Tag Archives: Bonhams

Mercedes 35 PS

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1910 Mercedes 35 PS Landaulette

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 2024

Photo – Bonhams

Mercedes: Wilhelm Maybach, Emil Jellinek, and Paul Daimler helped design the original Mercedes 35 HP in 1901. It was a revolutionary thing, and is often considered the first “modern car.” It’s what set Mercedes on the path of being one of the finest machines in the world. They’d team up with Benz in the 1920s.

35 PS: In 1908, a new 35 HP Mercedes appeared. While the original 35 HP model was chain driven, this new era of cars featured driveshafts. Even more modern. Built in 1908 and 1909, the 35 HP was powered by a 5.3-liter inline-four rated at, well, 35 horsepower. Top speed was around 43 mph.

This car wears landaulet coachwork, which was one of three styles offered by the factory. While it has been restored, it features a replacement engine from an earlier Mercedes displacing 8.5 liters. The body is also said to not be the original configuration. The estimate is $130,000-$250,000. More info can be found here.

Koenigsegg CCXR

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2006 Koenigsegg CCXR

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 2024

Photo – Bonhams

Koenigsegg: Christian von Koenigsegg’s insane Swedish auto manufacturer has been around for 30 years now, building some of the world’s fastest cars.

CCXR: the CCR launched in 2004 and was clocked at 241 mph. The 245-mph CCX arrived in 2006. And the CCXR debuted a year later. Just nine examples were produced through 2009. The biggest thing differentiating the CCXR from the CCX is that the twin-supercharged 4.7-liter V8 in the “R” model was modified to run on E85 or E100 ethanol. Output was rated at 1,018 horsepower. The claimed top end was 249 mph.

This car: was the first production CCX. It has had one owner since new and was converted to a CCXR in 2014. So maybe there are now 10 CCXRs running around? The estimate here is $1,800,000-$2,300,000. Click here for more info.

Bertone-Bodied FIat-OSCA

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1959 Fiat-OSCA 1500 Aerodynamica Berlinetta by Bertone

Offered by Bonhams | Newport, Rhode Island | October 2024

Photo – Bonhams

The Maserati brothers founded OSCA in 1947 and went on to build sports cars and prototypes. But the secret sauce was their tiny little four-cylinder engine, which Fiat would end up using under license. You could get a Fiat 1500 with an OSCA engine. They built just under 3,100 configured as such.

Most of them wore pretty typical-looking bodies (for the period) from Pininfarina. But because this was Italy in the 1950s, there was always the option of coachbuilding. In this case, Franco Scaglione penned the design, with Bertone carrying out the construction. Only two cars were ever fitted with this body, and this was the only one with an OSCA engine.

The 1.5-liter inline-four was capable of 104 horsepower, and this car is freshly restored. It now has an estimate of $400,000-$500,000. More info can be found here.

Bristol 405 Sedan

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1956 Bristol 405 Sedan

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 7, 2024

Photo – Bonhams

Low-production Bristol, for a rare time in their history, offered multiple models at the same time. They were the very similar 404 and 405. The 404 was only offered in two-door coupe form, while you could get a 405 in sedan or drophead coupe form.

Produced between 1953 and 1958, the two cars were sold in, obviously, limited numbers, with just 308 examples of the 405 produced, most of which were sedans (265 to be exact). Power is provided by a 2.0-liter inline-six.

This particular car has seen two long-term owners (among others) in its history and was mechanically refreshed in recent years. The 405 sedan is, perhaps, most famous as the car Peter Sarsgaard’s character drove in An Education. This example has an estimate of $46,000-$72,000. Click here for more info.

Talbot 75

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1935 Talbot 75 Sports Saloon by Darracq

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2024

Photo – Bonhams

There were French Talbots and there were British Talbots. This is an example of the latter, if you couldn’t tell by looking at it. It looks just like many other British luxury cars of the 1930s, be they from SS (Jaguar) or whoever.

The Talbot 18-70 of 1930 through 1932 was given a displacement increase of their straight-six to 2.3 liters. These cars were referred to as the Talbot 70 or 75. It’s unclear when this car was built, as Bonhams doesn’t list a model year.

It is said to have been ordered new by the British ambassador to Spain but never delivered. Its first owner bought it in 1936, and it remained in their family until 2009. It was restored in 1998 and now has an estimate of $33,000-$39,000. More info can be found here.

Force India VJM01

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2008 Force India VJM01

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, U.K. | July 2024

Photo – Bonhams

The Midland F1 team was what Jordan Grand Prix became for the 2006 season. At the end of ’06, they sold out to Spyker, who produced one car for F1: the Spyker F8-VII. During the 2007 season, Spyker was bought by Vijay Mallya, who was going to rename it Force India for 2008.

The first Force India race car chassis were actually slightly updated Spykers from the year before. They built a couple of chassis on their own too, which is what this is, apparently (chassis VJM01-05). It would’ve been powered by a 2.4-liter Ferrari V8 making 750 horsepower. Now it’s just a rolling show car with a Dexter Brown “art car” livery that was created for a 2011 charity auction.

The actual competition history for this chassis consists of:

  • 2008 Australian Grand Prix – 21st, DNF (with Giancarlo Fisichella)
  • 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix – 12th (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix – 12th (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 Spanish Grand Prix – 10th (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 Turkish Grand Prix – 20th, DNF (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 French Grand Prix – 18th (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 British Grand Prix – 17th, DNF (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 German Grand Prix – 16th (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix – 15th (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 European Grand Prix – 14th (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 Belgian Grand Prix – 17th (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 Italian Grand Prix – 20th, DNF (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 Singapore Grand Prix – 14th (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 Japanese Grand Prix – 16th, DNF (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 Chinese Grand Prix – 17th (with Fisichella)
  • 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix – 18th (with Fisichella)

The estimate here is $100,000-$150,000. Click here for more info.

British-Market Mercedes-Benz S-Type

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1928 Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-Type Four-Seat Sports Tourer by Sindelfingen

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, U.K. | July 2024

Photo – Bonhams

The Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 S-Type was produced between 1927 and 1928, with just 146 examples completed. It was a sporty car available in a variety of body styles, with the Sindelfingen-built sports four-seater being the only “factory” body style. We’ve featured one of these before.

But what makes this car different is that it is a right-hand-drive example built for the British market. And they measured things a bit differently there, so the “26/120/180” name was dropped in favor of “36/220,” which represents the RAC horsepower rating (36) and the brake horsepower output with the supercharger engaged on the 6.8-liter inline-six (220). Well, Mercedes rated it at 120 horsepower in standard tune, and 180 with the supercharger.

This car has a pretty well confirmed line of ownership back to new and has been with its current owner since 1991. It now has an estimate of $2,000,000-$3,200,000. More info can be found here.

Mercedes 10/40/65 Sports

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1924 Mercedes 10/40/65PS Sports

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, U.K. | July 2024

Photo – Bonhams

Mercedes didn’t team up with Benz until 1926. But before that, Emil Jellink’s Mercedes produced some fine cars. Finer than most Benzes. Mercedes launched the 10/40hp in 1921 and would update it to the 10/40/65hp in 1924, the model’s final year of production.

Power is provided by a 2.6-liter inline-four that was rated at 65 horsepower with the supercharger engaged. This car was sold new in Germany and remained in Romania from essentially new until 1989, with about 30 years of that on museum duty.

It was 1989 that it came back to Germany and then the U.S., where it was restored in 1991. It was originally bodied as a cabriolet and now wears “SSK-lite” sports bodywork. It has an estimate of $100,000-$180,000. Read more here.

Lancia Astura by Pinin Farina

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1939 Lancia Astura Series IV Convertible by Pinin Farina

Offered by Bonhams | Cheserex, Switzerland | June 2024

Photo – Bonhams

The Astura was one of two V8-powered cars Lancia sold during the 1930s, outlasting the Dilambda by an extra four years. It was produced from 1931 through 1939 across four series. This is a Series IV car, which were around from 1937 through the end of production.

Just 423 examples of the Series IV were built, each with power from a 3.0-liter V8 that made 82 horsepower. All 423 were long-wheelbase cars, and they also featured hydraulic brakes. These were coachbuilt cars, and this one was completed two weeks before the start of WWII and is an early example of Pinin Farina coachwork.

The rumor is that the car was owned by Mussolini at some point. It was later owned by Bernie Ecclestone. So… draw your own comparisons. It was restored in 2020 and has an estimate of $310,000-$450,000. Click here for more info.

OSCA 1600 Cabriolet

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1963 OSCA 1600 GT2 Cabriolet by Fissore

Offered by Bonhams | Monaco | May 2024

Photo – Bonhams

OSCA was founded by the Maserati brothers and produced some pretty cool cars during its short existence between 1947 and 1967. Around 1960 they introduced the 1600, which was a home-grown car powered by OSCA’s own 1.6-liter version of Lampredi’s Fiat inline-four.

Between 1960 and 1963, the company would build just 128 1600 GT models. This is one of only three cabriolets, and only two of those three had a tubular chassis. In this car, the OSCA inline-four made 105 horsepower.

This car was on Fissore’s stand at the 1963 Turin Motor Show, and it spent decades at a time across multiple collections in the U.S. and Europe. It now carries an estimate of $370,000-$430,000. More info can be found here.