As the auctioneer's gavel came down at R M Sotheby's "Pinnacle Selection" in Monterey, California, the 1,000-or-so people gathered in the tent erupted into spontaneous applause and appreciative whooping. Someone – we didn't know who – had just spent US$17.6 million (Dh64.6m) on a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, helping Sotheby's set a record for auction sales in one week. In all, the company sold $172.7m of classic cars at Monterey earlier this month. There were plenty of others holding sales, such as Gooding and Co, who held the auction immediately following the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.
We don't know who dropped all that money on a classic Ferrari, or what prompted such an outrageous purchase. Had the buyer seen the car on the auctioneer's Instagram or Facebook accounts, and fallen in love with it? At this level, it's unlikely, but it's not impossible – according to a recent report in Black Book, the presence of a car on certain popular social-media accounts can have a massive effect on its resale value.
Think about it: if Kim Kardashian, who has 43.3 million followers on her Instagram account, decides to show off a classic car she’s just gifted to her husband, Kanye West, that brings previously unheard of levels of exposure to a car that those millions of devotees might never have heard of before. That, in turn, might cause a spike in interest, pushing up prices.
The power of social media can’t be overestimated when it comes to marketing, and the big classic-car auction houses have been quick to harness this way of getting their products in front of global audiences that might never have picked up a classic-car magazine. The R M Sotheby’s Instagram account has 15,800 followers – I’m one of them. I might not have sufficient funds to buy a classic piece of Italian exotica, but that doesn’t mean the next follower won’t.
"Social media lets people brag without bragging," says Eric Lawrence, who is the director of speciality reports at Black Book. "Affluent collectors have been exposed to the images posted by celebrity buyers on social-media sites, fuelling even higher demand for certain exotic vehicles."
This isn’t how celebrities used to behave. When Frank Sinatra took delivery of his Lamborghini Miura in the late 1960s, or Sophia Loren was going through the options list for her new Rolls-Royce within the same time frame, the world didn’t know about it. Now, with the press of a smartphone button, millions all over the world see the spending habits of the rich and famous.
Lawrence says it’s the “second tier of the very rich … millionaires and the newly minted industrialists” who are mostly susceptible to exposure on Instagram and other social-media platforms.
“Between stock options and new industries coming online, within the tech industry you’ve got so many people in their 20s and 30s who are multimillionaires,” he says. “These people are of the age where they don’t mind spending – but it’s got to be good, probably exotic. And when they do spend, they want everyone to know about it. It’s got to reaffirm who they are.”
All I need now is for Mrs Kardashian-West to post a few snaps of a Triumph TR6 so I can hit pay dirt when I resell mine. Are you listening, Kim?
motoring@thenational.ae
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