An £8m car collection is being auctioned with no reserve

The collection, which embraces a wide spectrum of mostly road racing cars from a Mini Marcos to a Porsche 904, is being sold without reserve to the highest bidders, so watch what you do with your mouse-click finger… The auction closes at 1pm GMT on Wednesday 10 June.

RM Sotheby’s view that the Petitjean Collection has something for everyone is easy to prove: just browse through the lots (see the live auction and latest bids here). Guide prices start around €2,000 and finish around the million mark, but the majority of the machines are nearer the affordable end. The quid pro quo is that while the cars are all original, unrestored and have been dry stored, they have not been driven for a while so will need recommissioning for the road. And some will need more than just recommissioning; among the pictures on the RM site are some very honest ones pointing out the blemishes.

The collection is said to be very much a reflection of its owner, the French ex-racer Marcel Petitjean. He is said to have bought the cars he likes but never paid more than a third what they cost new, one reason perhaps there is not one Ferrari in the collection. If that is indeed what he did, Monsieur Petitjean is very smart for his collection is valued at around £8m. All the cars date from between the 1950s and the ‘90s.

Petitjean originally wanted to group his cars by country in a museum he planned to set up in his home town of Strasbourg, but he never got round to it. Most of the cars are either Italian (lots of Lamborghinis including a Miura P400, but also Maserati, de Tomaso, Alfa, Lancia, Bizzarrini and Intermeccanica), British (plenty of big names but also the minnows like TVR, Marcos, Ginetta, Panther and Jensen), or German – from the Porsche 904 and Mercedes 300SL roadster to the more modern, and rare, Bitter CD. Curiously French cars do not feature much, though a Citroën SM and Alpine-Renault A110 1600S do it for us.

Perhaps in view of their recommissioning needs, plus general market uncertainty, guide prices appear set to tempt, whether it is an Austin-Healey Arkley (€2-3,000) you are after or a Lamborghini Countach (€250-300,000). Or, come to that, a Matra D-jet, Fournier-Marcadier Barquette, Neckar Mistral, Glas 1300 GT or Ligier JS2 coupe – just some of the lesser-known models up for grabs.

This much-anticipated sale was meant to have been held as part of RM’s auction in Essen in March at the Techno-Classica, cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been incorporated into RM’s online European sale (which closes a day later, at 1pm GMT Thursday 11^th June) and has as its highlights some very special cars including a 2020 Porsche homage to the mighty 935 ‘Moby Dick’ racers of the ‘70s, a pre-war Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet, a Lancia 037 Stradale and a rare Aston Martin V8 Zagato.

Online auctions are proving successful as auction house doors remain firmly shut. Last week a Ferrari Enzo became the online auction world record holder when RM sold it for £2.1m.

A few of the cars in the Petitjean Collection whose bids we can’t help but keep checking on (just in case, you understand…) are listed below; the bids as shown were correct as of 8^th June. Remember all the cars are being sold with no reserves…

• 1991 Ginetta G33, €15-20,000, current bid: €6,000. The first G33 built; used as factory prototype and press car; 3.9-litre V8 and 850kg, nothing not to like!
• 1972 Alfa Romeo Giulia GT1300 Junior Zagato, €20-30,000, current bid: €13,000. It appears there might be a bit of work to do here but it is pretty, and one of only 1,117 Zagato Juniors ever made.
• 1971 Citroën SM €25-35,000, current bid: €12,000. Plenty to go wrong here but, heck, it’s an SM. And with manual five-speed gearbox too.
• 1967 Fiat Dino Coupe, €40-60,000, current bid: €18,500. There’s the more revered Dino Spider in the sale too (with a guide of €90-130,000 it’s a lot more) but the coupe is still pretty… and still with the Ferrari 2.4-litre V6 under the bonnet.
• 1971 Alpine-Renault A110 1600S, €100-120,000, current bid: €55,000. Roadgoing version of great rally winner, complete with spotlights and roll cage – perfect for historic road rallies today.
• 1962 Maserati 3500 GT, €130-150,000, current bid: €50,000. Classic ‘60s Italian gran turismo with elegant Touring body and one of just 441 made.
• 1971 de Tomaso Mangusta, €200-250,000 current bid €130,000. Traffic-stopping Italian beauty, and one of only around 250 left. Apart from a repaint, it’s original down to its toolkit.
• 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400, €700-800,000, current bid: €460,000. This is the 57^th Miura built, owned by M Petitjean since 1979. Beautiful, fast, highly desired all round the world… and a bargain? Well, you never know…

Images courtesy of RM Sotheby's.