Bonhams’ 2024 Monte Carlo sale grosses €5.8m

The Brits put together a 50-car catalogue for this year’s event at the Villa La Vigie, and 38 cars found new homes yesterday afternoon. The cover car 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Pinin Farina Coupé rebodied by Drogo in 1966 was not one of them, leaving the 1956 Maserati A6G/2000 coming out on top, achieving €931,500 with premium.

The setting was sensational – the wonderful villa formerly owned by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld – but the results failed to match the location.

A highlight of yesterday afternoon’s proceedings was double World Champion Mika Häkkinen taking to the rostrum (pictured, above) to promote the sale of his 2013 McLaren P1. It received few meaningful bids, and neither did the 2005 Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster LP 580 manual owned by Belgian former F1 and sports car driver Thierry Boutsen, another Monaco resident, also present at the sale.

Häkkinen put on quite a turn, offering buyers the chance of some one-to-one coaching at the wheel of hi P1, as long “as they had not eaten a big lunch” beforehand. It was good, knockabout stuff, sadly wasted as the car (and Boutsen’s) did not sell.

At a glance:

* Gross, motor cars: €5,789,419 (2022, €11,522,575)
* Percentage sold by number: 63% (2022, 74%)
* Top-selling car: 1956 Maserati A6G/2000 Coupé €931,500 gross, €810,000 net (est. €825k to €925k)
* Well sold? Once again a special-edition Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren raised hands at a Bonhams sale, this time the yellow ex-Kuwait (so plus, plus on duties etc) ‘Crown Edition’ sold for €506,000 all-in against its €300k to €400k estimate    
* Well bought? Maybe the €350k to €400k 1958 Porsche 356A T2 Speedster 1600 Super moved on for €327,750

The Drogo-bodied Ferrari 250 GT was another car that produced little interest. Two withdrawn lots are worthy of note. In Automobilia, the actual helmet worn by Niki Lauda when he had his near-death accident at the 'Ring in 1976 had already received a significant six-figure commission bid but was pulled at the last minute after a dispute over title. The one-owner Aston Martin One-77 was a Kuwaiti car that we rated, but British marque expert Roger Bennington could not prepare it in time for the event. It will appear at Zoute later this year.

So far, the Monaco auctions have been soft in parts, with many cars bought cheaply for a reason, as we saw at Artcurial on Wednesday. This goes some way to explain Bonhams’ weak performance, but there’s no denying the Brits – once a stalwart of Monte Carlo classic car sales – have slipped in relation to the opposition.

It is telling that we cannot list half a dozen ‘results of note’ for this reason.

Bonhams at the Villa La Vigie, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, 10 May 2024 – results (2022)

Total gross cars: €5,789,419 (€11,522,575)
Number of cars not sold: 18 (9)
Number of cars withdrawn: 2 (0)
Total number of cars: 49 (35)
Number sold: 31 (26)
Percentage cars sold by number: 63% (74%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 28% (58%)
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 58% (46%)
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 81% (73%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 13% (23%)
Average age of cars offered: 1982 (1973)
Average price of cars sold €186,755 (€443,176)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 41% (37%)

Photos by K500