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 […]
Bonhams, Goodwood Festival of Speed, June 24, 2022
Although I’ve never been to Goodwood, whether it’s the Members Meeting, the Festival of Speed or the Revival, reliable reports are that these are some of the best events of the collector car year. Goodwood is all about running the cars, whether it’s around the race course or up the hill. It’s about the drivers, […]
Bonhams, Greenwich, June 5, 2022
After a diversion in 2021 with an online sale with previews at Hagerty’s “Garage + Social” in Bedford Hills, NY, Bonhams returned to Greenwich in 2022, albeit on the parking lot of insurance company W.R. Berkley on the hillside above the Delamar Hotel and Roger Sherman Baldwin Park’s Greenwich Concours. Pulled together in weeks, Bonhams […]
Bonhams, Monaco, May 13, 2022
Bonhams returned to Monaco in 2022 during the resumption of the Monaco GP Historique, putting Covid behind them with a new location in the Fairmont Hotel. It was an auspicious start to re-establish the Monaco presence, time to begin a new tradition. The Fairmont is certainly that: First class, luxurious, even posh and part of […]
Bonhams, Westin Kierland, Scottsdale, January 27, 2022
It felt good to get back to the verdant lawns, marquees and luxury Port-a-Potties in front of the Westin Kierland for Bonhams Scottsdale auction. The ’21 event was live previewed but with socially-distanced bidding largely on line and by phone. ’22 was all here, live, populated and up close and personal. Why were there only […]
Bonhams, Goodwood Revival, September 18, 2021
Cataloging auction cars is an art requiring the cataloger to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, a Harold Arlen refrain made famous by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, among many others. There were some terrific cars in Bonhams Goodwood Revival auction in September, but a number of them had […]