Auction Preview: Bonhams’ 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed sale
Bonhams is once again holding its classic car auction alongside the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed. Being held June 27 at Goodwood Estate in Chichester, UK, nearly 100 automobiles are slated to cross the block during this event. After last year’s $29.7 million sale of the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196, the bar for this year has been set very high. With a large array of racing and rare sports cars, picking just a few cars to review proved to be a difficult task. Nonetheless, here are four vehicles we will be watching closely.
1965 DeTomaso Valleugna Coupe
Lot 356
Estimate: $200,000 – $270,000
Hagerty Price Guide: $60,000 – $117,800
Best known for the Mangusta and Pantera, DeTomaso had its humble beginnings with the Valleugna. Produced from 1963-67, around 50 cars are believed to have been built, making this a very uncommon car to stumble across, especially in RHD configuration like this one. Since these cars rarely come up for public sale, this should be a very interesting sale to watch.
1967 Iso Grifo SI Coupe
Lot 374
Estimate: $260,000 – $340,000
Hagerty Price Guide: $156,000 – $329,000
Take gorgeous styling by Bertone and add the legendary performance of a 327 Chevrolet V-8 and you have yourself a car that will do over 150 mph but looks good at any speed. Italian sports cars have been doing very well in the market lately and the Grifo is no exception. Over the period of just 16 months, these automobiles have experienced over a 100-percent appreciation in value. With prices steadily marching upward, we will be watching the Iso market for a while.
1975 Lamborghini Countach LP400 Coupe
Lot 337
Estimate: $770,000 – $940,000
Hagerty Price Guide: $570,000 – $865,000
The Countach is defiantly one of those cars that set the bar for styling in the 1970s. It is hard to imagine the impact this car had when it was unveiled at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. Even today, when one of these cars passes by on the road, it’s hard not to look. Buyers have remained enthusiastic for these cars over the years with early “Periscopo” rising rapidly in the market with another 1975 selling at the Greenwich Concours earlier this month for $1.21 million. We’ll be watching closely to see if Bonhams can replicate these results.
1960 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk I BT7 Competition Roadster
Lot 339
Estimate: $100,000 – $140,000
Hagerty Price Guide: $18,200 – $98,000
Goodwood wouldn’t be complete without a peek at a race car. The Austin-Healey seems to be the natural place to look. These “big Healeys” really sum up what British sports cars are all about: small, reasonable power and good handling, which translates well to the racing scene. This example was used for hill climbs and is claimed to carry race documentation from new. Although big Healey values have remained predictable over the years, documented race cars are a little more difficult to pin down a price. This is a good example to watch and see what sort of premium bidders are willing to pay for race history and documentation.
