AUCTION TWO THOUSAND WHEELS: phenomenal bikes and figures

AUCTION TWO THOUSAND WHEELS – Less than 2 weeks after the end of EICMA 2016, we are back to talking about the well-known Milanese trade fair centre, on the occasion of “Duemila Ruote”, an exclusive auction full of staggering figures and big bucks.

From 25 to 27 November, more than 24 vehicles were exhibited in pavilion 600, including cars, motorbikes, boats, bicycles and go-karts, seized by the Guardia di Finanza from Luigi Compiano, a Venetian entrepreneur and owner of NES, a famous security company and surveillance of northern Italy. He was accused of tax evasion for over 15 million euros, which is why the seizure of his assets was ordered, including a vast collection of cars and motorbikes, mainly vintage as well as prestigious limited edition models. A tender was then launched between the world's major auction houses – won by RM Sotheby's – to reimburse Compiano's creditors, resulting in the largest auction in the world resulting from the collection of a single owner.

Let's give the numbers

The auction house RM Sotheby's therefore had to promote the event with a massive advertising campaign to attract wealthy enthusiasts and collectors from all over the world. It was a collection with an estimated value of over 35 million euros so a large number of buyers were needed to guarantee satisfactory economic results. Over the 3 days, there were over 5 thousand entries, including buyers and visitors, coming from around 57 different countries. There were over 800 lots up for auction, of which 633 were vehicles only. A lot, if you consider that the hours dedicated to the actual auction were around 25, with an average per lot of 1.8 minutes. At the end of the 3 days, RM Sotheby's gross proceeds were around 51,2 million euros, with an average of 62 thousand euros per lot and a capital gain of 16,2 million compared to the market value at which they were estimated the goods. Significant data, which indicates how hard every single blow of the hammer was fought: the undisputed queen among the motorcycles was the 2008 Ducati Desmosedici RR (150 examples), sold for 70.200 euros.

The motorbikes up for auction

In addition to being a great car enthusiast, Luigi Compiano made his personal collection a real two-wheel museum, boasting 156 of them, from pre-war models to the most modern and high-performance ones of the present day. Many racing motorbikes appear in the auction house's catalogue, of which at least 15 speedway motorbikes (GR, Weslake and Jawa) and quite widespread modern classics, with particular attention to the brands Compiano was most passionate about: Ducati, BMW, Yamaha and Harley-Davidson. Lhe figure regarding the proceeds derived from the two wheels alone should probably be around one and a half million euros, but the official data have yet to be released by the auction house.

The Top Ten

Below we list the 10 bikes that achieved the highest figures.

1) Ducati Desmosedici RR (2008) – 70.200 euros
2) Ducati 1098R Bayliss (2009) – 44.460 euros
3) Moto Guzzi MGS-01 Corsa (2008) – 39.780 euros
4) Norton Manx 40M (1962) – 37.440 euros
5) BMW R75 with Sidecar – 37.440 euros
6) Moto Guzzi MGS-01 Corsa (2009) – 37.440 euros
7) Yamaha TZ750C (1976) – 36270 euros
8) Yamaha TZ Racing Motorcicle (1974) – 35.100 euros
9) Ducati 750 Sport (1973) – 32.760 euros
10) Yamaha TZ500G (1980) – 32.760 euros

In addition to the previous ones, it seems only right to mention no less prestigious models such as the Suzuki RG500 competition (30.420 euros), AJS 7R “Boy Racer” (25.740 euros), Yamaha TZ250 (15.210 euros) and Yamaha Tenerè XT600 from 1983 (4.095 euros) .

If the figures mentioned above are not yet sensational enough for you, there is further news surrounding the whole affair which is truly incredible: the owner of the collection, which has just been entirely sold, could be acquitted on the 5th December from the conviction in first instance. We are sure that the controversial story of Duemila Ruote has not yet come to an end, we will keep you updated.