Collectors' Motor Cars Auction - Bonhams Auction House

Richard Hudson-Evans says, Prewar Bentleys headed the results at Bonhams annual end of UK season fixture at London’s Olympia, reports Richard Hudson-Evans, with a 1931 8-Litre H J Mulliner Sedanca de Ville raising £342,500 and a 1925 3-Litre Supersports 2-Seater £276,500. A 1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Barker-bodied Continental Touring Saloon with some Pebble Beach Concours class winning form made ££166,500, a 1936 4¼-Litre Veth & Zoon Drophead £135,700 and a 1933 Lagonda M45 Vanden Plas Tourer £133,500.
The most noteworthy of the postwar prices were the £172,000 paid for a 2004 Koenigsegg CC8S Demonstrator and the £100,000 bid for one of the 1976 Lotus Esprit Coupes from the Bond movie ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, the premium-inclusive £111,500 being a world record for the model.
There were no buyers prepared to meet vendors’ reserves, however, on the ex-Marc Bolam 1970 Ferrari 365GTB/4 Daytona nor on a brace of Berlinetta Boxers; a 1975 365GTB4 and a 1978 512BB both being unsold, which almost certainly would not have been their fate earlier in 2008.
By contrast, specific types of collector vehicles continue to remain cool in the eyes of consumers and, as a result, do sell well. The £80,700 raised by a 1958 AC Ace with AC rather than Bristol engine was one such case in point as was the £89,500 paid for a once 1950 Bristol rally car converted into an authentic looking recreation of a 1950 Frazer Nash Mark 1 Le Mans Replica. A new owner’s £33,350 valuation for a 1958 Lancia Aurelia B20GT 6th Series Coupe was also a bullish statement for the model.
A trio of Veterans changed hands led by a 1903 Darracq 8hp Model G 4-Seater, for which £73,000 was forthcoming, a circa 1894/5 Gladiator 2½hp vis-à-vis Petite Voiturette sold for £36,700 and a 1901 American Steamer 5hp for £28,750. There were also buyers for five out of six Minis from the pre-BMW era with a 302 miles from new in 2000 Rover Mini Cooper making £9430 and a restored 1960 BMC Austin Seven De Luxe £8970.
Celeb cars successfully crossing the block into new ownership included the ex-Innes Ireland 1970 Aston Martin DB6 Mk2 Vantage with Webasto sunroof sold for £75,200 and a 1937 Humber Snipe Imperial Thrupp & Maberly Limo with Sir Winston Churchill provenance for restoration for an apparently most reasonable £1150.
Although international as well as domestic spending money is most certainly becoming tighter by the bad news bulletin, there were certainly still plenty of brave players here who clearly preferred to convert their currency into collector vehicles rather than deposit it in a potentially far less crunch resilient bank. How wise!

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