Carmel, Calif., 22 August, 2017

Beautiful weather and throngs of collector car enthusiasts complimented Bonhams’ 20th annual sale during Monterey Car Week on Friday.

Hosted in conjunction with The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering, in sunny Carmel Valley, the quality and breadth of this year’s auction assembly was extraordinary.

With so many exemplary cars on offer, the 1995 McLaren F1 nonetheless took center stage and attracted people from around the world who came to make and witness history. With the auction tent filled to capacity and the audience spilling onto the lawns, spectators, journalists and bidders alike applauded as the single owner supercar zoomed onto the stage. After a brisk start in bidding between four bidders that quickly rose to $14-million, a calm bidding battle resulted between two remaining bidders in the room. Suddenly, and to the amusement of all, a member of the audience shouted, “C’mon, just do it!” With the tension broken and laughter ringing out, the bid rose to its final price and achieved a new world auction record of $15,620,000 – the most valuable post-1970 automobile to ever sell at auction.

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The legendary Team Cunningham Le Mans 1963 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight Competition Coupe sold for $8-million, eclipsing the world record Bonhams set in January for a Lightweight Competition E-Type. Other impressive results included the 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB Alloy that sold for $3,080,000, the single owner 1990 Ferrari F40 that made $1,457,500, and the stunning 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America that was bought for $1,265,000.

Additionally, the multiple concours winning 1957 BMW 503 Cabriolet sold for $583,000 – making a new world auction record for the model, while the 1986 Ford RS200 Evo and the 1985 Audi Sport Quattro, each selling for $550,000 and $484,000, respectively, demonstrated the strong interest in excellent rally cars.  The historic and handsome 1913 Premier Model F also achieved a new world auction record for the model when it made $341,000, and the AC Ace-Bristol sold well when it achieved $451,000.

In all, this year’s sale achieved a respectable 80% sell-through rate for a total of $56,430,000.
Said Jakob Greisen, VP of Bonhams Motoring, “We were very pleased to see so many single owner cars consigned to the sale and we’re very pleased with the strong results.”

Bonhams’ Quail Lodge auction was also host to three very historical, very significant early racing automobiles: a 1913 Indianapolis Peugeot L45, 1908 Prinz Heinrich Benz and 1908 Mercedes Simplex. The rare trio was on display to announce the forthcoming sale of the Lindley and Ann Bothwell Collection near Los Angeles on November 11th. “With the Monterey Car Week being the most prestigious and largest attended collector car event in the world, we couldn’t imagine a more perfect venue for announcing this tremendous collection,” said Malcom Barber, Bonhams Co-Chairman, who added that more details on the Bothwell Collection will be released shortly.

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