Yours for $2m.
Anyway, the good citizens of struggle street, 10 Ave Princesse Grace, Monaco, sniffed their nez at deflation, throwing $65m at RM Sotheby for some pretty neat metal.
Top seller was Jody Scheckter’s 1979 Ferrari 312 T4. Only ever driven by Jody, including his wins at the Belgian, Monaco and Italian grands prix, this was a pre-budget steal at $12.5m.
And someone who was following Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Paul Keating, Wayne Swan and Snoop Dogg in their taste paid $75k for a 2010 Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari (aka Fiat 500) which sell for $4k in Australia without the 134KW 1368cc four-cylinder turbo, paddle-shift transmission, uprated suspension, huge Brembo brakes, and grippy 205/40 R17 rubber.
Over at Bonhams the same drugs kicked in with a 2012 Smart Fortwo City Car selling for $52k (every day of the week in Australia maybe $6k tops) because it was owned by a Saint, Roger Moore.
I thought Miki Biasion’s 1973 Fiat 124 Abarth Spider Sport Rally was well bought at $130k, but then again I owned a similar car when I was a lad. One of only 500 built these were world rally champ cars.
Former owner Miki Biasion, 66, was a two-time world rally champion, whose blunt speaking never endeared himself to team managers. He called the 1994 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth “a pile of shit” and went on to win the World Truck Championship in 1998 and 1999.
Bottom line is a lot of high-priced metal didn’t sell. Cars at $2m and above struggled while cars around $1m and below like Porkers and Astons, and very low-priced classics did well. Some really interesting results for Ferrari which saw many across all three auctions houses fail to sell or sell well below estimates.
Tomorrow the red lights on and the 20th Rich Male Drivers of Imola are away on a racetrack that originally housed environmentally sound chariot races.
Twenty readers and one friend do I need to remind you that today marks the 130th anniversary of the Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894. The good citizens of every large city in the world, including Sydney, were in threat of drowning in poo. “In London, where the horse-carried hansom cab occupied the streets, 50.000 horses produced 570,000kg of horse manure and 57,000 litres of urine daily.
Together with the corpses of dead horses, the urine and manure started to poison the city’s inhabitants. In 1894 the Times (part of our global multimedia empire) predicted that “in 50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure”.
Naturally do gooders say this was all fake news, drummed up by car companies to sell their equine replacements. But we do know, that like today, EV owners did have range anxiety but at least for the 600-strong electric New York taxi fleet there was a battery swapping station on an old ice rink which went well until it went belly up. Now we know that would never happen to electric charging companies today.
Anyway, Imola is a hard track to pass on which favours drivers like Mad Max. It also has a history of tragedy. Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died here and serious drivers like Gerhard Berger, Nelson Piquet, Rubens Barrichello, Gilles Villeneuve all had impressive prangs.
I’d be watching to see if Ferrari has really stuffed their driver lineup. Remember, Carols Sainz is leaving Feezer at the end of this season to be replaced by Lewis Hamilton. Carl is fifth on the drivers’ leaderboard despite having missed one of the six races. And he is only one of two drivers to win a race this year.
So, if he beats Chuck Leclerc again on Sunday at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, team bosses will be sitting in the naughty corner.
On a personal note, I won’t be at Imola since my youngest daughter is getting married. Good luck Rosie and Adam.
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