Broad Arrow Villa d’Este 2025 certainly made an impression. With €31m of sales and a 78 percent sell-through rate, it was a good debut event for the auction house, with two auctions held over two days. However, there were some interesting trends, and could-be trends, to unpack from the results.
The Saturday sale catered for BMWs only, while the Sunday sale held at Villa Erba had a more wide-ranging selection. Six of the €1m lots failed to sell, and one of those cars – the above 1938 Talbot-Lago T150 C Spéciale Teardrop Coupé by Figoni et Falaschi – sold for way below estimate (€4.5m-€6.5m) at €3,606,250. It was offered at no reserve – and this was another theme of the auction.
RM Sotheby’s Milan sale – report here – showed the perils of no-reserve sales with its 993 GT2 result, and although the gaps between low estimates and final results weren’t as cavernous at Villa d’Este, only a handful of no-reserve lots landed within their estimates, and only two, including a 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Touring, finished above its estimate; it sold for €115k against a €50k-€80k estimate (the other is mentioned in the BMW section below).
On the whole, the no-reserve cars landed short of their low estimates, with notable strugglers including a 1961 Jaguar E-type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (€161k/est €200k-€250k), a 1933 Mercedes-Benz 170 Roadster (€63,250/est €125k-€165k), a 1935 Mercedes-Benz 290 Roadster (€230k/est €275k/€325k), a 1961 Porsche 356 B 1600 Super (€51,750/est €80k-€90k), a 1960 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL (€56,750/est €100k-€150k) and a 2018 Mercedes-Maybach G 650 Landaulet (€568,750/est €650k-€700k).
The worst performers were a 2021 Porsche Taycan 4S Artcar, which limped to €69k against a €200k-€250k estimate, and the 1982 BMW 635 CSI Observer one-off, which only went for €16,100 against a €40k-€50k estimate.
It could be argued that the last three cars, in particular the Mercedes-Maybach, may have suited an auction located in the Middle East, but all of these results show the perils of no reserve for sellers. In times past it was enticing prospect of getting a bargain for buyers, even though the reality ended up within estimate or even above, but perhaps with the realities of project cars and restorations versus end values in mind these days, particularly for 1950s-60s cars, a no-reserve car may not be the bargain it might previously have been thought.
The top result at Broad Arrow Villa d’Este 2025 came as no surprise: the 1948 Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa by Ansaloni sold for €7,543,750 against a pre-sale estimate of €5.5m-€7.5m. It was largely a good sale for Maranello machines, with well guided cars hitting their marks, in particular a 1989 F40 ‘Competizione’ (€2,312,500/est €2.3m-€2.8m) and a 1965 275 (€1.525m/€1.5m-€1.8m), with a 2002 550 Barchetta landing just shy of its €550k low estimate at €530k. A 1964 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso (est €1.3m-€1.5m) and a 1997 550 Maranello (est €225k-€275k) failed to sell.
One of the stars of Broad Arrow Villa d’Este 2025 was this 2002 Honda NSX-R, which had recently starred in a Henry Catchpole video for Hagerty, and been in a Jethro Bovingdon Evo magazine feature a few years ago. Despite this provenance and its sheer rarity (just 140 of these second-generation NA2 models were built), there were still sniffy comments online and overheard in person at Villa Erba’s rotunda about such a high estimate for a Honda. The car ended up proving all the naysayers wrong – it sold for €934,375 against a €750k-€950k estimate. Could this be a €1m-plus car of the future? We wouldn’t bet against it.
The biggest above-estimate result at Broad Arrow Villa d’Este 2025 was the above 1980 BMW M1 originally sold to a German record producer, singer and songwriter Frank Farian and converted to Procar specification for the road in period (we go into its history more here). Against an estimate of €450k-€550k, it sold for €602,500.
Other notable results from the BMW-only sale included a 2000 Z8 that sold for €235,750 against a €200k-€225k estimate, the only other no-reserve car from the two-day sale to trump the high estimate. The BMW sale also had some notable no sales – a 1958 507 Series II and a 1981 M1 formerly belonging to Vijay Mallya returned to their vendors. On the whole, the BMW sale was sensibly guided, with the majority of lots landing within their estimates or just shy of the low estimates.
Although McLaren-Mercedes SLR values have largely been flat for the standard version (see Magneto magazine’s buying guide in issue 26), over the past 18 months the special variants have attracted startling above-estimate results. These have largely been for the Crown Editions, but the 722 special edition with more power, lighter weight and (even) more oomph appears to be gaining in popularity, too. One of 150 built, this example had covered 11,000km. It sold for €568,750 against a pre-sale estimate of €475k-€550k.
The two other McLarens in the sale, a brace of MP4-12Cs formerly owned by Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button respectively, had varying results. Jenson’s white car was offered at no reserve and hit €126,500 against a €125k-€150k estimate, while Lewis’s red car hit €161k against a €175k-€225k estimate.
While the Ferraris largely did well, other Italian marques had varying fortunes. The above 1954 Siata 208S Motto Spider sold for €1.75m against a €1.5m-€1.7m estimate, but neither of the Lamborghinis offered sold – a 2000 Diablo VT 6.0 got bid to €480k against a €500k-€600k estimate, while a 2022 Lamborghini Countach LPi 800-4 was bid to €1.7m against a €2.3m-€2.5m estimate.
A 2022 Pagani Huayra R was bid to €2.3m against a €2.3m-€3.2m estimate. There were also no sales for a 1960 Maserati 3500 GT Vignale Spyder (high bid: €570k/est €690k/€750k) and a 1936 Maserati 6CM (high bid: €680k/est €850k-€950k). A 1958 Lancia Aurelia B24 S Convertible, a 1963 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 Sprint Speciale and a 1936 Fiat 5870 Bertone Barchetta Special also returned home to their vendors.
Further details
For more information on the Broad Arrow Villa d’Este 2025 sale, head here.
