Around the houses, July 2009

RM Auctions

At its 2009 Ferrari sale at Maranello, RM managed to sell 75 per cent of the cars at auction, totalling an impressive £18.5 million. The star lot was the 1957 250 Testa Rossa that became the most expensive car ever to be sold at auction when a phone bidder bought it for £7.9m. Many of the other cars, however, failed to sell. But the auction house is expecting strong after-sales, which will include the 1967 330 P4 that reached a bid of £6.4m on the day. Other competition cars that didn’t find a new home included the ex-Sir Stirling Moss 1956 Maserati 250F, a 1957 Maserati 250S and a 1964 Ferrari 250GT Berlinetta Lusso Competizione.

An unprecedented collection of 52 Ford and Mercury ‘woodies’ is being sold at Monterey on August 13-15. This selection of cars from the Nick Alexander Collection have all been restored, and various Ford Super Deluxe Sportsmans may fetch up to £180,000 each.

Two Chrysler Airflows – a 1934 Coupé and a 1935 Sedan – are coming up for sale at the Vintage Motor Cars of Meadow Brook event on August 1. Type ‘Chrysler Airflow Endurance’ into YouTube and you’ll see how futuristic these cars were back in the ’30s.

Bonhams

In its Aston Martin sale on May 9, Bonhams sold nearly £3m worth of automobilia. The cars also sold strongly, meaning that Bonhams has now sold over £20m worth of Astons and related automobilia in the last decade.

Bonhams and Butterfields has an interesting line-up of cars coming up for sale at The Greenwich Concours d’Elegance on June 7. They include a 1953 Siata 208S Barchetta (£460-490,000) and the 1952 Fitch-Whitmore Le Mans Special (£190-215,000) which John Fitch designed for the 24-hour race. The car never made it to La Sarthe when it became clear that it was better suited to American road-course racing. Other lots include a 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Stelvio Drophead Coupé (£260-330,000), a 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS (£590-620,000), and the 1922 GN ‘Akela’ 1100cc 200-Mile Race car (£55-70,000).

Sadly Hans-Joachim Stuck was ill on the day he was due to get behind the wheel of the 1939 D-type Auto Union at Reims. However, Crosthwaite and Gardiner staff ran it on the historic track. The car is being sold on August 14 at Carmel and is expected to fetch £5.3m.

Barrett-Jackson

At its annual Palm Beach sale Barrett-Jackson sold more than £13m worth of machinery. The top seller was the ‘Project American Heroes’ 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS, which fetched £327,568 in aid of the Armed Forces Foundation.

Russo and Steele

The American auction house has announced the sale of the 1969 Jerry Peterson Trans-Am Chevrolet Camaro on August 13-15 at Monterey. The car is expected to fetch between £80-100,000.

Brightwells

For its next classic auction on June 24, Brightwells has secured nine pre-war Rileys, including one of just 15 Riley MPHs. This car (£150-180,000) has been previously owned by Leslie Hawthorn (father of Mike), Ron Flockhart and Maranello Concessionaires founder Colonel Ronnie Hoare.

Coys

As Motor Sport closed for press, Coys was preparing to sell the Le Mans class-winning 1966 Porsche 906 Carrera 6 at its Brands Hatch sale. The car was expected to fetch £400,000 on May 23 alongside the ex-Mecom/Hall 1966 Lola T70 Spyder MkII (£225-250,000) and the 1988 Porsche Kremer 962 (£325-375,000) which finished ninth in that year’s 24 Hours.

Etude Gasser Aughuy

The elephant radiator mascot from the Bugatti Royale Coupé Napoléon, now in the Schumpf collection, is appearing at auction on July 5. The silver statue, designed by Rembrandt Bugatti, is expected to exceed £130,000.