Overdrive Ep 2
As promised here is the second episode of Overdrive. In this episode we compare and contrast the Jaguar Mk II with the Citroën DS; take a look at quintessential English motors in Italian suits, and some cool motor bikes McQueen style. Don’t forget to flick the switch into Overdrive. I say, Ding dong!
HNY one and all
I could not be bothered taking any pretty pictures of New Year’s Eve fireworks, many more better things to be doing. I did though take some pretty pictures on Boxing Day at the start of the 71st Sydney to Hobart race.
A Happy New Year to one and all and here’s looking forward to a stellar 2016.
Here Comes Summer (Down Under)!
What a view!
Summer has officially started in Australia. That does not only mean soaring temperatures and lots of blue skies, nothing but blue skies, it also means the start of some serious boating action. Stadium sailing at its best was in evidence on Sydney Harbour for the eighth and final act of the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series (pictured above) whilst on Boxing Day it will be the start of the great race, the 71st Sydney Hobart Race. Your intrepid reporter will once again be on the water to cover the action, at least as far as the Heads anyway!
Driven not hidden
The Theodore Bruce Motorclassica Auction was the most successful classic car auction ever held outside of the USA and Europe. Whilst lot number 44, a 1963 Ford Falcon, was, by a long chalk, not the most expensive car we sold (that honour went to lot 27, the 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost), it did provide a lot of fun as is shown on this extract from the television programme “Driven not Hidden”!
Five Days of Motoring Madness
This is how the organisers described the Dubai International Motor Show to which I was invited as a guest speaker on the Ignition Live Talks. It was great fun and a great show. One of the highlights for me was the ‘pop-up’ Motoring Nostalgia Museum supported by Volante Magazine for whom I am a regular contributor. There were plenty of of other things happening but I was particularly excited to see the stunning David Brown Speedback GT (pictured here outside the tallest building in the world, the 828 metre high Burj Khalifa) and to learn more about the plans of traditional English manufacturer Alvis with its new range of limited edition Continuation Series models. All I have to do now is write the stories!
Bundtastic
The 2015 Bund Classic in Shanghai was a great event so I thought I should share a couple of images to give you a flavour. Look out for the upcoming story in Rewind Magazine (http://www.rewindmagazine.com) and Unique Luxury (http://uniqueestates.com.au/unique-luxury/) amongst other publications.
Starting Young
Parade along the Bund
1921 Rolls-Royce
Record Auction Makes History
The cars ready for auction
Theodore Bruce, Australia’s oldest auction house established in 1878, set a new Australian and indeed Southern Hemisphere record at its ‘Motorclassica’ sale held on Saturday 24th October in the impressive surroundings of the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. The auction dollar value results were the highest ever recorded anywhere outside of the hotbeds of the USA and Europe for a classic car auction surpassing the previous record result set in 2008.
Highlights of the amazing sale included $662,500 realised for a 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, an incredible $635,000 for a ‘lost’ alloy bodied Jaguar XK120, $486,000 for a 1973 Ferrari Dino 246GT, $283,000 for a stunning 1966 Shelby GT350, $275,000 for the ex-Peter Brock Torana SLR5000, $233,500 for a 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL California Roadster, $222,500 for another XK120, and a record $204,900 for a small bumper Porsche 911T.
A world record price of $106,875 of any form in or out of auction was also set for a rare 1951 Hartnett Pacific Tourer which doubled its estimate. Five barn find cars were also sold with a whopping $75,000 paid for a desirable 1934 Packard 12 in need of total restoration.
With spirited bidding in the room from the large crowd including collectors who had flown in specifically from the United States, Asia and the UK, along with strong interest on the phones and via the internet from inter-state and overseas, the sale totalled a record $3.7 million with just 34 cars offered.
Auctioneer and Director of Theodore Bruce, James Badgery said, “We are obviously delighted with the result and to achieve such high value dollar sales. This auction in conjunction with the Motorclassica event continues to grow year on year and has now truly established itself as an important sale on the international calendar.”
Dubai International Motor Show
In November I am heading to the United Arab Emirates as a guest speaker for the Dubai International Motor Show at the brand new UAE Motoring Museum. It should be a fabulous event and I am very pleased to have been chosen as one of the speakers. This is in no small part due to the team at the newish Volante Magazine to which I am contributor. Volante, ‘a journal for the gentleman driver’ is a pretty exciting read which you should check out at www.volantemagazine.com. Thank you to James and Julia, at Firefly Communications, publisher of Volante, Sunita Khatri at the organisers of the event and the Arjaan by Rotana Dubai Media City where I shall be staying. Goodness only knows what I will talk about but it will be something along the lines of classic car and investment values, similar to the lecture I gave at the Australian Club in Sydney recently and which I will also be discussing as a member of the expert panel at Motorclassica in Melbourne in October.
Photo courtesy of DIMS
China’s Premier Concours d’Elegance
October is shaping up to be a busy month. From the 22nd – 24th I will be running my big annual classic car auction at Motorclassica on behalf of Theodore Bruce, Australia’s oldest auction house founded in 1878. The weekend before however I will be popping over to Shanghai to take a squiz at the third edition of the Bund Classic, China’s prestigious international concours. Having never been to mainland China before I am really looking forward to it and to visiting the city known as the ‘Paris of the East’. You will be able to read my report in the various magazines to which I contribute including ‘Unique Luxury’.
Photo courtesy of event sponsor Suixtil (www.suixtil.com)
Southern Hemisphere’s Largest
The online catalogue for the southern hemisphere’s largest and most prestigious classic car auction is now available
http://arts.theodorebruceauctions.com.au/asp/searchresults.asp?st=D&pg=1&ps=25&sale_no=AS0206+
(www.theodorebruceauctions.com.au)
I am really excited about the 45 Veteran, Edwardian, Vintage and Classic vehicles that I have brought together to be sold on 24th October at 7pm AEST by Australia’s oldest auction house, Theodore Bruce. There are lots of highlights including the 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost still with its original Barker body and the 1949 alloy bodied Jaguar XK120 chassis number 660005. There are also some wonderful barnfinds, a couple of great race cars and one or two unique machines amongst the rare and important machines to be offered under the roof of the Victorian architectural grandeur of the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, Australia.
If you cannot be there in person, you can bid by telephone, by absentee bid, or online via invaluable.com or proxibid.com.
There is also some exciting motoring memorabilia on sale to start the proceedings at 6pm AEST.
