What value would you have put on the Zagato-bodied Ferrari 550? A thorny question, but one we now have an answer to, as Bonhams sold the one-of-three Barchetta for £353,500 at its December, Weybridge sale.

The grey roadster is a striking beast, with just enough of Zagato’s well-known styling eccentricity to land on the ‘interesting’ side of the artistic divide, and has mechanicals based on the highly rated Ferrari 550, itself a ‘future classic’ (despite today’s production volumes at Maranello).

It wasn’t the top-selling car, though. That honour went to the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL 'Gullwing', which sold for £441,500. Breathlessly on its heels (with a good downhill slope and following wind, I would have thought) was the quite fantastic 1913 Rolls-Royce 45/50hp Silver Ghost Open Drive Limousine, achieving a lower-end-of-estimate £419,500.

Despite the 21st Century Mercedes-Benz World location, Bonhams maintained its strong position in the older car market by selling the 1904 De Dion Bouton 8hp Type V Rear Entrance Tonneau for £87,300 and the 1932 Lagonda 2-Litre Supercharged Low Chassis T3 Tourer for £43,850. In adition, a car which took our fancy when writing the sale preview, the 1924 Bentley 3 Litre Speed Model Tourer, went well at £150,000, considerably over its £130,00 upper estimate.

Back to matters Mercedes, the sale included two ‘Grossers’, the massive 600 saloon that debuted at the Frankfurt motor show in 1963. The 1971 example early in the sale sold for £29,900, but the ex-Elvis Presley 1970 limousine sold for £80,700, thus bringing a little Tennessee tinsel to Thames Ditton.

Ten of the eleven Astons in the sale found new owners – as is becoming rather predictable now – with a strong £86,200 achieved for the 1963 Lagonda Rapide, and the 1967 DB6 Mk I Volante selling for £243,500. The de rigueur ‘Barn Find’ DB4 sold for £73,000.

Elsewhere in the auction, the 1934 Lagonda M45 Tourer went for £139,000, the 1990 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Coupé for £84,000, and the genuine 1969 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Coupé a solid, top-estimate £50,450.

Prior to the motor cars, various lots of automobilia were sold. These included, offered on behalf of The Springfield Youth Club, Graham Hill's writing desk, which achieved a worthy £5520.

To see the full results, please CLICK HERE.

Text: Steve Wakefield
Photos: Bonhams