The Bonhams Goodwood Revival Auction 2012 was held Saturday 15th September at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in Chichester, UK, resulting in total sales of £13.6 million and an 84% sell-through rate.
Top result at the 2012 Bonhams Goodwood Revival Sale went to the unrestored supercharged Mercedes Type S that lay hidden in a garage for six decades. The virtually ‘lost’ 1928 Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 ‘S’ Type Sports Tourer went for £2,801,500 to an anonymous bidder in the room. Almost without precedent for motor cars of its age and type, the dark battleship grey ‘S’ Type was owned by the same family from new and had never been restored, retaining its original blue leather upholstery in its entirety.
A collection of Maseratis owned by the Hartley family sold for a collective £2.88 million, headlined by the 1929 Maserati Tipo 26M four-seater sports racing car, with Brooklands Double Twelve, Irish Grand Prix and RAC Tourist Trophy racing pedigree, that sold for £1,681,500.
A 1939 Lagonda V12 Team Car, driven by Lords Selsdon and Waleran to fourth place at the 1939 Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race, beat expectations at £1,289,500, while the ex-Leonard Headlam, Tourist Trophy and Irish Grand Prix Team Car, a 1929 Alfa Romeo 1750 SS Competition Tourer, sold for £1,099,100, doubling its pre-sale estimate of £500,000.
James Knight, International Managing Director Collectors Motor Cars, who took the sale with CEO Malcolm Barber, commented after the sale, “Once again Bonhams has shown its ability to sell every kind of marque. Today we saw the wonderful unrestored Mercedes 6.8-litre S-Type make £2.8m. This was followed by strong prices for Alfa Romeo, Lagonda, Maserati, Ferrari, AC Cobra and Bentley. With the world records achieved for Bentley and Rolls Royce at the Goodwood Festival of Speed it has been a very good summer for Bonhams at Goodwood. Given the economic context of both these sales – the worst financial downturn since the 1930’s – this is a sterling effort and a very encouraging message for collectors about the intrinsic and long-term value of collectors cars.”
Other highlights in the Bonhams Goodwood Revival 2012 auction included the sale of ‘ARX 91B’, the 1964 Austrian Alpine-winning, 1965 Targa Florio 1964 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII Works Rally/Race Car, which beat its pre-sale estimate to go for £242,300 – an auction record for a rally Healey 3000.
The sale saw Bonhams continue with its success selling Ferraris, getting the 1965 275 GTS Spyder away for £400,000 in a post sale deal, while a 1968 Ferrari 330GTC achieved £230,000.
A lot that generated much interest was a unique piece of art modelled on the ‘Airfix’ kits lovingly built by generations of children. The life-sized model of the Aston Martin DBR1 that won the 1959 Le Mans 24-Hour Endurance Race, measuring 6.35m wide by 3.3m tall, sold for £27,500 to an unknown telephone bidder.
Bonhams Goodwood Revival 2012 – Top Ten Auction Results
1. 1928 Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 ‘S’ Type Sports Tourer – £2,801,500
2. 1929 Maserati Tipo 26M four-seater – £1,681,500
3. 1939 Lagonda V12 Team Car – £1,289,500
4. 1929 Alfa Romeo 1750 SS Competition Tourer – £1,099,100
5. 1930-31 Maserati Tipo 26 Sport Road Racing Two-Seater – £533,500
6. 1965 Ferrari 275GTS Spider – £449,500
7. 1929-30-Type Maserati V4 Sedici Cilindri – £432,700
8. 1953 Bentley R-Type Continental Sports Saloon – £393,500
9. 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider – £365,500
10. 1966 AC Cobra 289 Mark III Roadster – £249,020
For complete results, visit www.bonhams.com/goodwood.
[Source: Goodwood]
Bonhams auctioneer screwed the magnificent Invicta S-Type by cutting the bidding off at about half the estimate, and the estimate was right in the range that they sell for privately. What was that about?