Bonhams|Cars, Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach Golf Club. February 29, 2024
I finally got and compiled the final results for Bonhams Amelia. They’re nothing to write home about with a sale total of $6.7 million and a 65.8% sale rate. The 27 lots that didn’t sell brought hammer bids of $8.1 million The top sale, however, was a marvelous reconstruction of the 15-litre 1904 Napier L48 […]
Bonhams, Scottsdale, January 25, 2024
While the Barrett-Jackson juggernaut was juggering away over at WestWorld Bonhams was the opener for the rest of the Scottsdale auctions with its mid-day sale at the Westin Kierland. It was a curious cross-section of collector cars. While four lots were bid to $1 million or more and two of them sold – including the […]
Bonhams|Cars, Audrain, Newport, R.I., September 29, 2023
Twenty-two of the fifty-three lots in this year’s Bonhams Audrain auction were from the estate of James Messenger. Most were weak-in-the-knees gorgeous modified cars with impeccable construction, concept and presentation. The three Alfa GTs left me in awe, the things I would like my Alfa GT to be, but it isn’t and never will be. […]
Bonhams|Cars, Quail Lodge, Carmel Valley, August 18, 2023
Bonhams brought THE headline car of the Monterey Auctions to Carmel Valley, the 1967 Ferrari 412P (330P3/P4 in the old style nomenclature), like the Lola T70, a sublime blending of form and function that represents an “old style” application of intuitive aerodynamics. And it sold, on only two bids, for $27,500,000 hammer, $30,255,000 including the […]
Bonhams, Goodwood Members Meeting, April 16, 2023
Members Meeting is a fun venue, both for the on-track activities and because Bonhams brings a wide variety of intriguing cars for the auction. There really is something for everyone and, based upon the prices realized and the performance against the pre-sale estimate ranges, bidders keep their heads screwed on tight, looking through the shine […]
Bonhams, Two Generations, Middletown, RI, April 29, 2023
This was a pop-up sale to dispose of much (but not all) of the collection of a father’s and son’s decades long fascination with antique and veteran cars. The “newest” car in the sale was a 1947 Ford Super Deluxe Sportsman Convertible, the only lot built after the Second World War. That tells a story […]
Bonhams, Fernandina Beach, Florida, March 2, 2023
You wouldn’t know it from the numbers below but Bonhams would have had an over $20 million sale if they’d sold just two more cars, but that is not infrequently the case A number of lots in Bonhams sale had one or more prior appearance at auction. Some of them were described in detail at […]
Bonhams, Scottsdale, January 27, 2023
After three Covid-complicated years Bonhams returned to form on the Westin Kierland lawn in 2023 with a 125-lot sale on Friday the 27th. With an 84% sale rate and almost $30 million total changing hands there were some unusual cars like three different Ghia-bodied Fifties Chryslers, a rare OSCA, an even more rare 600 Intermeccanica […]
Bonhams, Audrain Motor Week, Newport, RI, September 30, 2022
The Audrain Motor Week is becoming a force in American collector car events, spearheaded by its backer, Nick Schorsch, and Donald Osborne, Audrain’s CEO. Based upon the first three years of the Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week (to give it its full name) a long-term plan is being implemented and, despite its events being […]
Bonhams, Quail Lodge, August 19, 2022
With a 137-lot consignment and a slow-paced auction style Bonhams still has too many lots constrained within a modest area of Quail Lodge that hasn’t changed since they began to cram cars into the same constraints four years ago. There are too many cars to be appreciated in the space (and auction block time) available […]