For its final UK sale of 2008, Bonhams returned to its usual pre Christmas venue, Hall 2 at London’s Olympia and with 400 lots of automobilia, 14 motorcycles and 96 cars consigned, there was something for everyone - whether it was a highly collectible Roy Nockolds original, the no. plate AU1, which once adorned Auric Goldfinger’s Rolls Royce in the Bond movie of the same name or Nelson Piquet’s 1990 F1 mount, a Benetton B190. Overall the sale realised £2.9 million, 68% of lots sold and some interesting prices were realised during the 7 hr marathon.

• Undoubtedly the car attracting most attention wasn’t even in the sale! A 1937 Bugatti T57, originally supplied to pre-war racing driver and first President of the BRDC, Earl Howe. Hidden from view for almost 50 years and with an apparent 26,284 miles from new, this time warp car will be offered at Bonhams Paris Retromobile sale in February 2009 – the price? €3 million.

• Of the four Ferraris consigned, only the 330 GT MK2 found a new home (£44.4k), which was a surprise as it was LHD and not in good shape. The Plexiglass Daytona (s/n 13775) had £40k of recent specialist bills and was a previous Targa Espana entry; whilst the 365 and 512BB’s results both demonstrated the perennial unpopularity of these tipi.

• A Pebble Beach Concours entrant in 1994, the Rolls Royce Phantom 2 Continental had been the subject of a £300k rebuild and was a stunning car. The hammer price of £166.5k yet again demonstrates that despite uncertain times, there is currently superb value for the private collector….though the consignor of a concours winning Jaguar XK120, with bills for £125k, would probably disagree!

• Proof, if proof were needed of the abject depreciation of modern vehicles - the one owner, 57k miles only, 2005 Maserati Quattroporte was snapped up for £24.1k and with an original price tag of £77k, a 69.7% depreciation rate….and it’s still in warranty!

• Bonhams top sale of the day was a 1931 Bentley 8 litre (£342k) whilst the ex Tora Takagi Reynard 94D (£6.2k) and the 402 bhp Calloway tuned Holden HSV (£8.6k) seemed like good value and one of James Bond’s Lotus Esprits (£111.5k) has a new home in Atlanta USA.
  

So with just 2 weeks to find the ultimate Christmas present, it's time to pack the skis and the Swiss Francs and head to The Palace Hotel Gstaad for Bonhams 11th annual sale adjacent to the Alpine slopes. See you there!

In the basement there was plenty of choice including the "no sale" 365 and 512BBs, also 6 Minis	F3000 cars are often sale bargains. Lola (left) and Reynard (right) flanking F1 Benetton were around £7k apiece!	Selling for £24.1k the Maserati Quattroporte showed a 69.7% depreciation in the 3 yrs since first registered	One of a series of Lotus Esprits used in the making of the Bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me"

Click here for the full results.

Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.

 

 

 

Bonhams has long been a specialist in selling the Rolls Royce, Bentley and Lagonda marques - there was plenty of choice at Olympia

Incredibly rare ex Earl Howe Bugatti T57 was the star of the day, as it will be at Retromobile in February 2009 when it will actually be on sale

LHD 330 GT MK2 was one of the last produced in 1967 - a surprise sale given its condition