Auction Recap: Gooding & Company Pebble Beach 2015

Gooding & Company finished its annual two-day sale on Aug. 16 to round out Monterey Car Week at Pebble Beach with more than $128 million in total sales, making it the company’s largest ever two-day auction. Of 129 lots offered, 115 of them sold – an 89 percent sell-through rate – and the average sale price was an incredible $1,113,896. Three vehicles sold for more than $10 million, two of them for more than $15 million, and a total of 26 cars brought million-plus final prices. That is a sizable jump over last year, when the Gooding Pebble Beach sale (also headlined by a Ferrari California Spider) achieved $106 million in total sales, an 88.4 percent sell-through rate, and a total of 23 cars brought a final price of over a million dollars.

Two Ferraris led the sale, with the 1961 California Spider bringing $16,830,000. The one-off Bertone-bodied 250 GT SWB wasn’t far behind at $16,500,000, and was actually more exciting to watch as there was more energy in the room and bids flew in one million dollars at a time. The Le Mans-winning 1982 Porsche 956 was another great one to watch, with two determined bidders fighting it out until a record final price of $10,120,000 was achieved. The 1960 Porsche RS60, meanwhile, was a no-sale on the block at $4.8 million, but has since been reported sold at $5.4 million.

The rest of the top sales were dominated by Ferraris. Even at the sub-million dollar price point, Ferraris brought strong numbers, including a 1961 250 GTE that brought a strong (or excessive, depending on who you ask) $797,500. Many other makes found high prices as well, and this sale again had a characteristically diverse mix of sports cars, racing cars, prewar luxury and modern exotics. The odd-looking but charming Pininfarina-bodied Fiat Eden Roc beach car, which carried no pre-sale estimate (probably because no one could figure out what such a thing could be worth) surprised with a flurry of bids and a final price of $660,000. A very rare Aston Martin DB5 Convertible also brought $1,540,000, and a fantastic 1956 Maserati A6G/2000 Coupe with bespoke period rally equipment brought $1,045,000.

Some of the bigger no-sales this year included a barn-find 1953 Bentley R-Type Continental that was bid to $1,150,000, a 2005 Maserati MC12 race car that was bid to $1,700,000, and a 1964 Porsche 904 race car that was bid to $2,000,000. All in all, this was a remarkably successful sale with several world and company records to its credit.

Top 10:

1. 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider sold for $16,830,000
2. 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Speciale by Bertone sold for $16,500,000
3. 1982 Porsche 956 sold for $10,120,000
4. 1960 Porsche RS60 sold for $5,400,000
5. 1957 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Series II Coupe sold for $5,087,000
6. 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 sold for $3,877,500
7. 1934 Packard Twelve 1108 Sport Sedan sold for $3,630,000
8. 1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast sold for $3,025,000
9. 1966 Ferrari 206 S Dino Spider sold for $2,310,000
10. 1998 Ferrari 3330 SP sold for $2,090,000