At Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018 auction, it’s 50th at Goodwood events, a number of records were broken. Bonhams sold the most expensive BMW, a BMW 507 Roadster together with the most valuable British car ever sold at a European Auction, a 1961 Aston Martin ‘MP209’ DB4GT Zagato.
The 13 July sale realised a total of £32,046,159 in sales with the Aston topping the list. ‘2 VEV,’ an ex-Essex Racing Stable, 1961 Aston Martin ‘MP209’ DB4GT Zagato achieved a staggering £10,081,500, making it the most valuable lot of the sale. It was apparently purchased by a European buyer.
The most valuable BMW cam in the form of John Surtees CBE’s one owner 1957 BMW 507 Roadster. It hit £3,809,500 against a pre-sale estimate of £2,000,000-2,500,000 and was sold to a European buyer after a lengthy battle.
Other highlights of the sale included a road-going ex-Scuderia Ferrari 1932-34 Alfa Romeo Tipo B Grand Prix Monoposto which sold for £4,593,500. A 2012 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport Coupé beat its estimate for a £2,045,500 sale and a 1931 Bentley 4½-Liter Supercharged Tourer ‘Blower’ – 1 of the 50 originally built – sold for £2,017,500.
There were a few casualties though. A McLaren P1 which had been estimated at £1,300,000 to £1,700,000 failed to sell, as did an Aston Martin One-77 Q Series which was estimated at £1,650,000 to £1,800,000. A Pagani Huayra Coupe also failed to hit is £1,300,000 to £1,600,000 estimate.
James Knight, Bonhams Motoring Chairman and the auctioneer for the sale, commented: ‘We are simply blown away by today’s results. This is our 50th sale at Goodwood – which happens to coincide with the silver anniversary of The Festival of Speed – and it was the perfect celebration of classic and collectors’ motor cars. The world records that we set today are indicative of the continued market desire for the historically significant motor cars with impeccable provenance such as ‘2 VEV’ and the John Surtees BMW 507.’
