The Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 auction was held Friday 26 June on the Tapestry Lawn at Goodwood House in Chichester, UK, resulting in £17,789,688 in total sales and an 86.26% sell-through rate.
The top result at Bonhams’ 2015 Festival of Speed sale went to the ex-Works Racing Aston Martin Ulster Team Car ‘LM19’ that sold for £2,913,500, a new auction record for a Pre-War Aston Martin. The Ulster was built to compete at the highest level of endurance racing, with appearances at Le Mans, the Ards TT, the Mille Miglia, the RAC TT and the 1936 French Grand Prix, driven by Dick Seaman. The Aston Martin saw a protracted three-way bidding battle between customers in the room and on the telephones, finally winning out to a European bidder.
James Knight, Bonhams Group Motoring Director and auctioneer on the day, said, “We’ve had another phenomenal sale at Goodwood, with excellent figures achieved across the board as we offered some highly sought after, truly top tier collectors’ motor cars.”
Elsewhere, a 1961 Porsche RS-61 Spyder — offered by none other than Sir Stirling Moss — sold for £1,905,500. Continuing the Porsche theme, owned for more than 30 years by ‘father of pop art’ Richard Hamilton, a 1973 Porsche 911S 2.4-litre Coupe sold for £393,500. Hamilton thought that the car was a ‘perfect’ design, so he purchased it new in 1973, and kept it for three decades.
The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster sold for £1,513,500. The model offered at Bonhams sale had eight kilometres on the odometer, and was the first example built.
Also in the sale, a 1984 Porsche 911 3.2-litre Carrera Coupe, belonging to former Top Gear presenter James May, sold for £51,750, ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman’s 1966 Mercedes-Benz 250 S sold for £20,700, while his 1971 Citroen Maserati SM sold for almost double estimate at £61,980.
Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 – Top Ten Auction Results
1. 1928 Aston Martin Ulster Team Car LM19 – £2,913,500
2. 1961 Porsche RS-61 Spyder – £1,905,500
3. 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster – £1,513,500
4. 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Convertible – £964,700
5. 2004 Ferrari Enzo – £897,500
6. 1964 Aston Martin DB5 – £539,100
7. 1973 Porsche 911S 2.4 – £393,500
8. 1954 Jaguar XK120 Competition Roadster – £365,500
9. 1911 Isotta Fraschini Tipo PM Roadster – £348,700
10. 1988 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante – £306,140
For complete auction results, visit Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed.
[Source: Bonhams]