Record auction of all-electric car at Paris Motor Show

Coys set a new world record for the first all-electric car sold at auction at its inaugural sale at the Paris Motor Show – Mondial de l’Automobile – on Saturday.

The 2009 Tesla Roadster ‘Signature Edition’, the first ever Tesla to be delivered to Europe, sold for €50,740. There is little doubt that this early, historically important all-electric car will be one of the classics of the future.

A highlight of the auction was the sale of the 1973 Ferrari 365 GT4 of the ‘Enzo Ferrari’ film. From the prestigious Violati Collection, this is arguably one of the most significant 365 in existence.

Offered with its original Modena number of MO 39333, the car featured heavily in the 2003 film Ferrari based on the book by Enzo Biagi depicting Enzo Ferrari’s rise from a successful race driver to one of the most famous entrepreneurs of all time. It sold for €75,800 to a Ferrari collector in New Zealand.

Another highlight was the rare 1931 Cadillac Fleetwood Drophead Coupe liveried in real 24 carat gold leaf that once belonged to the flamboyant pianist Liberace, which sold for €98,000.

Other collectors’ cars that went under the hammer included two Porsche 356 Pre A, a 1955 cabriolet that sold for €260,600 and a 1953 1500 S coupe for €283,000 that sold to the same buyer, a 2009 Ferrari 430 Scuderia for €170,000, a 1954 Corvette C1 for over €70,000 and a 1990 Lamborghini Countach Anniversary with less than 400 miles on the clock for €367,000.

Estimates indicate that in excess of 2,000 visitors attended the auction at this leading international biennial event. People numbering 1,253,513 were in attendance in 2014, which saw cars being sold to international buyers across Europe, Japan and the US.

Coys chief executive Chris Routledge said that as an inaugural auction Paris was “challenging” but that the company is delighted to add it to its European portfolio, which includes Techno Classica Essen, Scloss Dyck, Maastricht Inter-Classics and Monaco along with signature sales at Olympia and Westminster in London as well as the only classic motorcycle auction held in the British capital.

“The event is about passion, enthusiasm, seeing the cars you love… the auction was about the aspiration to buy the car of your dreams, so we brought a very broad selection of cars, coming from every corner of France and all over Europe, that visitors as well as collectors could access,” he said

The next auction takes place on October 29 at Alexandra Palace in London.