The 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance wrapped up this past weekend and even though sales topped $327 million (higher than experts estimated), it still fell short of last year’s sales stats. They only fell 3% below last year’s sales, which everyone is very excited about as predictions the week prior showed much lower numbers.
Despite the overall sales numbers being down, the sell-through rate of 58% and the median sale price being $88,000 equaled the 2016 statistics.
The reason the sales were so good was due to some really high earning vehicles. A 1956 Aston Martin DBR1 sold for $22.5 million during the RM Sotheby’s auction. According to Aston Martin experts, this DBR1 is the most important Aston Martin in existence. It is the first of five racing cars that won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans and is now the most expensive British sports car ever auctioned. Out of the five DBR1 race cars, this is the first in the series and the only one ever offered to the public.
Other major earners were a 1995 McLaren F1 Coupe that brought in $15.6 million, and two Ferraris. The top Ferrari was a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C that pulled in $14.5 million and the other, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB, was auctioned off for $8.3 million.
A movie star also crossed the auction block. A 1970 Porsche 917K that was featured in the Steve McQueen’s film Le Mans was auctioned off for $14 million. That’s almost $9 million more than what the movie brought in at the box office!
Other notable sales included a 1959 Aston Martin DB4GT Prototype Coupe that sold for $6.7 million and a 1958 BMW 507 Series II pulled in $2.75 million.
These huge sales numbers helped the event make the 327 million dollar mark, but it was really the vehicles around $250,000 to 500,000 that did the heavy lifting. It was this price range of vehicles that had the strongest performance over the weekend.
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is known as the go-to location if you are looking for the best of the best in classic, vintage and antique automobiles. If you ever get a chance to attend the show, we highly suggest you take the opportunity and go!