Bonhams’ £9.9m 2017 Goodwood Revival sale

Basking in the glory of its fine result at Quail Lodge last month, though lacking a world-class headliner, Bonhams still presented a well-balanced catalogue at the Revival and sold 65% by number, grossing £9,948,243.

This figure is some way off that posted in 2016 (£11.36m) and 2015 (£11.73m), although for 2017 there were another 20 or so cars in the catalogue. The days of big-ticket items offered at the Goodwood sales seems to be over, and the company’s strategy of packing its Monterey Week auction with headliners paid off – though it did leave the European cupboard bare.

At a glance:

* £9,948,243 gross (2016: £11,358,178)
* Percentage sold by number 65% (2016: 62%)
* Top-selling car the 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 'Daytona', £606,300 gross (£540,000 hammer vs £550k to £600k estimate)
* Sale of the day? Ex-Jack Sears Ford Galaxie 500 (above) goes for a whopping £471.9k all-in
* Buy of the day? Yet again, a perfectly acceptable Aston DB2 Vantage, for £130.3k including premium

The only-average figures belie the jaunty atmosphere in the saleroom, with auctioneer James Knight conducting the entire event solo, and cars finding buyers throughout proceedings with few extended runs of no-sales.

Some interesting prices were achieved for marque and model ‘standards’, none of which was exceptional: £606.3k for the ‘Daytona’; £561.5k for the R-Type Continental; £561,500 for the 1964 Aston Martin DB5. The Porsche Carrera RS 2.7 Touring did not sell.

The successes of the day were competition cars with good pedigree. Everyone loved the big ‘Jack Sears’ Galaxie and it almost doubled its upper estimate. The 1935 Lagonda LG45 4½-Litre Monte Carlo Rally Team Car also did well, selling to the Good family (which was so closely involved with the company at the time) for a healthy £371,100 gross. We’ll be looking at the pre-War market soon and this – and the £357.7k 1927 Bentley 3 Litre – is a classic example of a sporting British car currently in vogue.

A bigger catalogue is a necessity when missing half a dozen big-hitters with hefty premiums to pay the ground rent on a sizeable piece of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon’s estate. In the scheme of things, we thought the Bond St team did well this year.

Bonhams at the Goodwood Revival, 9 September 2017 (2016)

Total gross cars: £9,948,243 (£11,358,178)
Number of cars not sold: 38 (32)
Number of cars withdrawn: 1 (1)
Total number of cars: 108 (85)
Number sold: 70 (53)
Percentage cars sold by number: 65% (62%)
Percentage by value average low/high estimate: 53% (58%)
Percentage of cars sold below low estimate: 61% (51%)
Percentage of cars sold not met avge of estimates: 83% (66%)
Percentage of cars sold met/exceeded top estimate: 14% (19%)
Average value of cars sold: £142,118 (£214,305)
Average year of cars offered: 1967 (1965)
Percentage of cars offered at No Reserve: 3% (5%)

Photos by K500 and saleroom shot by kind permission of Ultimate Car Page