This past year has forced big changes in car auctions across the globe. Long gone are the days of carefully clutching your cup of tea as you battle through the crowds in a repurposed cow shed; now everything is moving online into a fully remote, click-and-collect experience.
Even the slick, well-oiled likes of RM Sotheby’s and their record breaking classic sales have had to repurpose themselves for this socially distanced marketplace. Their new “Open Roads” sales run throughout the year and operate entirely online. No viewing days, no bidding on the phone and no rifling through the service history folders trying to sniff out the stories. Is this a good or bad thing? Well, in the past year alone they’ve taken over $10million under their new e-hammer, so it’s clearly working okay for them.
To experience it from the buyer’s perspective, though, we followed this February sale closely. We had our eyes on a couple of the lots (it will come as no surprise to our followers that the Coupe and 33 piqued our interest!) so got to test all aspects out. We report our findings below but, first things first, let’s look at a selection of the Italian metal that lit up our screens.
1978 Fiat 900T “Garage Francorchamps” Service Van
It’s not every day that you see a clattered old Fiat van, complete with rusty craters in the panels, being sold in the same sale as a Ferrari 250, but I suppose this isn’t just any old van. A support vehicle for the famed Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps race team and Ferrari importer, it was presented in (clearly!) unrestored condition and complete with its original hand painted livery largely intact.
The documentation in the buyers section included further pics of it abandoned in the corner of a Ferrari workshop, panels carelessly dumped on top of it, where it had sat since 1988. Charming, and a lovely bit of provenance, but a curio for the dedicated and deep-pocketed Ferrari collector more than anything else.
1987 Maserati Biturbo Si Black
Built towards the end of the Biturbo’s lifespan, the Si Black was a special edition with, records suggest, only 105 examples ever sold. No mechanical enhancements over a standard Biturbo Si were included, but the unique black-over-grey paintwork does look rather fetching. This survivor had covered just 35k kilometres from new and was listed as an original, unrestored example.
The condition report made it sound like a presentable car, but with a few issues a fastidious owner would definitely want to sort; sagging headlining, the front bumper had had some paint, the body had a few dings and scrapes and there was a brake vibration noted on the road. Even with this in mind, this seemed like a bit of a steal when bidding ended late Friday afternoon.
1967 Lancia Flavia Vignale
This was something pretty special, we thought. A UK supplied from new, Vignale-bodied Flavia convertible with a factory supplied hardtop. One of only 40 models built to RHD specification, this had remained in the UK until relatively recently, but was being sold from its current home in a German collection. It had been restored back in 1999 and was described, quaintly, as “a lovely driver” (I did picture Arthur Daly typing this blurb out!).
There was no condition report on this lot and, oddly, not as many photographs. The car is, however, pretty well known in Lancia circles having been featured in Auto Italia magazine a few years back. Unless something drastic has happened to its condition since leaving the UK, the estimate seemed more than reasonable.
Which is why I was surprised when it really struggled to get near the lower figure. As the auction drew to a close, it continued to creep up bit by bit but never managed to get a head of steam up and reach a fair price. What a bargain!
Estimate - €30,000 - €35,000
Hammer Price - €27,000
1994 Lancia Hyena Zagato
It doesn’t really matter where you stand on the Hyena divide (is it a bastardised integrale Evo, or a leftfield design masterpiece?), they are an incredibly rare sight. Although there were initially plans to sell up to 500 of them, only 24 were ever actually finished. This was number 14 off the production line and was being sold with less than 9k kilometres and a stack of interesting history.
It was handed over to its first owner in Germany by both Elio and Gianni Zagato themselves, who signed the rear wings where, ordinarily there would be a Hyena badge. It ranked as “excellent” in pretty much every area covered by the inspection, although flaking and some minor corrosion to the striking Verde Zagato paint was mentioned. A genuine piece of history I imagine it would be almost impossible to replace, so surprised nobody could find a new home for it.
1974 Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti Bimotore
The maddest entry in the sale by some margin. A prototype for an insane point-to-point rallier that sadly never came to fruition. There were some great period photos in the document file of its 4x4 transmission being tested in knee-high snow, but in reality this twin-engined ‘Sud never actually turned a wheel in anger in any competition. In fact, it has never been road registered either.
A semi-hand-built Alfasud Ti, with no raving pedigree and an extra 1200cc engine shoehorned in where the back seats should be is something of a niche prospect, surely? The estimate here always seemed on the optimistic side to us, but the inspection did suggest it was in very good condition - although the engine bay(s) were described as a bit tatty.
It fell quite far short of its reserve (they’re now asking €85,000 outside of the auction), but we think had it actually competed in period, eligibility for historic events would have catapulted this ‘Sud oddity into another realm.
1995 Fiat Coupe 2.0 16v Turbo
This was the car that popped out of the catalogue for us. As lifelong devotees to the Coupe, we’d have been interested in this lot just because it was a Blitz Blue 16VT with leather interior. But, throw in the fact that it had covered under 2,000 kilometres after spending most of its life seized by the Italian government and you’ve got our undivided attention. A brilliant story which probably makes this car almost unique?
There was practically no paperwork to check with this one, so we had to read between the lines of the inspection. Annoyingly, the paint was not original - the inspector noted that it had been repainted (presumably because of damage whilst under cover during its internment?) to “look very shiny” and there was overspray on the fuel cap and rubber trims. We took this as a slightly guarded way of saying it had been given a quick blow over before the sale. Badly delaminated glass and dried leather further pointed towards a pretty hard life left out in the blazing Italian sun somewhere.
Slightly under the lower estimate but by the time we'd added VAT and various importing costs, this just wasn’t feasible for us. But who knows if we’ll ever see another Coupe like this?
2003 Alfa Romeo 147 GTA
Another model you might not expect to find sharing the rarefied air of a Lamborghini Countach or a Ferrari 330, but, hey, we love these little hooligan hatches so we’re not complaining. We’re not all that clued up on the market for these in Italy, but the massive estimate did make us wince from a UK perspective. Yes, the car has covered just 20k miles and was still in its original paint…but, wow!
The hammer price was easily 2-3 times what a similar condition RHD 147 GTA might expect to fetch on these shores. The inspection report suggested it was in excellent condition throughout, but there was no discernible service history so its new owner would have to budget for a new timing belt immediately. Whether this was an outlier in terms of price or LHD GTA’s are actually worth this much, we’re not sure, but this was a big surprise for us.
1968 Ferrari 330 GTC
The successor to the 250 GT, the 330 has always been one of my absolute heroes. Pristine proportions and a front-end which the Fiat 124 emulated on a budget, I think these might just be even prettier than the famed 250. The GTC shared the same engine as a “lowly” 330 GT (namely the Colombo V12) but swung the gearbox round to a transverse position for improved weight balance.
Sold new by Italcar S.p.A (no relation) this beauty was originally finished in silver and got repainted when it moved to Switzerland. It’s certainly not lead a cosseted life, having been shipped halfway around the world to the Middle East in the late 00’s, running a gearbox from the later 365 GTC (although the engine is the original lump) and covered over 100k kilometres. This is probably as “usable” as far as any Ferrari 330 could ever be considered usable.
1976 Ferarri 308 GTB ‘Vetroresina’
The Italian language makes the most mundane of words sounds seductively alluring, desn’t it? Sedicivalvole (sixteen-valves), testarossa (red-head) and, here, vetroresina (fibreglass). The 308 GTB was originally intended to be built with an entirely plastic body but at some point after the first 700-or so were finished, they suddenly reverted to a tried-and-tested steel fabrication.
This change increased the bulk of the car by around 15%, which the 2.9-litre V8’s modest 227bhp certainly felt. Apparently, the ‘Vetroresina’ models are the purists way to experience a 308 so these early versions carry a massive premium. This seemed like a superb example. Two owners from new, 100% original, completely unrestored and just 32k miles on the speedo. This didn’t actually look a bad price compared to other ‘Vetroresinas” we’ve seen.
1984 Alfa Romeo GTV6 Autodelta
An Autodelta prepared GTV6 which had been campaigned by well-known Alfa rally pilot, Maurizio Iacoangeli between 1984 and 1987. Very little documentation of what the tuning wizards actually did to it (the dual caliper front brakes were a telltale sign they’d breathed on it) but there was a 1983 receipt from them for around £1000 in today’s money. £1000 for a bone-fide Autodelta build! Oh for a time machine, hey?
A limited market for it perhaps, but this was a stylish passport into a number of great historic rallies and events. We think this was a smart buy at the hammer price - think about what you’d have to pay for an Autodelta prepped 105? This will deliver someone a healthy return over the next ten years or so, particularly if it gets a few runs at Goodwood under its belt.
1988 Alfa Romeo 33 1.5 4x4 Sportwagon
I normally preface any mention of the 33 on these pages with the caveat that the other side of italicar (Luke) is the expert. They are very much his thing and, for my money, I’d take a 155 any day of the week. However, even I can see the massive appeal of this particularly rare 1.5 4x4 Sportwagon. I prefer the Giardinetta nomenclature of the series-1 estate, but I’m splitting hairs here.
Absolutely nothing in the way of service history or documentation was provided in the backend for bidders, but the condition report suggested it was a very good, honest car which had covered under 30k miles. It had been painted before the sale and it was rated as simply “good” by the inspector, but the rest of it sounded pleasingly untouched. This had a big italicar ring around it in the catalogue.
Again, I think the price it reached was reasonable but just not affordable enough to import into the UK once the extras had been added on.
1965 Fiat 1500 Spider
There was very little info provided on this. Which is odd, because the 1500 Spider has such a unique place in the history of Italian motoring. Fiat had decided that the original 1200 Spider with its 1221cc OHV engine was lacking in power, so approached a certain Ernesto Maserati (then of OSCA) to develop the engine from their MT4 racecar to give their pretty little sportscar some more oomph.
Fewer than 1000 of these OSCA-engined 1500 Spiders were ever produced and many have been subsequently lost due to the value of the engines for the racecars. This thing looked pretty much perfect to us - helped by residing on the Miami coast, no doubt. We’ve seen a couple of other OSCA-engined Spiders go through UK based sales that approached the hammer price of this one, but didn’t look a patch on its condition. An italicar approved good buy, this one.
1984 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 S
This is surely one of the few cars that can genuinely claim to be an icon outside of the petrolhead world. While this might not have been one of the early “low body” Countaches, it’s still hard for boys of a certain age not to picture Farrah Fawcett’s bouncy locks flowing out of those gullwing doors, isn’t it? Looking at what the car finally made, I think some of this fantasy must have affected the bidders’ common sense.
It was specified in the catalogue that it had not moved out of storage since 2004 and was being offered as a restoration project. The condition report went into more wallet-worrying detail; the paintwork, glass and engine bay had suffered from years of being sat up, despite its low mileage of sub-30k. The interior, conversely, scored pretty highly. By the time this Countach is roadworthy again, let along show-ready, this is going to owe someone an absolutely huge sum. When road-ready LP5000’s can be bought from respected classic dealers at not much more than this, the final bid seemed astronomically high to us.
Estimate - $125,000 - $150,000
Hammer Price - $255,000
1958 Fiat 1200 TV Spider
The precursor to the Fiat 1500 as featured earlier in the sale, the dinky little 1200 TV (standing for Turismo Veloce - fast tourer) Spider was itself a lightly modified 1100 with the larger displacement engine. They feature a quirky little design feature of swivelling seats to make getting in and out of the restrictive cabin a little easier, and more ladylike for the sort of belladonna stylish enough to drive one.
Some money had clearly been spent on this over the past few years and it looked absolutely stunning in the photos. Again, like the 1500, this was definitely on the keener-priced end of the auction. When half-decent 124 Spider CS’s are now regularly fetching £20k, £21,500 (plus auction fees, etc) for this stunning 1200 TV sounds like a bargain.
1962 Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 Series II
Two things I never want to see combined in another auction catalogue are “1968 Ferrari 250 GTE” and the phrase “Hot Rod”, as this particular lot was publicised. Luckily, my fears of red flames down that Pininfarina coachwork and a big-block Chevy lump exploding from the sleek bonnet were unfounded. Actually, this was a somewhat mildly breathed upon classic.
Mild in terms of modification, but absolutely bloody extreme in terms of budget. Previously owned by Jay Kay, its current owner had had the engine replaced with a Joe Macari tuned 320-hp, 370lb-ft version of the Colombo-V12 - and shelled out over £200,000 for the privilege. Lots of other bits had been c̶o̶n̶s̶e̶c̶r̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ adapted to facilitate this including fuel lines, fuel pumps, custom-fabricated heat shields to protect the newly configured fuel system, a competition-spec flywheel, AP competition clutch, high-torque starter, 70-amp alternator, oil cooler, a larger radiator with multifunction electric fans for improved cooling, and, lastly, a custom sports exhaust system.
Who said the Max Power generation has died? The perfect car to cruise through a McDonald’s drive-thru and boast to Barry about the 5bhp power increase from the K&N she’s got under the bonnet.
So, what did we make of our first ‘Open Roads’ sale? Well, we didn’t buy anything and not one of these beautiful Italian cars will be heading our way, so therefore we think it was an absolute travesty! But no, seriously, it was an odd experience overall but certainly not without its positives.
Even though the website is a very polished affair, and navigating through the lots is effortlessly intuitive (we particularly appreciate being able to filter down to only Italian cars, for example) there’s still something completely cold and lifeless about weighing up the lots with no opportunity of seeing them in the metal. Particularly some of the really heavy metal, like the Ferraris, which would normally be pride of place in a viewing marquee and a hushed reverence falling around them. Now it’s just swiping randomly through some odd sort of automotive version of Tinder, squinting at jpegs to spot little defects.
Where we think RM Sotheby’s did excel, though, is in the online portal for the documentation in general, and the condition reports in particular. Some were worryingly vague but most appeared to be reassuringly transparent and in-depth. Taking the Coupe 16VT as the perfect example, we were ready to fall in love with this potential museum piece and lose our minds in the bidding…until we read the inspector’s notes on the overspray around the rubbers and the fuel cap. Our hearts sank, sure, but that deflating realism could just have saved us a lot of money.
The biggest downfall, however, is another big change brought in by recent world events. Suddenly having to factor in import taxes and VAT duty post-Brexit made pricing the lots up a real headache. One we’ll definitely spend more time calculating before the next Open Roads sale. Which is actually just a few more weeks away in March.
We’ll see (virtually, of course) you again then!