Records fall in £2.75m Salon Privé sale
An extremely rare 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo SE ‘Flat Nose’ Cabriolet broke UK auction records when it sold for £245,250 at the Salon Privé sale organised by Silverstone Auctions on the 2nd of September.
One of only 10 made, the UK specification ‘Flat Nose’ is considered by many to be the ‘holy grail’ of 930-type 911s. Before the auction the car was given a lower estimate of £190,000, but bidding for the rare 911 was frenetic, with a dramatic standoff between a room and phone bidder.
The 911 Turbo SE sale followed the fall of another record when a two-way bidding war erupted between room and internet bidders for a highly desirable Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI ‘Tommi Makinen’ edition, in the original colours of Makinen’s World Championship winning car. The Mitsubishi passed its original lower estimate of £34,000 as the determined room bidder emerged victorious with a final price of £46,688 including buyer’s premium.
A 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray ‘Split Window’ Coupé also attracted a great deal of attention and sold for £102,938, almost £23,000 clear of its lower estimate, while American car fans were also impressed by a multi-award winning 1969 Shelby GT500 which sold for £102,375.
A 1974 Lamborghini Urraco P250 pushed its price £11,000 beyond its lower estimate to sell for £96,188, after stubborn room and phone bidders, while its unusual stable mate, a Lamborghini 1R tractor, also attracted lively bidding to sell for £20,813.
International interest was strong throughout the afternoon, with a 1972 Rolls Royce Corniche selling to Australia for £37,125, and a 1974 Porsche 911 S 2.7 finding a new home in California for an upper estimate beating £87,750.
“Porsches performed particularly well at the Salon Privé sale and we’re delighted with the result of the 911 ‘Flat Nose’,” said Nick Whale, managing director of Silverstone Auctions. “It was a very specialised and eclectic collection of cars, but I’m very pleased with the records achieved, and I’m very excited about the prospects of our forthcoming Porsche Sale at Silverstone on 21st October.”