Sotheby's auction of B.A.T. Alfa Romeo Collection

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a link would be good to read what you are talking about

 

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/contemporary-art-evening-auction-3/alfa-romeo-b-a-t-5-alfa-romeo-b-a-t-7-alfa-romeo-b?locale=en

 

Romano, I wouldn’t bother much as it may have been just a publicity stunt rather than a real auction.

 

WOW. nice cars I never have seen before, thank you for the link

 

To where?

 

Well....tell us more. Who will benefit from a publicity stunt?

 

With all due respect, but if I have to explain...

 

If it's so obvious, why did you bother to mention it?

 

Unless TTR has some inside information that he is being coy about sharing, it seems to me...

Sotheby's put a great deal of effort into marketing the auction (I am not on any auction house email blasts or anything even similar, but I saw plenty of hype prior to the sale). The auction took place. The cars were sold at said auction, albeit at the lower end of the estimate.

All auctions are, at some level, a publicity stunt...marketing is a publicity stunt...placing a classified ad, it could be argued, is a publicity stunt.

I've seen the B.A.T. cars and they are stunning. I am pleased that they appear to be staying together and am hopeful that they will be kept available to the public in a museum setting and/or regular public outings.

 

Timo: It was a REAL auction and sale. The cars are now being shipped to the new US owner. The cars sold at the low end of the estimate and the buyer is very pleased.

 

I was lucky enough to see the BATs years ago at Symbolic. I agree that the price was (in a relative sense) low. This trio of cars are truly special.

to Timo's point, pretend aucitions do happen.
In '89, Bob Rubin's GTO 'sold' at auction but I was told it was a show and that it was really a trade with a P car etc. for Perfetti.
A year or so later a GTO of a long-term owner I knew 'sold' at auction when in reality the auction house traded him an 8C, a 4-cam, etc. and ran it through, 'selling' it as the star car of the sale.

Now back to the thread... the BATs are something that I hope everyone gets to see.
An incredible high watermark in design, particularly Italian postwar.

 

Any idea where in the USA?

 

Thanks Dyke for confirming.
I guess after decades of casually observing (and witnessing) too many questionable or otherwise unexplainable “smoke’n’mirror” auction deals, results or transactions, I’ve become somewhat suspicious of them, especially when identities of seller and/or buyer remains “anonymous” and items “disappear” from public appearances, often years on end.

 

There probably are not a lot of players for these cars (only takes two), assume it’s one of the majors. Of the majors, many focus strictly on race cars, so it wouldn’t fit with their collections. These are static display show cars of extreme style. Given that, as just an educated guess, could it be a certain individual from the Northeast in the fashion industry?

 

Is he still buying?

 

Ditto me. Magnificent cars! Always been the visual car/art masterpieces. Based on world car pricing, I agree they were a ‘steal’ at that price. Good for the buyer!