Classic car prices are booming again - throw in a celebrity name and the prices can sky rocket. Bob Montgomery reports.
It's certainly close to the season to be merry, particularly if you are an auctioneer of fine classic and historic cars.
Classic car prices are booming once again following a 15 year period of slow recovery from 1989-90 when prices reached an all-time high only for the bubble to burst.
This time there seems no danger of a similar disastrous sudden fall in prices.
One important and significant difference between this boom and the boom of the late 1980s is that all classic cars have not risen on this tide of higher prices.
In the late 1980s more mundane classics reached, well, frankly silly prices. This time around it's the crème de la crème of the market which is booming and more mundane cars continue to fetch reasonable prices but remain within the reach of most buyers with an urge to own something which for them, perhaps, is the realisation of a dream they once had as a kid.
But the upper end of the market is where the real action is taking place.
Here, the best examples of the models - which traditionally had the highest prices - are changing hands for prices that are setting new records along the way.
The better Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Alfa Romeos and almost anything with a worthwhile historic racing history are fetching prices which are simply leaving the rest far behind.
Traditionally, some of the most important car auctions take place at this time of the year and if recent results are anything to go by, then this year's crop of auctions is likely to once again set new records.
Cars which have an association with celebrities who became icons for their generation are also fetching really high prices and among the eagerly anticipated highlights of upcoming auctions is the late Pope John Paul II's Lancia Thema, fitted with bullet-proof glass and armour plating, and the Alfa Romeo driven by the enigmatic Russian Prince Ivanowski to victory in the first Irish International Grand Prix in 1929 at Dublin's Phoenix Park. For all of these the portents for record prices are good.
Consider the recent auction of property which belonged to the "King of Cool" Steve McQueen.
Steve's widow Barbara put the items up for auction at the famous Petersen Automotive Museum at Los Angeles and prices exceeded all expectations.
Highlights of the auction were the €138,546 paid for a 1934 Indian Sport Scout motorcycle, one of the maker's most successful models and a favourite marque of Steve McQueens. It had been estimated at €11,705.
And it's not just cars and motorcycles which are setting records. A 1958 GNC 101-series pick-up truck which had been part of Steve McQueen's 10-car collection housed at a Beverly Hills hotel during his extended stays in Southern California was estimated at €46,822 but fetched no less than €99,884 - for a pick-up truck! Extraordinary though these prices were, the highlight of the sale wasn't even a motor vehicle - it was a pair of sunglasses - reputed to have been worn in the opening sequence of The Thomas Crown Affair which fetched a whopping €138,546!
But the highlight of the auction scene in America this year has been the four days of frenetic auction activity surrounding the annual Pebble Beach Concours event.
Top price went to a 1958 Ferrari 412S which sold for an astonishing €4.3 million. while a total of €77 million-plus was invested by collectors.
Other big movers were another Ferrari, this time a 1957 Ferrari 500TRC which sold for €1.76 million and a gorgeous 1929 Bentley Speed Six dual-cowl tourer which fetched €1.4million.
It seems cars with a racing history are always a sure bet, as evidenced by the €1.3 million taken for the 1994 McLaren F1. Another recent trend in American auctions has seen the rise and rise in value of the so-called muscle car as evidenced by a 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429 which took €551,470 at a Minneapolis sale.
Back in Europe the star performer at the recent Canadian RM Company and Sportscar Auction Company's sale during the new Swiss Show, the Geneva Classic, was a Ferrari 250GT SWB Lusso model.
With a racing history, this 1961 Ferrari fetched a cool €1,384,599.
Certain models set the yardstick and many of these key models have doubled or even tripled in value over recent years. A particularly good indicator of how prices have climbed at the top end of the market has been the classic Mercedes-Benz 300SL which has always been a good investment - if you could get your hands on one.
Just two years ago they were fetching around €140,000 - now you're likely to have to fork out around €425,000 to acquire one.
Will prices continue to rise at the top end of the market?
There seems no reason why not and the next major indicator of a possible continuation of the trend is likely to be the annual Christie's auction at the Retromobile Show in Paris next February.
Already an estimate of €3 million is being spoken of for the ex-Dick Seamen 1927 Delage 8 Grand Prix car and the ex-Lucien Vincent/Lino Fayen 1950 Talbot-Lago is expected to achieve in excess of €250,000.
Only time will tell if these prices can be sustained - at the moment all the indications are that they will - at least into the foreseeable future while they continue to be gilt-edged investments.
Anyone fancy an armour-plated Lancia Thema, just one careful celebrity owner?