A 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet, an Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix Two-seater and a 1967 Lamborghini 400GT 2+2 once owned by Paul McCartney, led sales at a £7.25 million ($11.6 million) auction in the 19th annual Bonhams event at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England.
The top price of yesterday’s sale was the £606,500 ($975,000) paid by an unidentified woman in the saleroom for a 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet that had formerly been owned by the U.K.- born Grand Prix racing driver, Innes Ireland. One of two such models known to have been styled by the Italian coachbuilder Bertone, it had had originally been made for the San Francisco-based collector Edith Field. The car was recently restored to concours condition and valued at £500,000 to £700,000 ($800,000 – $1,124,000).
Another top Lot, 1924 Bugatti Type 35 Grand Prix bought for £60 in 1950 was sold at auction for £430,000 ($690,000). A well-known, competition-winning Bugatti racing car, formerly owned by past Bugatti Owners’ Club director and editor of Bugantics magazine, Mr Jack Perkins, was accompanied in the sale by another beautiful Italian car, a 1926 Bugatti Type 37 Monoposto, which made £197,300 ($317,000).
Top prices were also paid for a 1967 Lamborghini 400GT 2+2 once owned by Sir Paul McCartney, which sold for £122,500 ($197,000). McCartney was the 400GT’s first owner, according to three histories of the Italian luxury carmaker, which began producing sports models in competition with Ferrari in 1963. The four- seater 400GT was the second model made by industrialist Ferruccio Lamborghini. About 250 examples were made, said Bonhams. The Beatle may not have kept the car for more than three years, according to Stewart Skilbeck, a Bonhams motoring specialist, though the original log book hasn’t been retained. The seller, Suffolk-based collector Nic Portway, acquired the vehicle in 1979.
Bonhams’s auction, featuring 99 classic vehicles, raised £7.2 million ($11.6 million) with fees, a record for its Goodwood sales, with 85 percent of lots finding buyers. The event had been expected to raise £6.9 million to £8.6 million.
