£10.1m ‘2 VEV’ leads the pack at Bonhams’ £30.7m 2018 Festival sale

Didn’t they do well? Bonhams’ Goodwood Festival sales have been something of a mixed bag in recent years but 2018 was the exception. A sell-through rate of 63% was market-average for 2018, but 35% of cars sold above top estimate felt like a return to 1989.

At a glance:
 
* Gross on the day: £30,687,905 (2017, £10,691,110)
* Percentage sold by number on the day: 63% (2017, 64%)
* Top-selling car: 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT 'MP209' Zagato, £10,081,500 gross, £9,000,000 net (est. P.O.R.)
* Well sold? Ex-John Surtees BMW 507 for £3,809,500 all-in (£900k above top estimate). A wonderful piece of British motor racing history and a car for a true connoisseur with great affection for Big John and his exploits on two wheels and four. Its new owner fits the bill
* Well bought? If a £10m+ car can be seen as something of a ‘buy’, we’d go for ‘2 VEV’, the ex-Clark DB4GT Zagato. Despite two wrecks and a non-original engine, it’s still the real deal. At good steel SWB money, a GTO rival for 1/6th of the price. Yes, 1/6th...

Bidding on the Aston Zagato started at £7m and barely a few bids later James Knight declared he was “selling the car”. The German buyer was in the room and paid £9m hammer, enough to allow Bonhams to declare a £10m+ price with premium. Not bad for an investment of less than £5,000 some 45 years ago...

Commenting on the sale of ‘2 VEV’, Aston Martin historian Stephen Archer said:

“A price of just over £10m reflects a car that is highly esoteric with a complicated history. It was good value.”

Proceedings started with the charity sale of ‘The Bridge’ 1977 Porsche 911 and actress Sofia Helin (below, right) was on hand to launch the car. It sold for an impressive £141,500 gross.

The other sensation of the afternoon was the BMW 507 (above) gifted to John Surtees by Count Agusta (above). This one kept on going, the buyer’s representative finally winning the battle at £3.4m.

All the big cars got away on the day with the exception of the racing-spec Aston Martin DB4 GT. The ex-Shuttleworth Alfa Romeo Tipo B Monoposto (above, left) realised £4,593,500 all-in. The '007' DB5 (below) sold for £1,961,500 gross.

Bonhams at the Goodwood Festival, 13 July 2018 - amended with after-sales

Total gross cars: £31,558,309 (£10,691,110)
Number of cars not sold: 28 (32)
Number of cars withdrawn: 2 (1)
Total number of cars: 87 (88)
Number sold: 59 (56)
Percentage cars sold by number: 68% (64%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 84% (59%)
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 36% (59%)
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 54% (79%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 34% (14%)
Average year of cars offered: 1971 (1967)
Average price of cars sold: £534,887 (£190,913)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 14% (2%)

Photos by K500