Classics to 'drive and enjoy'

WORLD CLASS SHOW: AUCTION 'SETS NEW STANDARDS WHEN IT COMES TO COLLECTIBLE CARS'

- Brendan Seery

There's nothing quite like a Ferrari starting up, especially when it's in an enclosed space. It rips the air apart before settling into an "I mean business" growl. At Ferrari specialists Rosso Sport in Bryanston, it's a sound you never tire of... nor do you get bored with the sight of the gorgeous examples of the Prancing Horse's finest.

What a perfect venue, then, for what is aiming to be a collectible car auction which takes the genre to a new level in South Africa.

Next Saturday, Aspire Art will be open to the public to witness the sale of a mouth-watering collection of just 23 collectible cars, ranging in estimated value from R10 million to R12 million (a 1997 Lamborghini SV) to R180 000 to R240 000 for a 1967 MGB GT Coupe.

The concept of a high-end auction came from Aspire Art, a company whose normal business is in auctioning high-end art pieces, but especially those with a South African flavour or heritage. Earlier this year, for example, the company sold an oil painting by artist Irma Stern from a private collection for R5.6 million.

Jake Gore, a director of Aspire Art, says: "While there are people who say cars are a modern art form, we think that vehicles can be as desirable as art works and they celebrate human technical innovation while providing a significant investment opportunity."

That is why there was a rigorous evaluation and selection process for the cars on the auction.

"They had to be interesting, or unusual, or with a history."