A 1962 AC Aceca Coupé once owned by the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming, sold for a believed record £80,000 on Friday 17 September at Bonhams’ Goodwood Revival sale. Dark blue with a red leather interior, the car is one of only six surviving Ford-powered Acecas in the world.
The Goodwood Revival sale, which realised over £3 million with 70% sold by lot, was the culmination of an excellent week for Bonhams UK Motoring Department. Within the space of six days, it has sold £5,000,000 worth of motor cars, motorcycles and automobilia. (Beaulieu Autojumble on Saturday 11 September totalled £2 million).
Another motor car once owned by a high-profile figure, a 1988 Jaguar XJ-S V12 Convertible that belonged to Sarah, Duchess of York, also featured in the Goodwood Revival sale, and sold for £23,000.
Meanwhile top prices were paid for a 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Cabriolet, at £188,500; a 1938 Lagonda V12 Drophead Coupé, which sold for £186,300; and a 1959 Aston Martin DB4 Series 1 Sports Saloon, the 26th ever produced, which made £145,600.
A collection of motor cars, the property of a titled gentleman, performed exceptionally well. A 1956 Jaguar XK140 Drophead Coupé sold for £131,300, against an estimate of £80,000 – 100,000 and ’67 ARX’ an ex-works 1962 Austin-Healey 3000 MKII Rally car fetched £113,700 having been estimated at £70,000 – 100,000.
In the automobilia sale, children’s cars proved extremely popular: a child’s Mercedes-Benz W125 smashed its pre-sale estimate of £3,000 – 5,000, selling for a remarkable £23,000, and a Jaguar D-Type children’s car sold for £19,550 against an estimate of £10,000 – 12,000.
Although bidding for the top lot in the sale, a 1953 Jaguar C-Type, fell short of its reserve on Friday, Bonhams is currently involved in on-going discussions to conclude a sale.
The replica Supermarine Spitfire owned by The Royal British Legion, which was due to be sold at Goodwood Revival, sold ahead of the auction – to a buyer who magnanimously will continue to make the aircraft available to the charity – in excess of its estimate (£50,000 – 60,000).
James Knight, the Group Head and Managing Director of Bonhams’ Motoring Department, comments: “The UK motoring team have experienced an incredibly busy period and emerged with very positive statistics. Only Bonhams could handle this type of sale schedule and it is a testament to the calibre and enthusiasm of my team and our support departments to deliver these results.”