With a pre-war Aston Martin racer selling for more than $4.5 million and Stirling Moss’s own Porsche RS-61 Spyder going for nearly $3 million, Bonhams annual auction Friday at the Goodwood Festival of Speed posted some $26.75 million in total sales.
“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,” James Knight, Bonhams group motoring director, said in a news release after the sale.
Topping the sale was the LM19, an ex-work 1935 Aston Martin Ultster team car that sold for £2,913,500 ($4,581,921). The sales figure, which includes the buyer’s premium, was one of the highest ever for a pre-war British racing car and broke the record for a pre-war Aston Martin. The car raced at Le Mans and in the Mille Miglia and RAC TT (Time Trial) as well as in the 1936 French Grand Prix.
Bonhams said three bidders battled for the car, which eventually sold to a European buyer.
Moss’s 1961 Porsche RS-61 Spider, a two-seat sports racer, sold for £1,905,500 ($2,996,688). Moss purchased the car in 2010 for $1.705 million at the Gooding sale on Amelia Island and has driven it since in vintage events at Monterey and Le Mans. He’d shared a similar car with Graham Hill in the Targa Florio in 1961.
Moss called the RS 60/61-series cars, “Just super cars — beautifully balanced and simply tailor-made for such races as the mighty Targa Florio around 440 miles of Sicilian mountain roads.”
Also topping the $2 million mark was a 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR roadster that brought $2,380,208. The car not only was the first CLK GTR to be produced, but was sold with only 8 kilometers on its odometer.
Two other cars sold for $1 million or more — a 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Series V convertible going for $1,517137 and a 2004 Ferrari Enzo selling for $1,411,455.
Among other highlights, a 1973 Porsche 911S 2.4-liter coupe formerly owned by artist Richard Hamilton, brought $618,838. Hamilton, known as the father of pop art, bought the car new because he thought its curves were a “perfect” design and owned it for three decades.
Meanwhile, a 1971 Citroen SM coupe offered by former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman sold for $97,472, double its pre-auction estimate, and a 1984 Porsche 911 3.2-liter Carrera coupe owned by Top Gear present James May sold for $81,384.
Top 10 sales, Bonhams auction at Goodwood Festival of Speed
- 1935 Aston Martin Works Ulster LM19, $4,581,921
- 1961 Porsche RS-61 Spyder, $2,996,688
- 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR roadster, $2,380,208
- 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Series V convertible, $1,517,137
- 2004 Ferrari Enzo, $1,411,455
- 1964 Aston Martin DB5 sedan, $847,816
- 1973 Porsche 911S 2.4-liter coupe, $618,838
- 1954 Jaguar XK120 competition roadster, $574,804
- 1911 Isotta-Fraschini Tipo PM roadster, $548,383
- 1968 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante, $481,451
(All prices include buyer’s fee.)
