Light, camera, auction... A couple of weeks ago, the model car collection from the estate of famed movie director John Frankenheimer was auctioned off on-line. I had read an article in Hemmings newsletter a week or so before, but had forgotten about it until the first day of the three day auction rolled around and a reminder popped up. I figured what the heck, I would go on-line and see what interesting things turned up. I was surprised at how low most items were selling for. Frankenheimer did not buy low-end models, so I couldn't resist joining in on the action. The 1,800 or so models in his collection were all high-end hand builts, or kits he had some of the top builders at the time build for him. I say at the time, because he died in 2002, so the models have been sitting for some time. I would assume they were kept in cases like those pictured below, until his estate was ready to liquidate them and called upon the auction company (Los Angeles Estate Auctions) to sell it off. My impressions of the auction are further below.
As I mentioned, prices were low, with very few items selling for more than $100 USD. The provenance of having come from Frankenheimer's collection didn't seem to attach any premium to prices realized. Maybe younger bidders didn't see Grand Prix, Ronan, Machurian Candidate, Birdman of Alcatraz or some of his other famous movies.
Most were in the $35-$50 USD range, which I thought was pretty good for the models being sold. Mind you, some were missing parts, or needed repairs, all needed a general cleaning. I can't help but think some of the damage occurred in handling before and during the auction. Over the course of the three days of the auction, I bought eighteen models ranging from $8 to $90 including auction fees, my average was just over $48 USD per model with shipping. So what did I get? Here are some group shots with a brief description of what is in each image. Over time as I clean and do any repairs (fortunately few), these models will show up here on the forum. These images are of the models just after I unpacked them.
1. 1950 Fordson 5 CWT Van (blue)– Sommerville
2. 1955 Ferrari 375 America Coupe (dark green/red) – BBR
3. 1956 Ferrari 410 Super America (blue/white)– Unknown
4. 1962 Ferrari GTO (blue/white) #17 – Le Mans ‘62, NART – AMR/ Nostalgia One
5. 1965 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 (blue) - BBR
6. 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe (red/white) #59 – Le Mans ‘64, Scuderia Filipinetti – SMTS
7. 1934 Jaguar SS1 Airline Coupe – (brown/black) – Motorkits
8. 1936 MG SA Tickford (gray/lt. gray) – Abingdon Classics
9. 1954 Ferrari 375 MM (red) #1 – Carrera Panamericana ‘54– BBR
10. 1963 Ferrari 250 GT SWB ‘Drogo’ (red) #59 – E. Francorchamps, Nurburgring – BBR
11. 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4C (red/white/blue) #75 – Le Mans ’72, Pozzi – Provence Moulage
12. 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4C (red) #37 – Le Mans ’72, Maranello Con. – Provence Moulage
13. 1978 Ferrari 512 BB LM (red/white) #88 – Le Mans ’78, Pozzi – AMR/Lockwood built
14. 1949 Ferrari 166 Farina (red) – M.C.M./C. Gouel
15. 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Zagato (red) #154 - Modena Coppa d'Oro – Jielge
16. 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa prototype (red) #16 – GP Venezuela ‘57 – Precision Minatures USA
17. 1970 Ferrari 512 S (red) #8 – Le Mans ’70, Ferrari – Autostile
18. 1965 Ferrari 365 P2 (red/white) #19 – Le Mans ’65, Filipinetti - Tenariv
Merry Christmas to me!
Here are some thoughts and observations about this auction and auctions in general. Perhaps this will help some when either selecting an auction company and/or bidding.
First and foremost, it was clear this auction company did not know much if anything about the models on offer. Descriptions of models were horrible and their pictures were all over the place in terms of quality and sometimes clarity. It was obvious that when they started out, whomever was doing the photography started out taking better quality pictures, but probably due to the sheer size of the lots, that became more of a 'get it done as quickly as you can' task. So, you really had to be careful when looking at images to make sure you knew what you were bidding on and getting. The pre-auction estimates on each lot were $100-$300. One can only wonder where they pulled those figures from? Not having better descriptions about the rarity, was it a factory build?, race where applicable hurt the bidding. I know there were some items I was hesitant or did not bid on because I was not familiar with the maker of the model. In some cases, they didn't even get the maker right.
One thing I did like was that you could bid to a maximum value (like eBay) and the auction software told you what the maximum would be with auction fee. This allowed one not to have to be on the live auction (although some excellent deals were picked up by bidding live). Some models I was interested in sold for more than my maximum and in a couple of cases, I set my maximum higher than I should have. Auction fever is a dangerous thing! Their auction premium was in line with other auctions like Vectis, etc., but as with any auction, you really don't know what the shipping costs will be until the auction is over. Past experience with Vectis and others in the UK is that shipping is very expensive. I can say that they do pack things very well and the extra expense can produce dividends in models arriving in perfect condition. The auction company here uses a third party packer and shipper, which was kind of a crap shoot. It turns out it was a UPS Store.
While the price was reasonable, even if it did come out to $20 more than first quoted, their model packing experience was as lacking as the auction companies experience of the models. Talking with a friend who also bid on the auction, I fared better in the shipping damage than he did. His also had to be shipped three times farther than mine. My package was a tale of two or three packers. Almost half of the models were carefully wrapped in tissue, then placed inside a plastic bag surrounded by bubble wrap and then carefully arranged inside the box. The other half was a mixed bag of putting in plastic bags and tightly bubble wrapping, to just being tightly bubble wrapped. This resulted in some minor damage such as windscreen wipers coming off, or loose trim. The worst for wear was the Ferrari 512 BB which was complete, but wrapped so tightly and stuffed into the box that it has a great deal of repair. Fortunately, everything was there and can all be reattached. Knowing and understanding the experience level of auction house and/or shipper in the subject matter ahead of time is critical. Lesson learned, fortunately not at great cost!
Other than the article in Hemmings, I did not see anything about this auction in other on-line or print publications directed at collectors. Not having the expertise or ability to adequately promote the auction, let alone the lots themselves, I believe seriously affected prices realized on the lots. Not a bad thing for the buyers, but I wonder what they had sold the estate on their ability, assuming the estate cared. The on-line portion I watched went pretty fast, it had to given the number of lots, but was struck that there were a only handful of bidders (based on their reoccurring bidder number) actively bidding on most lots. I expect many will show up on eBay if they haven't already. As we get older and start thinking about how to liquidate all or part of a collection and auctions for automobilia of all types continue to multiply; it made me realize if I chose this route, who I chose to do it needs to be properly vetted along these lines.
Finally, what you see isn't always what you get. During a part of the live auction I was watching, the portion of the Frankenheimer collection devoted to Matchbox Model of Yesteryear didn't draw many if any bidders with most lots unsold. It was a bit of a yawn because I assume many bidders including me were not interested. Close on the heels of this part of the auction was a large collection of Sommerville Fordson vans, again being auctioned at a lightning pace. Like the MOY, I think he had collected everyone. Not really interested, I half watched while doing something else as they either No Sold or went for $10 or so. When one with early 1950's Castrol livery came up, I thought I could use it in a diorama and it sold to me for about $15 USD. When it arrived and I unpacked it, instead of BRG and Castrol, its light blue and in fish monger livery. What? Assuming the auction company made a mistake and sent the wrong model, I went back looking at listings and sure enough, the description did not match the picture. I haven't heard back from the auction company if perhaps they still have the model shown, but fortunately it was a valuable lesson learned at minimal cost, carefully read the descriptions. Now, to get to work on some models!
