It was indeed a sad day for Australian historic racing enthusiasts when word came of the untimely passing of John Dawson-Damer at the 2000 Goodwood Festival of Speed. In his lifetime John had gathered together what was without doubt the most impressive private collection of Lotus competition cars in the world, and further sadness hit with the news that the collection would be broken up and sold at auction.
Bonhams & Goodman was selected to facilitate the auction and, following a concerted worldwide advertising campaign, the six Lotuses came up for auction in Sydney, Australia, on November 16, 2008.
It was an commanding list consisting of: the ex-Alan Stacey, Bob King 1959 Lotus 16 F2; the ex-Masten Gregory, Jo Bonnier, Lucien Bianchi 1961 Lotus 18 F1 car; the ex-Jim Clark 1963 F1 Championship winning Lotus 25; the ex-Jim Clark 1966 Lotus 39 Tasman Series machine; the ex-Mario Andretti, Jochen Rindt, John Miles 1969 4-wheel-drive Lotus 63; and the ex-Mario Andretti, Carlos Reutemann 1978–’79 Lotus 79 F1 single-seater. As Australian historic racing car stocks have long been plundered by overseas buyers, local enthusiasts were concerned that more treasured cars would be lost.
It was standing room only at the Bonhams & Goodman’s auction rooms in Sydney on auction day, with genuine bidders mingling with many times their number of interested onlookers.
Surely the top lot of the collection was the ex-Jim Clark Lotus 25, and with such provenance there was predictably spirited bidding from connections in Europe, the United States, and Japan, but a new world record winning bid for any Lotus car of Aus$1.525 million came from an Australian bidder. Not surprisingly there was a collective sigh, not only at the sale price, but also of relief when it was realized that the car was staying Down Under. Similar sighs were heard when the Lotus 39 was also sold to an Australian bidder for Aus$360,000.
The Lotus 16 and 63 sold for Aus$350,000 and Aus$226,000, respectively, and are bound for a U.S. museum, while the ex-Andretti Lotus 79 went for an impressive Aus$575,000 to a Japanese Lotus enthusiast.
It looked as if the Lotus 18 was destined to be the ugly duckling as it remained unsold but, despite its nonrunning condition, it did sell following subsequent negotiations for Aus$200,000—including buyer’s premium.
As they say in the classics, “That’s not all folks,” as quite a number of other interesting cars were also sold on that day. These included: a 1957 Lotus XI Le Mans Series 1 for Aus$120,000; 1962 Lotus 22 FJ for Aus$52,500; and a 1952 Alta 1.5-liter Grand Prix Supercharged Monoposto for Aus$209,000.
Perhaps of most historical significance to Australia was the Lex Davison 1928/1945 “Little Alfa” that was offered for sale by Lex’s widow Diana Gaze. This is the first time the car has been sold since new, and it went for Aus$345,000. Also of interest was a 1922 “Blue Label” Bentley 3-liter that had been owned by a single family since 1942, selling for Aus$185,000.
Robert Glover, National Head of Collectors Motorcars for Bonhams & Goodman remarked: “We were understandably delighted to have achieved such strong results for our clients, and the result clearly demonstrates that the collectors’ motor car market remains healthy for the right motor cars.”
Clearly, even in these volatile financial times, there are enthusiasts who remain cash rich. For more information see: www.bonhamsandgoodman.com.au
by Patrick Quinn
