South Africa’s classic car market is on the world map, with collectors in some two dozen countries now keeping eyes on local sales for rare buys.

Joff van Reenen, Director and Lead Auctioneer of Creative Rides in Johannesburg, says the company’s recent debut online-only auction of the Louis Coetzer Estate Barkly East barn find collection has highlighted the international market momentum gained by four years of hybrid live-stream auctions began in 2020, which has unequivocally brought SA classics onto the global stage.

“For decades the local collector car market operated in isolation, because we’re so geographically distant from the major markets in the northern hemisphere.

“But Creative Rides’ online reach has continued to push on global market doors for local sellers since the start of the decade, and with the latest auction even our expectations were surpassed by the scale of international attention garnered for this sale.”

Van Reenen says in the month leading up to the April auction and for its duration, the main countries from which traffic on the Creative Rides app originated were:

1. South Africa;
2. United States;
3. United Kingdom;
4. Netherlands;
5. Indonesia;
6. Australia;
7. Germany;
8. Canada;
9. France;
10. All SADC countries;
11. India;
12. Iran;
13. Saudi Arabia;
14. Greece;
15. Italy;
16. Sweden; and
17. Russia.

“Directly preceding this auction, the app – which was the only portal through which bids were accepted – was downloaded 11 000 times, with 1 500 active users registered.

“During the 10-day auction period, a total of 2 958 bids were placed on just over 200 lots comprising approximately 150 barn find cars and spares lots.”

Creative Rides CEO Kevin Derrick says this inaugural online-only auction was the third chapter of the Louis Coetzer Estate collection that the company had taken to market.

“We were astounded by the response from the international market. We knew local buyers would be immensely attracted to these lost barn finds from such an iconic collector, but the level of global interest exceeded our expectations.

“The auction itself was a huge success – so much that we had to extend the bidding period at the end of the sale because competition for the lots was so fierce.”

Derrick says the most hotly contested lots were:

• A 1960s Mercedes Benz 220SE Fintail, which achieved the highest price with a hammer fall of R101 000;
• A 1960s GMC 4000 Flatbed Truck, which fetched R81 750;
• A 1960s Chevrolet Impala 327 V8, which sold for R85 750;
• A 1970s Chevrolet Nova Convertible that made R61 750; and
• A 1970s Chevrolet Nova 4-door sedan that fetched R54 500.

“These were all project cars that hadn’t been moved in decades and bidding on all of them was exceptionally competitive.

“Collectors also showed keen interest in Oom Louis (Coetzer’s) Mercedes collection – even those without engines.”

According to Straits Research, the online car buying market size is projected to reach $722 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 12%.

Van Reenen says collector cars are often the very high value end of this market.

“It’s therefore necessary for us to get South African classic cars onto the international stage, and the way to do that is through technology.

“For Creative Rides it’s an investment that’s paying off. Our pre-auction marketing campaign – all run from South Africa – reached an audience of well in excess of 100 million car aficionados in 17 countries on five continents.

“More than a million of them viewed our social media reels, and viewed the sale lots online.

“And on the last day of the auction itself, more than 30 bids per second were being received five minutes before closing, which triggered a ‘soft closing’ extension that carried the auction time over to 10.15pm.

“At the peak of the auction, the back-end processing capacity power required for the app platform to keep up with the bidding rate had to be increased 80-fold.

“That’s the power of international reach, and the exposure South African sellers are now getting from our technology.”

Derrick says after the massive success of the debut Coetzer Lost Barn Find Collection online-only auction, Creative Rides will be featuring these sales regularly going forward.

“The next one is planned for June and classic car collectors should download the Creative Rides app for the latest news on upcoming auctions, as well as to bid on the platform.

“The app is a free download on both iOS and Android. Quick links are also available on www.creativerides.co.za. The app is the only platform on which online auction bids are accepted and the bidding currency worldwide is in South African rands (ZAR).”