1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60hp ‘Roi des Belges’ set a veteran-car sale record of $12.1m in March
As the new waves of younger demographics draw higher values for modern classics and leave older generations of vehicles as fading memories, the market for veteran cars has increasingly stood out as an exception to the rule. First-hand nostalgia for these early models has long gone, yet demand for cars from the dawn of motoring is remarkably robust and proliferating well beyond the headlines, such as Gooding & Coʼs veteran-car world record-setting $12.1m sale of a 1903 MercedesSimplex 60hp ʻRoi des Belgesʼ at Amelia Island in March.
“Values for pre-war cars have slid since COVID,” says Bonhams car specialist Tim Schofield, “but there hasnʼt been the same effect on veteran vehicles. Theyʼre very steady, and some are climbing.” Originality and provenance are, as ever, key factors – see the previous auction record-holder, the oldestsurviving Rolls-Royce, a 1904 10hp two-seater that was sold in 2007 by Bonhams for £3.5m. But, Tim points out, usability and eligibility to events are crucial. “Certainly the driving factor is the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. So you will see a league of difference between a 1904 and a 1905 car. The 1905 De Dion Bouton 10hp Type AB Tonneau we sold in April,” he suggests, “would have made £100k, rather than £36,800, if it had been made in 1904.”