Look back at this past year’s auction deals and duds with the Classic Car Yearbook

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The yearbook photo — it’s a rite of passage everyone goes through. A quick snapshot in time that’s looked back on for decades with fond nostalgia and, usually, embarrassment. And while the cars in the ‘Classic Car Auction Yearbook’ are often stunning, their prices are always viewed critically…

In this year’s Classic Car Auction Yearbook, the 22nd edition, co-authors and automotive historians Adolfo Orsi Jr and Raffaele Gazzi have provided a concise snapshot of this past year’s auction results. And while 416 pages may not typically be considered succinct, with over 5,500 cars offered from 1 September 2016 to 31 August 2017, the yearbook has all the market information you’ll need.

Biggest transformation

While 75% of lots were sold this year — the third highest value ever — overall sales were down by 10%, with a total of 1.86bn US dollars’ worth of cars sold. This, along with the fact that 412 more lots were offered without reserve compared to last year’s 1,049 — that’s a 21% percent increase — shows that while slightly declining, the market is further solidifying itself as a healthy and stable buyers’ one.

Most likely to succeed

The highlight of the year was RM Sotheby’s 1956 Aston Martin DBR1, which sold for 22.550m US dollars at its Monterey sale in August, nudging Artcurial off the podium (and even out of the top 10) for the most expensive car sold of the year. While an Aston Martin may have topped the sales list, Ferrari was the most popular marque sold — as it has been for the past 10-plus years. This is just a glimpse into the pages of this historical reference, with statistics on each marque, descriptions of the top 10 with a case study, the top 20 cars from the last 24 years, and so much more also included.

Available just in time for Christmas, the Classic Car Auction Yearbook, published by Historica Selecta and sponsored by Credit Suisse, is excellent market reading material during the holiday lull, before the market ramps up again in January.