Top results from Scottsdale auctions 2014

The first, temperature-taking auctions of the year have been held in Scottsdale, Arizona – and with three of the major auction houses racking up sales of almost $120m between them, the market is showing no sign of slowing. All prices are inclusive of buyer’s premium...

Bonhams - Total sold: $23.6m

With an impressive 89% of lots sold, Bonhams almost doubled its 2013 sale total with over $23.6m taken. As expected, the ex-Caraceni Ferrari 212 and 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C were two of the main contributors, selling for $3.2m and $3.1m, respectively. With several other million-dollar sales achieved, James Knight and co. will be looking to the Rétromobile auction in Paris next month with much anticipation. The five top-selling lots:

1. 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Berlinetta 'The Tailor's Car' - $3,190,000

2. 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Supercharged Gran Sport Spider - $3,080,000

3. 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C - $2,640,000

4. 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Sports Phaeton - $1,430,000

5. 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster with Hardtop - $1,237,500

Gooding & Company - Total sold: $49.5m

David Gooding will no doubt end the weekend a very contented man indeed, with the 94% of lots sold at the Scottsdale Fashion Square leading to a near-$50m sales total. The auction saw 11 new World Records set, including the $6.2m for a Ferrari 250 GT Series 1 Cabriolet, and the $5.3m for the ex-Works McLaren F1 GTR Longtail. Other cars to break model records included a Ferrari 330 GTS ($2,062,500), a Ferrari Dino GT ($473,000), and an Alfa Romeo Montreal ($176,000). The five top-selling lots:

1. 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Series 1 Cabriolet - $6,160,000

2. 1997 McLaren F1 GTR Longtail - $5,280,000 

3. 1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Series I Coupé - $3,300,000

4. 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Coupé Speciale - $2,365,000

5. 1929 Duesenberg Model J Dual Cowl Phaeton - $2,090,000 

RM Auctions - Total sold $45.6m

Among the records set by RM this week was the coveted ‘most expensive car sold in Arizona auction week history’, the result of the $8.8m achieved by the Ferrari 250 GT LWB Cal’ Spider. Other top-sellers included the $2.75m Porsche 718 RS 61 Spyder and the $2.2m Duesenberg Model J ‘Disappearing Top’ Convertible Coupé, but the record $165,000 paid for a 1970 Mercedes SL ‘Pagoda’ also impressed. The five top-selling lots:

1. 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider - $8,800,000 

2. 1961 Porsche 718 RS 61 Spyder - $2,750,000

3. 1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L 'Lusso' - $2,447,500

4. 1930 Duesenberg Model J 'Disappearing Top' Convertible Coupé - $2,200,000

5. 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB - $1,815,000 

Photos: Bonhams, Gooding & Company, RM Auctions

THE QUICK AND THE DEAD

“The Quick and the Dead” is a documentary film that was later released under the title “Champions Forever: The Formula One Drivers”. It was originally released in 1978 and it provides an interesting look into the lives of Formula 1 drivers of the era like Jackie Stewart and François Cevert.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the 90 minute film is being driven around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in a Rolls Royce by Jackie Stewart, the scot explains each sector of the circuit in the matter-of-fact way that only a man like Jackie can.

Good Lord... The remarkable tale of Hesketh Racing

When you succeed to a baronetcy shortly before your fifth birthday and inherit a 3,200-acre estate, complete with its own racecourse, the odd village and Hawksmoor-designed stately home, one's idea of 'normal' must be somewhat different from that of most other people...

Hesketh met a young driver called James Hunt who was struggling to find work

It's little wonder, then, that 22-year-old Lord Alexander Fermor-Hesketh proved entirely amenable when, during a society wedding, he met a kindred spirit called Anthony 'Bubbles' Horsley who suggested he set up (and pay for) a Formula Three racing team in order to give them both something to do at the weekends.

So, in 1972, Hesketh Racing was formed with the large and ebullient Hesketh as 'team principal' and Horsley as its not especially brilliant 'pilota'. The duo quickly attracted a few similarly well-bred kindred spirits - the van driver was Charles Lucas, grandson of the architect of London's Albert Hall; catering was by Tom Benson, a successful Chelsea restaurateur, and Christopher Simon Sykes (later a top society photographer) captured the whole, jolly affair on film.

A fateful meeting

For several months, they travelled Europe's race circuits with great enthusiasm but little actual success. Until, that is, Hesketh met a young driver called James Hunt who was struggling to find work, having established a reputation as a somewhat reckless crasher of racing cars. Other than that, the dashing and mischievous ex-public schoolboy had the perfect credentials for a position with Hesketh Racing - and, in no time at all, he and Horsley had written off both Hesketh's F3 machines.

The team subsequently upgraded to Formula Two and then, reasoning that he was spending so much money in racing's lesser leagues, Hesketh suggested a move to Formula One - which would, surely, be even more fun?

Hesketh's Racing's first F1 outing proper took place at the Monaco Grand Prix with a March. The team chose a Rolls-Royce Corniche and a Porsche Carrera as runarounds to get them to and from the track, with relaxation taking place off-shore on Hesketh's 162-foot yacht Southern Breeze - which was suitably well stocked with champagne and good-looking women.

An unrepeatable upsurge

Oh, how the opposition laughed back at the track, as Hesketh bumbled about in his bespoke white suit and Hunt prepared for the race by being sick as a result of nerves. But Hesketh Racing was taken a bit more seriously when Hunt drove the Surtees to sixth place before retiring with a blown engine. He then scored a point at the French GP, took fourth at the British, third at the Dutch and second in the U.S.

Flushed with success, Hesketh Racing developed its own car, the Hesketh 308, in which Hunt took three third places during the '74 season before going on to his historic victory in the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort to finish the Championship in fourth place.

But, just as the fairytale seemed to have come true, sponsor-free Hesketh Racing ran out of F1-style money. Hunt went off to McLaren and the rest, of course, is history - the sort that can never, ever be repeated.

Photos: Getty/Rex Features

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