Goodings at Hampton Court September 1st 2023
Gooding & Company returned to the Hampton Court Concours event again this year and Charlie Ross was at his theatrical best on the rostrum but the results were not so plentiful as 2022.
A sales rate of just 55% compared with nearly 80% last year will make them think. This year the sale was on Friday not Saturday – a wet morning may have dampened attendance then perhaps it was the rail strike or nose to tail traffic on the M25. The crowds were not there and as the seated audience thinned out, they were not replaced. Last year the Gooding’s team had a rich choice to entice into the marquee with popcorn and a resident comedian in Charlie, but a sparser attendance meant the atmosphere lacked something.
And I think it reflected in a little impatience in Charlie, tired of having to accept low bid increments, he seemed to pass on some of the lots without a fight.
But when several lots run into seven figures, there was a healthy profit for Gooding – an early star was a Mercedes 300SL which was “sold” heavily from the rostrum and saw them beat the top estimate with a winning bid of £1,600,000 (£1,890,000 with premium).
But as we have observed before, there often remains too big a gap between Seller expectation and Buyer perception. That was reflected in the very next lot to the Mercedes, a 1955 FIAT 8V Berlinetta with cracking provenance and multiple entries in the Mille Miglia – although she was bid enthusiastically to £1.15 million, she was £350,000 short of bottom estimate.
We are sorry to say that the same level of shortfall applied to a very special DB2/4 “Indiana” Spider’s bottom estimate when she was bid to a creditable £850,000 and failed to sell. And considering Aston Martin’s outstanding performance at Zandvoort last weekend, the £165,000 bid for the 1922 Grand Prix car was a disappointing £90,000 short of bottom estimate.
Very late in the sale and to an almost empty room, a fine 1965 DB5 Convertible was also bid to £850,000, closer to its £1 million bottom estimate but remained in the “Available” listing on Gooding’s website.
The sale was good in parts and there were people there possibly bidding on cars (and motorbikes) that they hadn’t come to buy but were tempted by value – and some of the entries proved exceptional value. It will be interesting to see how the Goodwood Revival Sale compares – watch this space!
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s8K5LPBwVhBjsnZWziyVa-J24KMFAOzS/view?usp=sharing
