R&M Auctions Battersea, London 29th October 2008

[Sliding Pillar]

Some interesting Lancias are comeing up for sale at the R&M auctions Battersea sale. Augusta Saloon guide £15 to £17K. Aprilia Saloon £15 to £17K. Lambda 7th Series Torpedo £110 to £130K. DiLambda £78 to £95K. Astura Pininfarina Cabriolet £230 to £270K. Stratos Zero replica (This is the car that was at Covent Garden) £30 to £50K.
They are advertised on the Anamera web site www.anamera.com

[peterbaker]

Anything affordable?

[fensaddler]

No problem for you Peter surely...

[peterbaker]

Ha, I like it. Hope you can make it this weekend? Yes folks, its the best keep secret of LMC. The Vale of Evesham Area monthly get together this, the 1st Sunday of the month. Can we break the record of August of twenty? Good food, good value etc. Arrive around one for sit down at two. The Golden Cross, one mile north of Bidford on Avon at Ardens Grafton. Call Lin on 01386 87 1040.

[fay66]

Some interesting Lancias are comeing up for sale at the R&M auctions Battersea sale. Augusta Saloon guide £15 to £17K. Aprilia Saloon £15 to £17K. Lambda 7th Series Torpedo £110 to £130K. DiLambda £78 to £95K. Astura Pininfarina Cabriolet £230 to £270K. Stratos Zero replica (This is the car that was at Covent Garden) £30 to £50K.
They are advertised on the Anamera web site www.anamera.com

What a great site I've bookmarked it for future reference, lovely Flavia Milleotto for sale at Eur 4900, very low mileage and stored for many years, as a Berlina Fan, if I had the cash to spare I think I would be on my way tomorrow to have a look at it.

Brian
8227

[ncundy]

Results:

1963 Lancia Flavia 1500 Coupe  £13.000  Sold
1962 Lancia Flaminia Touring 3C  £18.700  Sold
1935 Lancia Augusta Berlina  £9.000   
1947 Lancia Aprilia Berlina Lusso  £16.500  Sold
1929 Lancia Dilambda  £66.000  Sold
1927 Lancia Lambda Torpedo  £100.000   
1938 Lancia Astura Cabriolet  £150.000   
1957 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT  £66.000  Sold
1954 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spyder America  £181.500  Sold

The Zero went for £17,600

Good money for a Flavia, maybe makes the Flaminia look a bit of a bargin ? I wonder how many went to America?

[Dilambdaman]

Why is the Dilambda so undervalued? (says he from an unbiased viewpoint!)This one sold for £66,000 against a top estimate approaching £100,00 when the Lambda Torpedo failed to sell at £100,000.

OK, this one was a fixed-head but in what looked like superb condition. A better all round touring car than the Lambda dare I say? And as for rarity value, then no contest.

So, why the disparity? I have a sneaking suspicion that it is something to do with the fact that so few people know anything about them let alone had hands on experience.

Robin.

[Sebastien]

Robin, you can look at it the other way round: the owner let the Dilambda go for £ 66.000 while he kept the Lambda for which £ 100.000 was offered. If I remember correctly it was the same seller, and we must assume he has had the opportunity to drive and compare both cars!
Sebastien

[JohnMillham]

Quite right, Sebastien.
 While I like the looks of the Dilambda, I wouldn't swap my Lambda for it. The fuel consumption would be a contributing factor to put me off!
Regards, John

[Scarpia]

I find recent market prices completely excessive for these and other desirable cars in relation to other consumer items.As always the more desirable /rare items increase disproportionately (just look what they are asking for aurelia spiders!) whereas there is not a similar relative increase in the "ordinary" cars like a 1.3 fulvia. .With cars it's like antiques , only the exclusive or rare or misguidedly popular (mgb) goes through the roof.
Whilst a Lambda is clearly a more desirable "landmark" vehicle than a Dilambda, i feel in a sane world you should be able to buy a lambda for 25k pound  (40 k max in my opinion) which is still a lot of money relative to what would be a "normal" housing market.The ridiculous housing bubble has burst, the parasitic finance world is collapsing after it so hopefully the "collector /investor" market that has made these cars unachievable for most modern enthusiasts will return to normal .

I suspect 66k for the dilambda may turn out to be an historic high that we may not see for some years again. 100 k for a lambda (or any other car is) is something we should all perhaps regard as something to be ashamed of . 

light the blue touchpaper and stand well back.....

[Sebastien]

The Lancias that did not sell are now advertised by Stefano Paracchi. So if someone is currently interested in an Augusta, not to mention an Astura, or a Lambda.....
On prewarcar some prices are quoted.
Sebastien

[johnturner]

I am with William on this one.  Surely if the delight of members of this organisation is driving Lancia motor cars or, depending on your taste, taking them to bits and stacking them in the corner of the kitchen, we should be doing everything we can to drive prices down.  The days of the 25 quid Lambda may be long gone but the fact that, if the car stopped, you could afford to push it into the nearest ditch and take a bus home lent a joie de vivre to motoring that has sadly disappeared.
John

[ben]

Those days have not really dissappeared ---you just have to substitute Y10 or Dedra for Aprilia or Lambda---and they are of course far superior cars in just about every respect!
I suppose the difference is although better in absolute terms they are not head and shoulders above their peers in the way Lancias were in the twenties and thirties.

[Dilambdaman]

Sebastien.

Or could it be that Lambda expectations are inflated at present? I'm told that a good example should now realise in excess of £100k but how many actually make that sort of money? The Dilambda sold for the going rate, presumably because the reserve was realistic whilst the Lambda did not.

John M.

Cannot but agree with you in respect of fuel consumption! and if I owned your Lambda I would not swap it for a Dilambda. But, whilst accepting that the Lambda is a more universally desirable model the huge disparity in values still baffles me.

Robin.

[Sebastien]

Robin,

WHAT IS THE GOING RATE ?

Lambdas are not always expensive, there is a Lambda for sale at Lukas Hüni in Zürich which is quite nice, and the requested price is « only » 85'000 Euros.
The car has been there for a long time, and it is still not sold. The engine and the mechanics have been overhauled, and the car is « on the button », which cannot be said of all Lambdas sold recently at auction. So what is the catch ?
It is not what today's typical Lambda buyer is looking for.
It is a short chassis 8th series cabriolet by Stabilimenti Farina, of which the bodywork and the interior are clean and original. So for someone who wants a nice Lambda to drive on continental journeys it is certainly worth a look.
But today there is great demand in the Lambda market only for early series torpedos, and short 7th series torpedos. As the supply is limited, because the existing owners enjoy their cars and do not want to sell, you get « headline » results everytime there is one of those at auction, either a barnfind, or well restored.
However, someting a bit different, for example the short 8th series, with a postwar coupe body, that sold at Bonhams in Gstaad in December 2007 will not be under great demand, witness the 83.281 CHF it did, around 42.000 GBP.

You could play exactly the same game with the Aurelia market : how much for a B24 spider, a worn 6th series B20 coupe, or for a restaured B10, or for a specially bodied B50 ? All are Aurelias, however demand, supply and resulting price are quite different. Remember a few years ago, no one wanted an early series B20 ! As an aside, it will be interesting to see if the Aurelia spider market will go down, as many cars are in the market, and demand will start to dry up, at the prices we saw those last years.

And the Dilambda market is even more fragmented, very few cars in the market, all of them in different conditions, and with different special bodies, so judging pricing and going rate is even more difficult.

And finally, for those that do not have the means to buy those Lancias today, why not consider an Appia Coupe, or an Ardea berlina, or an Artena (if you can find one)? They have the same genes, can be a lot of fun on the road, have an "acceptable" going rate, and are also worth saving.