Battle of the Auction Platforms

For the first time our Battle does not compare a same car model, but two totally different cars that have only one thing in common. They are both Le Mans Classic eligible. It brings again together the US online platform Bring a Trailer with the traditional auction house RM Sotheby’s in their European Online Only Sale.

The first car, a 1951 Crosley Hot Shot Sport, went for sale on the 8th of June at Bring a Trailer. We first noticed the car few weeks ago at the Hyman Ltd. dealership where it was listed for 59.500 USD. It caught our attention, because the car has a genuine Le Mans 24 Hours history from 1951 and for reasonable money. Just the car was not in the original specification anymore and in the USA in the middle of the coronavirus crisis. So we decide not to buy the car for ourselves. But now the car emerged in the BaT auction! The finale price of 55.650 USD including fees was a great deal for such a piece with the period Le Mans race history! Hopefully we see the car at the starting line of Le Mans Classic soon! (auction link)

As we already mentioned, the second car is a very different one. It is a 1972 Ligier JS2 Coupe. This French automotive brand became known for its involvement in the F1 World Championship between 1976 and 1996. But they entered the automotive business 8 years before with the JS1 and JS2 models. At first powered by Ford V6, the brand decided to use this model for homologation for the GT class and to compete at Le Mans 24 Hours and other GT race events. Ford did not want to have a competitor for its own GT70 cars, so Ligier moved to a cooperation with another French brand, Citroen, and used the mechanics and the Maserati V6 engine from the Citroen SM to power the JS2. Between 1972 and 1975 only 349 examples of the JS2 were built. This auctioned example is one of only 48 built cars in the first year of production. Although the car was not in running order, it was complete and original and it was sold on the 10th of June by RM Sotheby’s for a really good price of only 49.500 EUR including fees. (auction link)

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It is just a little bit tricky how to decide such a Battle with two very different cars? But as both of them were sold for a similar final price and the auction platforms succeeded in finding new homes for these special cars, we decided to tie this Battle with a point for both platforms.