5 minute read
The Rise and Rise: Australian Muscle Cars
Last Known Survivors : The Rolex Panerai
It exceptionally rare that a watch of this calibre, collectability and history show up in on the market, especially in New Zealand. It represents an opportunity for collectors to add something of the
highest level to their acquisitions. — Samuel Shaw, Watch Specialist Webb’s
For our upcoming November Jewels & Watches auction, Webb’s is proud to present this Rolex Panerai 3646 Type E Wristwatch, circa 1944. It is a highly collectible piece of historical importance, and it is absolutely fresh to the market. This timepiece was made by Rolex for Panerai following strict technical requirements, notably a 47 mm wide (for underwater legibility) cushion-shaped case with soldered curved wire lugs, screw down conical crown, 12-sided case back and a Perspex crystal. The black dial features half Arabic and half Roman numerals. It is coated in luminous radium on a black lacquer background, which is known as the California dial (patented by Rolex on May 30, 1941). Since 2016, three new watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type E surfaced, two of them expanded the number group from 260856 – 261097 (1.1.2016) to 260850 – 260111 (29 watches recorded as of today). This watch will be only the 30th known surviving example worldwide. Similar examples have sold previously at over 100,000 CHF.
Kassidy Hsieh Head of Fine Jewels & Watches kassidy@webbs.co.nz +64 27 929 5607 Samuel Shaw Manager, Fine Jewels & Watches samuel@webbs.co.nz +64 22 499 5610
Rolex/Panerai, Ref:3646 “Anonymous” c.1944 Steel divers watch with California dial. 47mm est. $140,000 – $200,000
The late 1960s and 1970s was a time of great economic, political, social and technological change for both sides of the Tasman. In New Zealand, recession loomed, protests were rife and fuel was scarce. In Australia, coalitions ended, scandals were plentiful and oil was on a global embargo. On the plus side, life was simpler back then. Mullets were a thing of beauty and more importantly, the Aussie Muscle Car era had just begun. Everyday Australians were starting to take interest in motorsport with the commencement of the Armstrong 500 and the Australian Touring Car Championship. The former introduced the public to the marketing hype around ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’. Performance cars like the Ford Cortina GT500 and Holden S4 started popping up on people’s radar, and in many ways these vehicles paved the way for Aussie Muscle cars that followed. In 1966, two important things happened: the launch of the ‘Mustang-bred’ XR Ford Falcon with an optional 289ci Windsor V8, and a Mini won Bathurst. On the face of it they may seem unrelated. However, the Cooper S winning the Bathurst 500 incensed Ford, which then commissioned a civilian version of the Police Interceptor Pack Falcon. Just like that the first Australian muscle car was born - the Falcon XR GT. The XR GT unleashed an intense five years of Aussiemade hero cars, with Holden’s 327 and 350 Monaros battling it out with the ever-increasing power of Falcon GTs. Chrysler’s six-cylinder Hemi-engined Valiant Pacers and Chargers threw their hats in the ring too. As a bonus, all this muscle made it onto the Australian roads, thanks to the Hardie-Ferodo 500’s homologation requirement that a minimum of 200 examples be built for ‘public sale’. The trouble was very few young people could afford a car worth so much and therefore had to settle for posters or die cast models! Fast forward several decades to the early noughties, the baby boomers had grown up, got respectable jobs, and their kids had flown the nest. Most importantly, they now had discretionary dollars to spend.
Quality control and assembly at the Ford’s Broadmeadows, Melbourne plant c1969.
1966 Ford Falcon XR GT drifting around a corner.
1972 Ford Fairmont XYGT Shaker price realised. $221,375 est. $120,000 – $150,000 1972 Ford Fairmont XYGT Shaker price realised. $221,375 est. $120,000 – $150,000
Arguably, the first big rise in Aussie Muscle car prices came in the early 2000s. This was driven to a large extent by affluent boomers rekindling their emotional connection with the cars they yearned for in their youth. Generally, buyers were aged 45 – 60. They were not lawyers or doctors, rather they were people who’d done very well in business. They were putting their money into the cars they grew up with, the cars they watched race at Bathurst. However, while it was evidently a passion for many, it was also an investment. These savvy entrepreneurs were looking to expand their retirement portfolios. Skip forward another decade or so to the present. Aussie Muscle Cars have been making the news recently as prices have again begun to surge. This time, it’s believed by many that the driving force is largely related to the global pandemic. People aren’t travelling overseas and spending their money that way, and the virus has made people cautious and insular. The net result is more discretionary dollars to spend ‘locally’. It would appear that Aussie Muscle cars are on the shopping list. The demand for heavy Aussie metal has grown: price increases over the decades reflect this across the board. Recent results at Webb’s demonstrate this perfectly. A 1970 Ford XW Falcon GT-HO Phase II was brought to market with an estimate of $400,000 - $450,000, and it realised $414,000; a high original 1972 Ford Fairmont XYGT Shaker found a buyer at $221,375 against a pre-auction estimate of $120,000 - $150,000. These results speak to the strength of the market, and to Webb’s marketing prowess. On a final note, when Ford motorsport legend and Bathurst winner Allan Moffat first saw the Falcon GT sedan that would take him to victory in the early 1970s, he scoffed at the price. “In 1969, when the [Phase I] HO was launched, they were $4500. And the regular Falcon was $2500. And I said to the Director of Marketing at the time, ‘Man, who’s going to pay $4500 for a Falcon?’ And he said, ‘You’ll be surprised, Allan ...’ Unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised enough to go out and purchase one. Or a dozen.” Nowadays, immaculate examples of the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III can fetch in excess of $1 million. Such are the joys of hindsight.
words by Dave Mcleod
