Around the houses, November 2012

News from the main auction houses around the world

– Bonhams –

At the Goodwood Revival auction on September 15 many cars came in bang on pre-sale estimates, but some exceeded expectations. One such, an ex-Giuseppe Campari Maserati Tipo 26 Sport (above), sold for a whopping £1.68 million.

Other notable big hitters were the ex-George Eyston Maserati Tipo 26 Sport two-seater that went for £533,500 and a Maserati V4 Sedici Cilindri that went for £432,700.

The ex-works Paddy Hopkirk Austin-Healey 3000 Mark III Lightweight Doug Nye wrote about last month was one car that sailed past its estimate of £150-220,000 and kept on going until the hammer finally dropped at £242,000. Unsurprising considering its pedigree and wonderfully original condition.

At the other end of the financial scale was Donington Park’s Dunlop Bridge, which was auctioned for the Hope Against Cancer charity. The individual fibreglass sections of the bridge – each as big as a small car – that spelt out ‘Dunlop’ went for only £312.50.

On October 21 the company will hold its two-wheeled auction at the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show. A collection of bikes from the late Evan Aled Jenkins, a Gloucester-based dentist, includes a 2002 Yamaha 750cc YZF-R7, one of 500 homologation specials built for the World Superbike Championship. It’s unused, unregistered and estimated at £12-14,000.

Also in the sale is the 1929 Grindlay-Peerless JAP 500cc ‘Hundred Model’ with an estimate of £50-70,000. This is one of only two examples known to exist of a type that lapped Brooklands at more than 100mph. The motorcycle stems from when rider C W G ‘Bill’ Lacey covered 100 miles in an hour in the UK in 1928. The company was so proud of the achievement that it built a run of replicas called the Brooklands ‘Hundred Model’.

On February 7 next year the company is returning to the Grand Palais in Paris and has already announced an ex-works Achille Varzi 1931 Bugatti Type 54 for its sale. It contested the IV Gran Premio di Monza – the first race for the 4.9-litre, twin-overhead-cam, supercharged straight-eight model. Varzi beat team-mate Louis Chiron to win their heat, but was delayed by two punctures in the final, dropping him to third. The 300bhp, 150mph machine is expected to reach between £1.9-2.8 million.

– RM Auctions –

The London sale is fast approaching and RM has been steadily releasing details of various lots that will appear on October 31.

The star will no doubt be an alloy-bodied 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, the 20th of 29 examples built. Expectations are high that its huge £2.5-3.2 million estimate will be reached. Challenging the Mercedes for top honours will be the 1959 Ferrari 250GT LWB Scaglietti Berlinetta Tour de France sold new to Italian Casimiro Toselli, who raced it extensively through the 1960 season. It’s one of 36 single-louvre examples and is expected to change hands for £1.8-2.4m. Other interesting lots include a 1975 BRM V12 engine (£160-220,000) and a 1998 Ferrari F300 Grand Prix car (£430-510,000).

There’s also plenty of Americana up for auction – including five Chevrolet Impala and two Chevrolet Bel Air convertibles – among the 22 vehicles from well-known Dutch collector Wim Zegwaard.

– Worldwide Auctioneers –

The fifth Annual Auburn Auction on August 31 to September 1 proved successful, but one car which didn’t sell was an ex-Stirling Moss 1966 Shelby GT350 racer. A high bid of £211,360 was not enough to secure the car that the racing great bought in 1993 and campaigned in events such as the Targa Tasmania.

– Motorclassica –

Over in Australia Motorclassica is making final preparations for its October 28 sale, which will include a 1967 Elfin 300 (£125-135,000). This particular car is powered by the Coventry Climax twin-cam engine that propelled Jim Clark’s Lotus during the 1961 Formula 1 season. Elsewhere, there’s what is believed to be the oldest surviving Jaguar XK150 roadster (£65-75,000) and a 1969 Lamborghini Miura S (£650-775,000) that once belonged to the supermodel Twiggy.