May 19, 2005 Bonhams' Grandes Marques a Monaco Sale of classic, historic and collectible cars surpassed all records this year with 1972 Monaco Grand Prix-winning racing driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise's personal collection of cars leading the catalogue entries, together with fabulous Lancias from the Italian collection of Silvano Cima and supercars from a Monegasque collection. The star Lot sold was the Beltoise collection Matra-Simca MS670B sports-racing 'Barquette' with 3-litre V12-cylinder power in which Beltoise's team-mates, Henri Pescarolo and Gerard Larrousse won the 1973 Le Mans 24-Hours endurance racing classic. This magnificent and historic 220mph projectile was passed from Matra to Jean-Pierre Beltoise and it has since been lovingly preserved over many years and restored within his personal collection. The car sold to a British collector for the world record Matra price of 1,105,000 Euros.
Jean-Pierre Beltoise was present at the sale with wife Jacqueline - sister of the late Formula 1 great François Cevert - and their son Anthony. He said after this most successful sale: “I think this has been tremendous, very emotional of course because I have owned and cherished these cars for many years. Some of them were my dream cars when I was a child. But it is not too hard for me to see them go, because I know they have gone to enthusiasts who will love them as much as I have."
Silvano Cima has been perhaps the world's pre-eminent collector of outstanding Lancia cars over many years, and the sale of his personal collection by Bonhams was also highly successful, with the star Lot in this case being his ex-Duke de Montaigu 1938 Lancia Astura Sports Coupe - regarded by many as the most beautiful pre-war Lancia ever built - which sold to an Italian collector for no less than 324,000 Euros.
In the saleroom created by Bonhams within the late Prince Rainier's motor car museum overlooking Fontvieille Harbour, Monte Carlo, bidding was hectic with many new faces attracted to the world of historic, classic and collectible cars. Other significantly successful sales achieved included:* ex-Brussels Motor Show 1955 Maserati A6G/54 Berlinetta- 505,500EU* 1959 BMW 507 Roadster with hard top- 329,500EU* 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spyder America - 236,00EU* 1952 Lancia Aurelia B53 "Giardinetta" - 204,000EU* 1989 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante - 214,000EU* 1987 Aston Martin V8 Vantage- 142,500EU* 1994 Bugatti EB110GT Coupe - 225,000EU Bonhams' Monaco Sale of Automobilia and Collectibles also shone with 3,220EU paid for a fine Dexter Brown impressionist painting of Jackie Stewart in the BRM P261, 5,175EU for a rare Michele Conti 1:10 scale model of the 1990 Ferrari 641/2 Formula 1 car, 11,500EU for a Conti 1:10 model of the 1956 Lancia-Ferrari D50 GP car and no less than 6,325EU for an outstanding collection of Ferrari and other sales brochures, manuals and related literature.
With this successful conclusion to its 16th edition, the Bonhams team's annual Monaco Sale is established as the longest running and most consistently successful European sale.
Bonhams' 8-million Euro 2005 Sale has built upon the company's 5.5-million Euro success of 2004. The Bonhams promotional approach yet again ensured dynamic bidding clean across the board, not only for the acknowledged high-value historic competition cars on offer but also for some relatively humble models - such as the 1957 Fiat Multipla Marianella beach car which realised no less than 57,500EU - while automobilia again did brisk business.Bonhams' Monaco Sale 2005 totalled no less than 8-million Euros with approximately 70% of the total Lots sold on the auctioneer's hammer.
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 is the third largest and fastest growing auction house in the world. It offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further 10 throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, and Australia.
In addition Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives offering sales advice and valuation services in 14 countries. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of more than 40 Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com
The photos of remarkable objects on this page are all from the Bonhams catalogue and will all be auctioned in the coming weeks.