Bonhams has announced an outstanding catalogue of cars as part of its successful annual sale at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (3-5 July 2009). Now in its 17th year, the event is recognised as the United Kingdom’s biggest celebration of motoring, with the auction (which has been in place since the event’s inception) seen as a key component to the weekend. Leading the line-up in 2009 is a 1965 Ford GT40 Endurance Racing Coupe – a period-built, modern-day, race-prepared competition car which has regularly proved itself as a competitive historic racing front-runner and race winner. The car’s most recent owner (a former three-times Group C2 endurance racing World Champion) prepared it into one of the fastest Ford GT40s on the contemporary historic racing scene. Successes include victory in the Whitsun Trophy at the 2007 Goodwood Revival Meeting, first place in 2005 for both the Tour Britannia and the Tour de Espana and class honours in every running of the biennial Le Mans Classic 2002-2008 where it notched up 11 race wins from just 13 starts. In short, the car is the finest and most competitive example of a GT40 to be offered for sale in recent times. And with such exceptional credentials, it is little wonder that the car is estimated at between £900,000-1,100,000. The GT40 is joined by a host of other exciting lots, including a 1922 Sunbeam 2-litre Strasbourg Grand Prix Works Racing Car, believed to have been driven by Kenelm Lee Guinness in the guelling French Grand Prix of that year, with his loyal mechanic Bill Perkins alongside. The Sunbeam later went on to win the Championship race and Private Competitors’ Handicap held at Brooklands. After the Second World War, the car successfully campaigned at Silverstone, Goodwood and the Prescott Hillclimb. Arguably the most attractive of all the Sunbeam racing cars, the Strasbourg Sunbeam is a covetable addition to any collection of historic racing cars, and the presence of this car on the market today for the first time in 41 years offers a rare opportunity for an enthusiast to acquire one of the few surviving British Grand Prix cars of the era. The lot is estimated at £300,000-350,000. Other prestigious cars included in the auction include a 1958 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I Drophead Coupe with coachwork by Mulliner Co, which is estimated at £210,000-240,000, a 1931 Bentley 4-Litre Coupe with coachwork by HJ Mulliner which is expected to achieve £180,000-240,000, a 1930 Aston Martin International 2/4 1½-Litre at between £80,000-90,000 and a 1973 Ferrari 246 GTS Dino which is priced between £65,000-75,000. Meanwhile Mini Cooper enthusiasts will be excited at the inclusion of two classic cars: “The ex-Paddy Hopkirk, 1963 RAC Rally Works” 1962 Mini Coooper S ‘8 EMO’ which is estimated between £80,000-100,000 and “The ex-Timo Makinen 1966 Monte Carlo Rally Works” 1965 Mini Cooper S ‘GRX 555D which is expected to reached £50,000-60,000. James Knight, International Managing Director of the Bonhams Motoring Department comments: “Although we are pleased to offer once again a diverse entry, we made a conscious effort this year to attract quality over quantity and limit duplication. We offer something to suit all tastes and pockets and I am very pleased with the line up.” Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America and in August 2003, Goodmans, a leading Australian fine art and antiques auctioneer with salerooms in Sydney, joined the Bonhams Group of Companies. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further seven throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Australia, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com.
