RM Auction Villa Erba, Como

[TRITONE]

TR Cadillac 'Ribot III' and AR Cadillac ''Slughi' both no sales. No serious interest in the room or on the phones. Tight times in the euro now......
Most of the top automotive sales went out of Europe as well.

[Don Ayers]

Thanks for the update.

It seems that not many Riva's are selling right now. Might be me but things seems overpriced.

[TRITONE]

Thanks for the update.

It seems that not many Riva's are selling right now. Might be me but things seems overpriced.

Maybe we could just say that the market has not caught with expectations yet...........?

[Eric T.]

The event was excellent... got a nice break in the weather from what was a pretty wet spring.

Dodi's Tritone Special is a very unique boat... the price at over €700.000 for this boat may be what the price could be in the future, but the market, at this time, does not seem to place the value on the Tritone boats at the same level as the Aquarama's. Some items, like the split bench seats and color choices inspire debate in the Riva community at the level of restoration that has been represented by the RM house.

I believe in the near future, that the rarest of boats may command a higher price, as they should... With examples like the Special and or the Scrips V12 powered Tritone #3 that will, in my opinion, be the most valuable Riva boats.

The collectors that will sacrifice some sea-keeping abilities compared to the functionality of late model AQS boats are now just beginning to realize the rarity of these boats and may pay the premium for these boats that are truly worth.... Much in the same way that collectors of vintage Ferrari's have evolved in their appreciation of truly unique vintage examples.

With this also comes a more precise interpretation of what what is a truly accurate restoration and one that reflects a more "user friendly" restoration. The research involved with and the expense of a a "100 point Concourse" restoration in a Riva boat can be staggering... I've only seen a few examples in the world that meet this specification. As the values increase, so will the accuracy in restoration.

There were some very nice autos at the Villa d'Este ... my favorite was a Ferrari Barchetta with Touring body work!

As said above... a lot of the cars went out of Europe, Interest from the Saudi collectors was keen.