It was all change for the Bonhams Aston Martin Sale this year. Not only was the sale held away from Works in Newport Pagnell for the first time in 18 years, but also the catalogue itself was both smaller and filled with more affordable cars – just two lots broke the £500,000 barrier and eight of the 20 lots sold fetched below £100,000.
It was a brace of DB5s that took the spoils on the day: the three-owner Platinum 1965 DB5 Convertible hammered away at £790,000 (£886,300 incl. premium) while the Sierra Blue 1964 DB5 saloon, which was fitted with modern creature comforts such as air-conditioning and power steering, fetched £628,700 all in.
Given the less valuable nature of the catalogue, there were some attractive propositions offered. Take the 1991 Virage finished in Buckinghamshire Green, for example, a properly hand-built Aston that sold for a below-estimate £27,600. Or the one-owner manual 2008 DBS Coupé, which was surely a sound buy at £88,860.
Notable no-sales included the 2017 Vantage GT8 Coupé, the 1970 DB6 MK2 Volante, and the 1973 V8 Series 2 Sports Saloon. However, Bonhams will have been pleased with the 1954 DB2/4 Mark II Drophead Coupé project (£225,500), 1958 DB MKIII Drophead Coupé (£393,500), and the 1980 V8 Volante Convertible (£163,900).
Fittingly, the Bond Street house also brought along ‘2 VEV’, the famous DB4GT Zagato it’ll offer at its flagship Goodwood Festival of Speed sale next month. Will it become the most expensive British car ever sold at auction in Europe? We’ll be the first to let you know.
Photos: Robert Cooper for Classic Driver © 2018
