Prior to the November 21 sale RM Auctions and Sotheby's rolled out a massive pr-campaign for their first New York auction. Clever thought to jump in the timelapse between Pebbles and Amelia. Superb central Manhattan location, First class cars, High end valuations. And then pray and wait hoping the bidders won't sit on their hands. Well that's not the way they work at RM. They want full buyers attention and their hands high up in the sky.
So as a last brilliant set-up to have the buying collectors on their side, they invited six classic car celebs: Sam Mann, 'professional' Best of Show winner at Pebble Beach; Miles Collier, massive automobilia and car collector; Peter Mullin, collector of Bugattis and Museums; Moray Callum, car designer at Ford Motor Company; Michael Furman, car catalogue photographer; and finally Leslie Keno, american furniture (?) specialist of Sotheby's.
These guys had to explain to the crowd of 700 that some cars are not meant for transportation but should be pinned at the wall in a museum. Which is true to a certain degree and this assumption also will help high end auction prizes get nearer to the prices of commonly accepted for high end contemporary art. In terms of weight/price ratio the Art of the Automobile is still very cheap compared to that of paintings. But instead of bantering for ever on this expert symposium, we think that it is a great idea to have a meet & greet and char with independent experts prior ot any car auction. It will help prevent buyer remorse and help true collector gems to get more into the light.
(photo courtesy RM Auctions - Sotheby's , pre sales Symposium and New York Sales Results)