The Bonhams Monaco 2016 auction was staged 13 May at the Fairmont Monte Carlo Hotel in Monaco, resulting in €15.3 million in total sales. Returning to Monaco for the first time since 2010, Bonhams’ sale was held the same weekend as the Monaco Historic Grand Prix.
The unrestored, ex-Le Mans 24-Hour race Jaguar C-Type sports car, ‘POV 114’ sold for €7,245,000 at the 2016 Bonhams Monaco Sale, leading the British auction house’s return to the French Riviera.
James Knight, International Group Director, Bonhams Motoring, said, “Bonhams’ return to Monaco featured a refined and elegant selection of magnificent collectors’ motor cars, achieving a total €15.3 million. Following months of painstaking research, working with the best historians and notable marque specialists, Bonhams unraveled an intriguing mystery involving the unrestored Jaguar C-Type offered, correcting more than 60 years of accepted Jaguar history. Today after 53 years in private ownership, it has sold for the superb price of €7,245,000 (£5,715,580). It is wonderful to see our team’s groundbreaking work help achieve such a result.”
Bonhams’ verification began with the accepted Jaguar belief that this was the works team car which substituted at the last moment as a Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps entry in the 1954 Le Mans 24-Hour race, combining that chassis with the bodywork from an earlier Belgian entry which finished at Le Mans the previous year. However, research by Bonhams confirmed otherwise.
“The Jaguar was not at all a combination of the chassis from one car, the body from another,” continued Knight. “On further inspection, we established that the it really is the 1953 Belgian-entered Le Mans car in toto, chassis number ‘XKC 047’ – still bearing its original, complete ‘K 1047’ body – but with its chassis number merely re-stamped ‘XKC 011’ by the factory before sale in January 1955.”
Additional results in Monaco included the 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO achieving €1,817,000, a 2006 Porsche Carrera GT Roadster sold for €713,000, a 2008 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster sold for €304,750 and a 1963 Ferrari 330 America sold for €431,250 (£340,213).
A further highlight of the day’s auction was the straight-8 engined 1925 Bugatti Type 35 Grand Prix Two-Seater, first owned by ‘Bentley Boy’ Glen Kidston. Chassis 4450 was the nineteenth such Grand Prix Bugatti to be manufactured by the Molsheim factory, and boasts a racing heritage that includes drivers George Duller, Vivian Selby and Lyndon Duckett. The Bugatti sold for €1,058,000 to an auction room bidder.
The ex-Michael Schumacher and Nelson Piquet 1991-1992 Benetton-Ford B191/191B Formula 1 Racing Single Seater sold for an four-times the estimate, achieving €1,058,000 to a telephone bidder.
Bonhams Monaco 2016 – Top Five Auction Results
1. 1953 Jaguar C-Type – €7,245,000
2. 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO – €1,817,000
3. 1991-1992 Benetton-Ford B191/191B F1 – €1,058,000
3. 1925 Bugatti Type 35 Grand Prix – €1,058,000
5. 2006 Porsche Carrera GT Roadster – €713,000
For complete results, visit Bonhams Monaco.
[Source: Bonhams]
