£2.9m pre-War Mercedes tops Bonhams’ latest Goodwood Festival sale

Over the years, the Bond St firm’s auction held in a big white tent at the rear of Goodwood House during the Festival of Speed has been something of a high point of the event. Significant sales in the past include the ex-John Surtees BMW 507, Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato ‘2 VEV’ and a Grand Prix Mercedes-Benz W196 that sold for £19.6m in 2013.

In more recent times, results for the flagship auction have been mixed, though last Friday a 1928 Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-Type was bought for £2,871,000 with premium, just beating its upper estimate. Six out of 10 cars offered found new owners.

The car was one of several coming from the Tom Scott Collection. All sold, the headlining dramatic Mercedes generated strong bidding over the telephones and from in the room.

Bonhams scaled back the ex-Middle Eastern No Reserve entries this year – in 2023, a quarter came from this source, with Aston Martins making up a third of the catalogue. It made for a more balanced offering and despite far fewer cars without reserve the sell-through was broadly in line with results at the venue since 2018. Bonhams regular, now acting in a consultancy role, James Knight (below) was at the rostrum for the majority of the auction – coming man Richard Stafford handled the rest – and the troublesome electronic display that disrupted the event last year had been replaced with a more conventional one. Next time it will be a blackboard and chalk.

The room was fullish, with many of the attendees in high spirits from a day out at one the world’s best historic and modern car events.

At a glance:

* Gross, motor cars: £10,929,275 (2023, £10,206,609)
* Percentage sold by number: 60% (2023, 62%)
* Top-selling car: 1928 Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-Type £2,871,000 gross, £2,550,000 net (est. £1.6m to £2.5m)
* Well sold? Once again an ex-Kuwait Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 'Crown Edition' Coupé performed well in the saleroom despite zero paperwork and all sorts of potential tax and customs liabilities. The red car in at No Reserve was bought for £563,500 all-in. Est. £200k to £300k    
* Well bought? The 300 SLs were only average examples but, subject to a rigorous inspection for matching numbers and original specification, not expensive

A 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari coupé was listed to appear late in the auction – never a good sign – and failed to sell. Blame its £2.8m to £3.4m estimate, out of step in today’s UK market for ‘showroom fresh’ models, and a backdrop of sharply rising finance costs for modern supercars from Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and their ilk.

As far as the two Scott Collection 300 SLs are concerned, the original silver ‘Gullwing’ (£1,135,000) was a UK market car that had been restored the old way (“if in doubt replace it. And make it shiny”) in Germany in the late-1980s, when its original blue cloth interior was replaced with (very) red leather. The £1,045,400 Roadster was presented in desirable black, though its original colour needs further investigation and was not stated in the catalogue description, which was also silent on the status of the car’s engine, gearbox and axle. These things count and clearly had an effect on the final selling price of both cars.

Other results of note:

* 1952 Frazer Nash Mille Miglia Sports Roadster, Not Sold. Historically significant car but coming from an era no longer in vogue. See also the 1950 Aston Martin 3.0-Litre DB2 Team Car, another non-seller.
* 1963 Aston Martin DB5, Not Sold. Original Snow Shadow Grey car inexplicably repainted Silver Birch as a 007 tribute. Fabric sunroof not great, a typical example of a model that can be bought any day of the week.
* 1968 Mercedes-Benz 280 SL 'Pagoda' automatic with Hardtop, £166,750. A Tom Scott car that sold well despite a colour change and swap from vinyl to leather interior.
* 1969 Aston Martin DB6 Volante Convertible, £448,500. Auto-to-manual, RHD car with needs.
* 1954 Bentley R-Type 4.9-Litre Continental Fastback, £354,200. RHD, automatic, ‘big-engine’ R-Type with comfort seats. On the money.
* 1971 Fiat Dino 2400 Spider, £132,250. Fun ‘model of the moment’ delivered new in white that needed the full treatment. It was lovely to catch up with the enthusiastic owner of 21 years who fondly recalled the repaint he commissioned in silver, all £400 of it.

Considering a general feeling in the UK trade that business is quiet, this was not a bad effort. However, looking at stand after stand outside showing modern Chinese electric cars and the hordes of dads taking sons out of school to watch the F1 cars, Red Bull-branded novelties and smoking tyres of drifting Japanese specials, you cannot help thinking the oasis of calm that is the Bonhams tent at the Festival might need a rethink for 2025.

Bonhams at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, 12 July 2024 – results (2023)

Total gross cars: £10,929,275 (£10,206,609)
Number of cars not sold: 29 (30)
Number of cars withdrawn: 0 (0)
Total number of cars: 73 (79)
Number sold: 44 (49)
Percentage cars sold by number: 60% (62%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 49% (45%)
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 59% (61%)
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 80% (88%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 14% (4%)
Average year of cars offered: 1975 (1979)
Average price of cars sold: £248,393 (£208,298)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 18% (29%)

Photos by K500