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.”
