Our Top Ten Picks from the Saratoga Motorcar Auction
The Saratoga Motorcar Auction is going on right now. This is the fifth annual auction in support of the Saratoga Automobile Museum – if you watch some of the earlier seasons of What’s My Car Worth? you’ll be able to some of their very impressive collection – a wonderful tribute to the history of automobiles. Last year the auction took place without spectators and it seems that the presence of an audience should be a net positive when it comes to raising funds for the museum.
Okay, so this isn’t a Shelby Cobra, nor was it ever raced by Stirling Moss, but the R32 always jumps out at us. It has a fairly unique V6 engine and saw the introduction of 4Motion to the Golf lineup in the US. Certainly when compared with other cars from that same year, this one has done a much better job at retaining its value. Seeing less than 40,000 miles on the odometer gives us no reason to suspect this will go cheaply. We expect this to sell in the neighborhood of $14,000, which will be a fair price for a future collectible.
There was no shortage of 2002 Coupes when they were new – hundreds of thousands were built by BMW. But this one stands out to us due to its single owner and relatively low mileage – if the odometer is to be believed this has traveled all of 14,715 miles. How many 2002 Coupes still have their window sticker? How about the original tool kit? For that matter, how many are in such good condition? The median value of this car is $17,500 and this should, by all rights, sell for more than that.
Come on, look at that paint. Sure, we’ve seen a lot of Z cars crossing the block recently – no doubt in part due to the announcement of the new Z – but this one is a show stopper. There are more than 100,000 miles on this car, but it’s been maintained fairly well and has an all-original interior. This isn’t a first-year car, but with a median value of $25,000 we expect to see this perform well on the auction block.
This ZX70 Land Cruiser wasn’t available in the US-market, instead selling in Japan and South America. Right there is one reason this will likely get some attention. A five-speed transmission, paired with a Diesel engine, provides power to all four wheels and this will definitely get some interested looks on the street or off the road. We don’t have much in the way of sales history for this model, but if it’s anything like other Land Cruisers of that age we could see a final price close to – or above – $50,000.
The MGB GT combines two of our favorite types of cars – small and sporty, and something of a hatchback. It received a frame-off restoration in 2016 and has covered fewer than 1,500 miles since then. Finished in a stunning Burgundy with a tan interior, this should catch the eye of anyone who’s a fan of MGBs. This is not one of the coveted V8-powered examples, but it’s still a great car for an MG lover. We expect this to sell close to its median value of $9,500, possibly on the higher end.
1989 was the first year of the more desirable five-speed transmission Porsche built, and paired with the 3.3L turbo, this is an extremely popular Porsche. This is equipped with a power convertible top and had a complete engine rebuild in 2015. The median value of this car is around $160,000 and we don’t see any reason this should be the exception, so look for a final price in that range.
This is a very unique car. It’s all-original and unrestored, yet it’s in phenomenal condition. The car lived with its original owner in Sweden until she passed at the age of 103 and includes virtually any kind of documentation you can imagine. Not only that, but the green paint? Original and it still pops. It comes with the original keys, manuals, brochures, and even an original Saab engine block heater. There is every reason to suspect that this could sell for more than $30,000. If the museum gets lucky and a couple Saab enthusiasts are bidding against each other, there’s a possibility that this could hit $40,000 – we can’t wait to see what happens.
Porsche didn’t build a lot of these for the US market, although it’s not as rare as a ’73 Carrera RS. It can be a challenge to find a 968 in great condition, such as this example. Obviously Porsche went a different direction after the 968, but from certain angles you can almost see how it lead to future generations of the 911. What’s interesting about this car is that the median value is higher than you might guess – specifically, it’s $41,500. It might be possible to get this a bit cheaper than if it was selling at Mecum or another big-name auction, but by all rights this should sell in the neighborhood of $41,000.
This car was all the rage when it was new, quickly putting to rest the “Z3s are only for girls” nonsense that was starting to make its way through the automotive world. The M Coupe helped strengthen the Z3, making it a bit stiffer and as such, helping it to handle better while producing plenty of power. This particular Z3 M Coupe has barely over 13,000 miles on its odometer, along with air conditioning and power-everything. The median value for this car is $45,500 and when factoring in the low mileage this should have no trouble hitting at least $45,000, probably pushing $50,000.
We’ve been seeing the value of first-generation Dodge Vipers shooting up in recent months with some big sales in the last year. There’s no reason this should be an exception. Sure, it’s not the first year of the Viper, but Dodge only built 285 Vipers in 1992, while in ’93 just over 1,000 were built. The median value is $41,500, but as we stated these have been going up in the market so it won’t surprise us if this sells for more than its median value.