Aussie Classics go for Record Prices 20 November 2018 07:47 Rare Spares (0) Share“Everyone’s a winner, baby” goes the refrain in that song from Hot Chocolate, and there were two winners at a recent Lloyd’s classic car auction. Showing that taste and money can combine well, two absolute Australian classic car rarities were sold for two million dollars or more. One of these is possibly amongst the rarest cars the planet has seen, the other a car attached to a name that is synonymous with Australian motorsport. In the early 1970s Ford Australia had produced the world’s fastest four door sedan. The Ford Falcon XY GT-HO Phase III was powered by a 5.8L, 351 cubic inch pushrod V8.Top speed just shy of 230 kph and would see the Phase III reach one hundred kilometers per hour in a then astonishing six and a half seconds. Development was underway on its replacement. Based on the slimmer, sleeker, less angular, XA Falcon, the Phase IV would have been the next chapter in Ford’s already illustrious muscle car history. Prototype cars had been engineered and built, however a media frenzy erupted. In 1972 two journalists had discussed the planned release of the XA Phase IV. A story was printed and this quickly attracted the ire of politicians around the country. Just as quickly as the fire erupted, the program from Ford, with Holden and Chrysler also in similar development situations, was cancelled. Journalist Harvey Grennan, the man said to be the catalyst for the cancellation, says there were four cars built, of which three were Brambles Red in colour were destined for the race track. The other was a production built Calypso Green and the only Phase IV to be fitted with a compliance plate. Extra work was performed on the cars, such as changing the seat material to cloth instead of vinyl, and removing the radios. When the balloon went up, the cars were, as Grennan put it, “…quietly sold out the back door for as little as $3500…”. Two of the red cars were destined for Fred Gibson and Allan Moffat, with the third being a spare. Moffat’s machine was sold to a rally driver and from there to the Bowden family collection. Another was sold to a rally driver, who on-sold it, with that car destroyed in a crash, said Grennan. The third car, and the one sold at Lloyd’s, was bought by collector Paul Carthew in 2000. The Calypso Green road car was sold via Jack Brabham Ford in Sydney, and after a handful of owners has enjoyed a mostly pampered life since the mid 1980s Moffat was in attendance at the auction and was the person that “dropped the hammer” to conclude the bidding, with the Phase IV going for two million dollars. Chief Marketing Officer for Lloyd’s, Brett Mudie, said: “It didn’t surprise me that the car sold for this amount. We were expecting it to smash the last record quite easily, with bidding already at $1.5 million 3 days before the auction. The Phase IV’s limited number, immaculate condition, celebrity affiliation (with links to Fred Gibson and Allan Moffat) along with its chrome bumper all contributed to the car selling at this price and will underpin its value into the future.” The other vehicle sold was born of the factory that was Ford’s biggest rival, and developed by Moffat’s friend and racing sparring partner, Peter Brock. The 1982 HDT VH Commodore was sold for $2.1 million, with its own piece of history being the first car to win the Bathurst 1000 twice in a row. In this car, “Peter Perfect” was King of the Mountain in 1982 and 1983. HDT itself goes back to the 1960s and was a racing arm of Holden put together by Harry Firth. Drivers included Brock, and Colin Bond, with Firth seeing Brock’s potential as a race driver then. In 1979 Brock bought the HDT name and commenced an aftermarket company in 1980 called HDT-SV. Their first road car was based on the VC Commodore, the second model in the relatively new to market Commodore range. One of Brock’s best mates, another Peter and with a surname related to motorsport, Peter Champion, took over the company after Brock’s tragic death in 2006. A wealthy business man in his own right, Champion had put together Australia’s largest collection of Brock cars, including the VH up for auction. Of the car and Brock himself, Champion says: “This result shows that Peter’s legacy lives on, and that people valued him not only as one of the best drivers in motorsport, but as a person.” Champion had put most of the collection up for sale in 2013, with the proviso the cars remain together. The “Champion’s Brock Experience” was relocated to the DreamWorld theme park in Queensland from Champion’s Yeppoon base in 2015, where an anonymous collector bought the cars The queues of people at motorsport events before Brock’s passing are testament to that, as are the immense amount of items signed by the legendary driver.
The Positives and Negatives of Buying at a Classic Car Auction 14 June 2018 06:00 Rare Spares General, Rare Spares (0) ShareIt’s an automotive enthusiast’s dream. Head to an auction that features a list of classic cars, the type that had you gazing at the poster on the wall for hours. Up for grabs is a Lamborghini Countach, perhaps a Tucker Torpedo, maybe even a classic Ford Model T. Niggling away is a question or two. How good will the car be? Why is it being sold? Let’s have a look at some of the ups and downs of buying such a machine at an auction. One immediate positive is that the prospective buyer MAY be the only person looking for a certain car listed. Sure, this easily can be a negative if everyone’s after a Ford Falcon GTHO with three hundred miles on the odometer but if it’s something like a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air in reasonable condition, there’s a better chance of not so many eyes being on it. Many classic cars come with paperwork. This describes the history of the car from the day it was sold at a dealership, its service history in detail, any restoration work, and the canny owner will have had this done by specialists. As a result, the car should be in as close to showroom condition as possible and with as little to spend on top of the final purchase price. Reputable auction houses help behind the scenes by doing their best in ensuring a seller is not selling a dud. As an accepted rule, sellers via reputable auction houses are either known to the auction company through previous transactions, have been thoroughly vetted by investigation, or are a known vehicle investor. The classic car family is a solid and tightly knit network. One particular American gent has made a living from buying and restoring classic cars then selling them at auction. This, as a result, has had him build a great network of people to call for advice and for assistance when required. If car XYZ is missing part LMN then a phone call or email generally has someone somewhere saying “yes, I can help”. This results in being able to source a genuine part, just like Rare Spares offers as a service. However not all diamonds are polished. Although a good auction house will inspect the cars being offered for sale, sometimes human error creeps in and a car listed as 100% genuine may have parts that were hastily cobbled together from less than reputable sources to have it ready in time for sale. Thankfully these happenings are as rare as they can be. Cost at an auction is always the big question. Again, most reputable auction houses will be able to price the car to the market value. There will be a reserve, a minimum asking price, but sometimes that can work against buyers that feel the market is asking too much, or, conversely, can see the expected asking price soar way beyond expectations, leaving buyers frustrated with what could be seen as artificially inflating the value and therefore affecting similar vehicles negatively. Having a good knowledge of cars and the industry certainly won’t be seen as a bad thing. Not all rare cars are desirable and not all classic cars are expensive, so being able to research, shop around for the relative sales price of a car being eyed off will assist when you’re ready to buy. That way, at an auction and knowing what you’re prepared to spend will assist especially if there’s a choice of the car you’re aiming to purchase. Finally, an easily overlooked item: what are you, as a new buyer, going to do with the car itself? Some people are in an envious position to be able to store cars in a properly maintained environment and keep them as an investment. However if you’re looking to be a driver of the car, let’s say a Porsche 356 Speedster, what about: parts, fuel, insurance, the actual drivability of the car? Some classic car owners bring them out for car shows, perhaps a drive day at their local race track, and unfortunately too many are driven there and are trucked away with mechanical issues that weren’t obvious when bought. To use that well worn phrase, however, “at the end of the day” it shouldn’t be forgotten that a buyer of a classic car does so because they’ll ultimately wish to be happy, proud, satisfied, with their purchase. After all, that’s what Rare Spares aims for with our range of parts for Australian classic cars. Let us know your thoughts on what you look for in a classic car and perhaps the good & the bad you’ve experienced at an auction. Keep up to date with our expanding product list at our website and stay in touch via our social media outlets.
Top 5 Australian Auction Car Prices 16 March 2016 09:22 Rare Spares Rare Spares (0) ShareThe theory of supply and demand is Economics 101. A very basic principle that explains the less there is of something, the more people will be willing to pay for it. Think red diamonds, a bottle of 1787 Lafitte, The Mona Lisa. You get the idea. All these kinds of things are incredibly rare and therefore incredibly expensive. Something else that will become not only incredibly rare soon but extinct is the Australian car industry. So it follows that some already very rare Australian cars that that have already fetched some staggering auction prices will increase in value even more. Counting down, the fifth most expensive car to be sold at auction in Australia isn’t actually Australian at all but a 1960 Volkswagen Kombi Samba Microbus, which sold for $202,000 last year, setting a world record for the price paid for a Kombi in the process. One step off the podium in fourth and also selling last year at a charity auction was the very last Ford Falcon GT-F ever to be produced. With the ‘F’ in GT-F standing for ‘Final’, only 500 of these were made but there’s only one with a ‘GT-F (500)’ stamp on it and it went for $236,000. Probably a bargain when you consider the owner of ‘GT-F (001) was offered $500,000! Third most expensive at auction is a vintage Aussie icon in the shape of a 1971 Falcon XY GTHO Phase lll. Sold in 2007 for $683,000, this classic was the record holder for the highest price paid for an Australian muscle car at the time. Not a bad profit when you consider these legends of the road originally sold for $5159.00 That record didn’t last long though because a few months later another Phase lll from the same year went for an even more astounding $750,000! So that brings us to the most expensive car ever to be sold at auction in this country. This record has stood for some time and although it subsequently sold in 2010 for about a third of the record price it fetched in 2008, it still puts the $920,000 paid for the one and only 7.0-litre Holden Monaro HRT 427 as the title holder. Now, $920,000 is a lot of money in anyone’s language, but globally it pales into insignificance for the price paid at auction in 2014 for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO. It went for an eye-watering US$38,115,000! A smidge over $51 Million Aussie dollars at today’s rate. Kind of makes the HRT 427 look like a steal!