Coys of Kensington Insolvency | FerrariChat

Coys of Kensington Insolvency

Discussion in 'Vintage Ferrari Market' started by Marcel Massini, Apr 23, 2020.

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  1. Marcel Massini

    Marcel Massini Two Time F1 World Champ
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  2. 275gtb6c

    275gtb6c Formula 3
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    Gee, how is this possible? Not supported by the British government. Or pre-Corona misery?

    Ciao
    Oscar
     
  3. Jack-the-lad

    Jack-the-lad Six Time F1 World Champ
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    Isn’t this the second time for them?
     
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  4. 375+

    375+ F1 World Champ
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    ish?
     
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  5. wolfchen75

    wolfchen75 Karting

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    terrible but perhaps not the last classic dealer to go bust ?
     
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  6. Nembo1777

    Nembo1777 F1 World Champ
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    #6 Nembo1777, Apr 29, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2020
    True story: Monaco auction preview 2012, I was looking at the ex Lord Bamford Khamsin and just when I saw there was a bird's nest in the engine bay -I kid you not, great cleaning work chaps!- the O letter of the Coys sign behind me fell on me and I had not touched it. Thankfully it was in styrofoam....Basil Fawlty would have been proud.
    Did one of their directors not get led away in handcuffs at their Essen auction last year? Enough said.
     
  7. Ozeskiman

    Ozeskiman Karting

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    This is the 2nd time. First was around 2000 I recall. Then they restarted from a small mews showroom somewhere strings Knightsford. I went there to look at a California Spider they had for sale. Around 300,000 pounds at the time. Could've done, should've done. Isn't hindsight wonderful.
     
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  8. Ozeskiman

    Ozeskiman Karting

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    That should read Kighstbridge.
     
  9. Ferrari 308 GTB

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    Knightsbridge
     
  10. Daytonafan

    Daytonafan F1 Rookie

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    They have (had) a terrible reputation in the UK so much so there is a group on Zuckerburg's empire dedicated to people who have had problems dealing with them.
     
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  11. italiancars

    italiancars F1 Rookie

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    I could be wrong, but didn’t Coys conduct the 1st Auction in conjunction with Ferrari in Maranello that turned out to be a disaster? RM then took over after that?
     
  12. 375+

    375+ F1 World Champ
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    Not Coys but Sotheby's. It was originally scheduled to take place in May between the Mille Miglia and the GP of Monaco. The Ferrari Classiche program was in its infancy and the factory wanted to establish Classiche as the gold standard. Every car in the auction had to be Classiche certified, but the factory lagged in completing the process. With typical arrogance they delayed the sale until every car could be certified to their satisfaction. Frankly they(Ferrari) didn't know what they were doing.
     
  13. italiancars

    italiancars F1 Rookie

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    that was back when Ferrari still controlled Maserati, I had arranged the sale of the Costin Coupe from Alfredo Brener to Classic Coach Collection as it was sitting in the Maserati SpA showroom in Modena. There apparently was some “encouragement” from the powers that be to enter the Costin Coupe in the auction.

    About a week before the auction I received a frantic call they needed to know how the car got into Italy from Germany when Brener purchased the car from Rosso Bianco. A phone call later, it turns out that SpA themselves had arranged to bring the car into Italy for restoration of the back to original road spec.

    Like many of the other cars in that auction the Costin was a No Sale.
     
  14. Timmmmmmmmmmy

    Timmmmmmmmmmy F1 Rookie

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    Charles Howards fascinating book "an Autobiography" discusses how he bought Coys, an antique dealership and later turned it into a classic car dealers in the early 1970s IIRC. Later Howard partnered with Terry Cohn and business went great until Terrys accounting skills were found lacking. Coys finally got sold to a Jeffrey Pattinson in the 1990s and after he left in 2003 promptly went belly up with many sellers losing their cars and money as unsecured creditors. Coys spent years rebuilding their reputation but in recent years kept offering the same cars, always declared sold for record amounts, at each auction. Its sad since most of the English car dealers got their start at Coys in the classic days, think Fisken, Kidston and Bradfield and for thirty years they were leaders in their field.
     
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  15. Jack-the-lad

    Jack-the-lad Six Time F1 World Champ
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    According to the article the Calleri family “purchased the name, trademark and assets.....”. How could the name possibly have any goodwill value? If anything it has come to symbolize some of the most unsavory aspects of classic car auctions. I wish them well, but it seems they’re starting with a handicap.
     
  16. Marcel Massini

    Marcel Massini Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Did you say "leaders"?
    Think you meant to write "losers".
    No sane person would take these people serious.
    My 2 cents and personal opinion.

    Marcel Massini
     
  17. ROADRUNNER3

    ROADRUNNER3 Formula Junior

    Sep 11, 2004
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    I agree totally, and a great shame to see the British Classic Car press posting positive press releases about the relaunch, presumably mindful of possible future advertising revenue. A great many people have suffered losses at the hands of this wretched company.
     
  18. stevewak

    stevewak Karting

    Jul 31, 2006
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    Press release 14 January 2021

    Acquisition of international auction house announced


    Coys of Kensington, a name synonymous with the classic car scene for many decades, has been purchased by the family office of the Calleri family, run by Richard Calleri and advised by his father Antonio Calleri.

    The business, one of the best-known dealers and international classic car auction houses in the world, has been restructured and fully recapitalised, to provide a more streamlined and customer-orientated service to global classic car enthusiasts, with full financial backing. It is the first time that the company has had a complete change in ownership and overhaul since the 1990s.

    The Calleri family, who are lifelong classic car enthusiasts and run a worldwide geological services company, have partnered with Nick Wells, formerly a consultant to Coys. Nick, as part owner, has taken on the position of Managing Director and has assembled a team of car experts and enthusiasts.

    Richard Calleri commented: “We are delighted to be working with Nick and his team in relaunching this world-recognised 102-year-old classic car business.” He added: “Thanks to Nick’s proven experience and professionalism, planned new service offerings and fully transparent sales processes, Coys will bring new sources of value to buyers and sellers of classic cars and propel the auction house into the next stage of its development.”

    Nick Wells added: “I am pleased to secure the future of Coys within an industry which has never failed to be a privilege to be involved with over the years. With over 100 years of history, Coys remains front of mind in the classic car world, and always garners huge affection from enthusiasts and collectors alike.

    “The way we conduct our business is vital; we are impartial sales agents with simple and transparent processes linked to ring-fenced client bank accounts. We are also setting up a formal executive board and an additional advisory board of directors drawn from across the world of classic cars. They will provide additional guidance on the development of the business, share their market knowledge, assist with strategic alliances and new product launches as well as provide day-to-day senior counsel to the management team.

    Coys’ famous showroom in Richmond is currently being completely refurbished and will reopen early in the New Year to visitors. The newly relaunched Coys will initially concentrate on private sales, brokerage services and valuations and already has a full 2021 calendar of auctions and events.

    Nick added: “Coys has always been known for its auctions throughout the year and the locations in which they are held. We will be announcing our auction and event calendar shortly, both for the UK and Europe. We are looking at both frequency and the quality of what we offer and will be bringing to the market a number of new ideas and locations that will provide new experiences that we hope will attract a much wider audience to the brand.”
     
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  21. Nembo1777

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    #22 Nembo1777, Jan 24, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2021
    Unbelievable.

    I know one chappie who'd have you believe he is more posh than the Queen. Well he learned the "trade" there, including sentences like fib the punters ...which I heard him use.

    In American English that would translate to lying to sucker customers...exposing the fact that this to those people was -is?- accepted routine and Modus Operandi.

    Sumer 86 I was in England doing an internship in marketing at BMW UK in Bracknell (just an excuse to scout the English racing world every weekend and some week evenings, I settled in Silverstone village that October to race).

    I dated all summer an American girl doing a summer internship a the BBC and staying at...Queens gate Terrace. She said you'll like the old cars back there. So I went to take a look. I was just 22 but while visiting the Coys showroom several times I felt it was such a dusty old business and wondered how they stayed in business...Through the years during multiple visits that feeling only got worse. Their Monaco auction many years later was a joke. Apart of the example I posted in an earlier post I remember a Ferrari challenge car described as pristine in one of their Monaco auctions, perhaps that same year, 2012, perhaps another. The body looked good but had all sorts of distorted gaps...red flags...then I saw the shield on one side....well it had either been attacked by a grinder or had a very prolonged meeting with a scraping wall...
     
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  22. merstheman

    merstheman F1 Rookie

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    Amazing to me reading that article that they managed to swindle people well into 2020. I am about as far as possible as I can be from being a blue chip car owner but even I have known for years that Coys was a joke and never to be trusted.
     
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  23. Timmmmmmmmmmy

    Timmmmmmmmmmy F1 Rookie

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    I believe every genre of business has the best running great operations, offering great product and treating buyers and sellers with respect. But I guess there is always a niche for those dealing in a lower level of xyx, without respect and floating from bankruptcy to insolvency. I keep wondering why anyone would choose to sell their cars with Coys considering all the media about them. But then I note that all of their stock is B or even C grade cars at best with often tortured histories. Take their Sauber they sold several auctions in a row which never raced and had bodywork from another Sauber so regardless of their ballyhooing about offering the only Sauber C whatever outside a museum it was unlikely to get into a RM or Gooding auction with all its flaws. Also I struggle to see how the same management can run things any differently, no matter the owner or structure and with so many premium dealerships run very well by their management perhaps its time for Coys to close up shop?
     
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