Classic car auction of a Porsche Type 64 ends in farce

Chris Carter looks at what the botched sale of a 1939 Porsche Type 64 tells us about the classic car business.

The only surviving 1939 Porsche Type 64 © Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby's

(Image credit: The only surviving 1939 Porsche Type 64 © Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby's)

"Forty million 40 million thank you. 40 million dollars at 40 at 500,000, 40 million 500,000. Now it is at 40 million five. Forty 50 million dollars!" The audience oohed and ahhed as Dutch auctioneer Maarten ten Holder called out the numbers. "Fifty million 500,000 now, 50 million five now, 60 million. At 60 million dollars" "Wow," cooed a man in the crowd. "Oh my God." The numbers on the giant screen flipped higher and higher. "Sixty million, 500,000 70 million." "What the heck?" The audience was in disbelief. They were witnessing the sale of the most expensive car in the world or at least they thought they were. Then came the farce. "At 17 million" The auctioneer turned to the phone bank. "It's 17, guys. It's a bit exciting to write seven zero. It might be my pronunciation." A woman groaned. "We're at 17 million dollars" The screen shows $17m (£14m). The crowd booed. People walked out of the room. So went the failed auction of a car (it didn't reach its reserve price) that was already controversial before it went under the hammer at RM Sotheby's in California last month.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

You can follow Chris on Instagram.