Christie's out of the collector car auction business.

It was short and to the point. The September 5th statement from Christie's Auction House was just three sentences long. The world famous auction house has chosen to close their International Motor Cars department. The decision was made "following a periodic strategic review of operations". The department closed at the end of the month.

Shortly after the announcement, word came that three of the five member department, Rupert Banner, Philip Kanto, and Cordon McCall were all joining rival auction house Bonhams.

The 241 year old auction house started the International Motor Cars department in 1972, and was one of the oldest collector car auctioneers in the business. Christie's has sold many of the top dollar collector cars that have broken records for value. Recently they auctioned a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTL Lusso formerly owned by the late Steve McQueen, for a record $2,310,000. Christie's was also to auction a 1936 Auto Union "Silver Arrow" grand prix racer, but the auction on the car was canceled when the history of the car was questioned.