Bonhams raised a total of £2.45 million at their annual sale held at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. With the reassuring roar of cars on the famous course in the background, the saleroom was packed with spirited bidders keen to take advantage of some of the outstanding lots on offer with a sell-through rate of almost 80%.
Star of the sale was the 1922 Sunbeam 2-litre Strasbourg Grand Prix Works Racing Car that sold for a record auction price of £463,500, exceeding the pre-sale estimate of £300,000. Racing to join the Sunbeam as another record lot for Bonhams was the 1970 Lamborghini Miura P400S Berlinetta that realised £359,000 – the highest price attained for this particular model at auction.
Elsewhere, Bonhams was proud to offer a 2008 Mini One Hatchback to be sold on behalf of the British Forces Foundation’s ‘Lap of Honour’ campaign. Introduced by Mark Cann from the charity, the car went on to sell for an outstanding £29,000 – some £17,000 more than the estimate of £10,000-£14,000. Bonhams were delighted to support the charity and waived their usual buyers premium. Of the other Minis, no less than three Works Racing examples were successfully sold, allowing Bonhams to retain its 100% record of having never not sold an ex-Works Mini.
The Automobilila section proved similarly popular with bidders. In particular, Lot 228 – number plate ‘GPR 1 X’ achieved £10,350. Meanwhile a collection of pre-WW1 and WWII BARC Brooklands member’s lapel badges reached £7,820 smashing the pre-sale estimate of £2,200-2,600.
James Knight, Group Head of Bonhams Motoring Department said, “The overall results of the sale are pleasing and complement our year to-date figures well. We achieved much interest for motor cars that are important, rare and seldom seen on the open market. This was amply demonstrated by the tenacious bidding on the 1922 Grand Prix Sunbeam and I was also impressed by the price realised for the exceptional Lamborghini Miura. The were one or two casualties, however, and more general motor cars – those not particularly rare or compromised by condition or provenance – need to be priced realistically to attract interest.”
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