Due to take place on Saturday 7th September 2013 at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire, Bonhams Beaulieu sale will see people bidding for collectors’ motor cars, motorcycles and “automobilia”. Last year, the sale raised £2.6 million.
We present some of the highlights of the Bonhams Beaulieu sale:
Porsche Diesel Super S308 Tractor
Image courtesy of Bonhams
With a top speed of 15mph, this 1958 tractor is probably the slowest vehicle that Porsche has ever produced. It is expected to fetch £18,000 at the auction, having been completely restored ten years ago.
Powered by a three-cylinder air-cooled engine of 2625cc producing 38bhp, it was owned by a private collector and has seen little use in recent years. According to Bonham’s, new front tyres were fitted recently and they are hopeful that the vehicle's German registration papers will be with it by time of sale.
John Entwhistle’s Old Rolls Royce
Image courtesy of Bonhams
This 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II was built specially for The Who bassist John Entwhistle. Extended at the back for containment of the musician’s Irish wolfhounds, it has a pre-sale estimate £16,000.
Owned by a private collector who purchased the car from John Entwhistle’s wife 7 years ago, it has been totally refurbished and has been used in recent years largely for hunting grouse on a Perthshire estate. It comes with various restoration invoices, current MOT/tax and Swansea V5C.
1926 3L Twin-Cam Super Sports Sunbeam
Image courtesy of Bonhams
Bonhams says: "One of only 305 manufactured between 1925 and 1930, this superb Sunbeam Twin-Cam 3-Litre Super Sports represents the very pinnacle of engineering excellence in the Vintage era.”
This car, from a prestigious British marque, has been lovingly restored and upgraded: brakes in 1978, a rebuilt engine in 1993, a Derby Bentley overdrive, new Arias forged pistons in 2004 and a rebuilt radiator in 2008. The whining noise of the timing gears has been removed, the rear axle and transmission have been rebuilt and new wire-spoked road wheels were fitted last year.
The Sunbeam also comes with vintage-looking logbook, current MOT/tax and Swansea V5C. (Estimate £130,000-£160,000)
Of the 441 lots in the sale, lots 1-250 are automobilia, lots 251-270 are motorcycles and the rest of the sale consists of cars. If your budget won’t stretch to a 1926 Sunbeam, there is one lot estimated at £40-60 and described as “A Peugeot poster after Rene Vincent, signed, depicting a Peugeot at speed, 92.5 x 67cm, framed and glazed, crack to top right hand corner of glazing, together with two Rolls-Royce framed and glazed prints and assorted motorsport posters.”
Auctioneers at Bonhams will be hoping that they manage to attract as much frantic bidding as this Ferrari Spyder, sold recently in California for a record-breaking £17.6 million.
For your own great deal on a slightly older car, browse our top selection of 'vintage' vehicles.