BMW and Alfa fetch over R1 million at auction

BIDDING wars over iconic and rare cars were the order of the day at an auction staged by Creative Rides in Cape Town last weekend.

Going into the auction all eyes were on the white 1987 BMW 333i with 98 000km on the clock, and this rare South African creation fetched R1.255 million.

But the star of the show, in monetary terms, turned out to be a 1957 Alfa Giulietta Sprint Veloce Lightweight 750E Conrero Race Edition. While bids kicked off at R1 million, a bidding war soon ensued and the hammer finally fell at R2.7 million. It is believed that less than 200 of these were ever built, making it one of the rarest Alfa Romeos in the world.

The Giulietta was snapped up by a collector from Switzerland, and it will soon form part of his acclaimed car collection in that country.

Sadly the BMW 333i is also set to leave our shores, with its bidding frenzy having been won by a New Zealander.

“At the R1.15m mark the field narrowed even more, and at R1.18m only two bidders were left standing; neither willing to give ground. It was an epic online stand-off between South Africa and New Zealand – each bidder, in turn, tendering R10 000 increments until the price reached R1.24m,” said Creative Rides CEO Kevin Derrick.

The 333i was a unique invention on the part of BMW South Africa, which could not market the firstgeneration M3 as it was only built in left-hand drive. So the local division teamed up with Alpina in Germany to create the 333i, which was powered by the 3.2-litre straight-six found in the

7 Series. Only 200 were ever produced and because that big engine took up so much space, customers had to choose between air conditioning and power steering.

The Alfa Giulietta and BMW 333i weren’t the only cars to fetch more than R1 million at Saturday’s Cape Town Auction. A 1962 Alfa Giulia Sprint SS went under the hammer for R1.25 million while a 1987 Ferrari 328 GTS fetched R1.1 million. A modern BMW M4 GTS, registered in 2017, was sold for R1.175 million.

But the bidding contention was just as fast and furious further down the pricing ladder, with numerous local and international bidders fighting over a one-owner 1994 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo, which eventually fetched R600 000.