1955 D-Type Jaguar
On 11 July 2008 at The Goodwood Festival of Speed in Chichester, international fine art auctioneers Bonhams set a new world record auction price for any Jaguar motor car. The 1955 Jaguar D-type Sports Racing Car ‘XKD509’ was sold to a British buyer for a magnificent $4,382,966.
This figure betters the previous world record of $3,396,475, set in 1999.
‘XKD509’ – sold on behalf of the Littlewoods Football Pools family – was the very first production D-type and its price, when sold new in 1955, was a princely £2,500.
This was Bonhams’ 17th consecutive year of holding sales at The Goodwood Festival of Speed and the result of the entire sale of 369 Lots of Sports, Competition and Collectors’ Motor Cars and Automobilia was an impressive $12m, with a percent sold-by-value rate of 71%.
Hundreds of enthusiasts packed into the sale marquee to witness the six-hour-long sale by Bonhams and several more world auction record prices being set.
The 1930 Invicta 4 ½-litre S-type Tourer ‘Scimitar’ made a new world record auction price, selling for $835,183.
A little later in the sale, The ex-works, Rosemary Smith, Roy Fidler and Andrew Cowan 1967 Sunbeam Rallye Imp set a new world record auction price for the model, with $38,922.
Chassis no. ‘R1A’ – the first prototype ERA – one of the truly iconic cars of the Vintage racing scene from 1956 to the present day – sold to a private UK collector in the saleroom for $714,733.
Group Director of Bonhams’ Motoring Department James Knight said: “Once again the results of this magnificent sale demonstrate Bonhams’ ability to source a wide selection of collectors’ motor cars and automobilia and sell them in an arena which is going to attract bidders from around the world. We achieved some very strong prices for a wide spectrum of motor cars from the $265,785 for the Léon Bollée to $364,335 for Ferrari F40GTM Berlinetta.”