At one o’clock on 7 April during the 77th Members’ Meeting at Goodwood, Bonhams will commence its customary collector car sale, and while the catalogue is perhaps not as impressive as its flagship Goodwood Festival of Speed or Quail Lodge auctions, there are still some interesting cars on offer, some of which could actually grant you entry to next year’s Members’ Meeting if their new owners are so inclined to return them to the track.
On the competition car note, we can think of worse cars in which to return to Goodwood and race at the Members’ Meeting that the Ford Capri Mk2, which was scratch-built in 2015 by Ric Wood Motorsport (est. £60,000–80,000). That said, if you’re feeling a little bit braver, the Chevrolet V8-powered 1966 McLaren M1B Can-Am car is also eligible and arguably among the quickest cars permitted to race competitively at the historic West Sussex circuit. It’s got a pre-sale estimate of £150,000–200,000.
There’s no doubting which competition car from the sale in the most significant, though – that honour goes to ‘Old Nail’, the 1971 Vauxhall Firenza in which legendary touring car driver Gerry Marshall claimed tens of victories. Offered by only its second owner and retaining its original engine, the hugely important saloon car is expected to garner £90,000–130,000 when it crosses the block on Sunday, an estimate we’d deem frankly conservative given its provenance.
We certainly wouldn’t mind joining Citroën’s centenary celebrations with either the ultra-rare right-hand-drive 1966 DS21 Décapotable (£110,000–140,000) or the funk two-tone 1974 DS23 Safari (£15,000–20,000). And on the subject of funk, how about a bright white 1969 Lamborghini Espada Series I (£80,000–120,000) with its all-important matching numbers and a huge file of bills amounting to close to 100,000 euros?
In terms of outright beauty, it would be hard to argue that the 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL ‘Gullwing’, only the 49th of some 1,400 built and estimated at £800,000–1m, does not take the crown, although admittedly, both Elton John’s old 1974 Ferrari 365 GT4 BB (£250,000–300,000) and the ultra-rare 1966 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTC (£58,000–76,000) come close.
As the so-called ‘youngtimers’ continue their march upwards in the collector car market, perhaps it’s of no surprise that there are a few intriguing examples offered by Bonhams this weekend. Take the 1992 Porsche 928 GTS, for example, which, despite not having the more desirable manual gearbox, still carries a healthy estimate of £50,000–70,000. We also rather like the 1988 BMW Alpina C2 2.7, a subtly sporty Japanese limited edition of which just 74 were produced (£25,000–45,000).
Given the stately and quintessentially British location of the Members’ Meeting sale on Sunday, it is perhaps inevitable that several stately and quintessentially British cars should pique our interest. These include the 1968 Aston Martin DB6 Volante (£480,000–580,000) and the 141st of the 200 two-door Range Rover CSKs built to celebrate the landmark model’s 20th anniversary.
Photos courtesy of Bonhams © 2019
