Golden Age of Motoring Results
Bonhams|Cars held their Golden Age of Motoring sale in London this past weekend. Plenty of lots were on offer for those interested in memorabilia and even an assortment of bicycles were available. In terms of motorized vehicles, Bonhams|Cars offered 14 and sold 12 of them, an 85% sell-through rate.
These cars were pre-war era and the auction was appropriately titled as the Golden Age of Motoring. Total sales of motorized vehicles came out to £1,000,500 with an average price of £83,375. Let’s take a look at a few of the top sellers from Bonhams|Cars Golden Age of Motoring.
This was an excellent opportunity for a pre-war classic car enthusiast to own a well-maintained and well-documented example of the rare Darracq marque. The brand managed to set a world land speed record in 1905 thanks to a 22 liter V8, cementing its reputation in the auto racing world.
The car offered here came from long-term ownership, having been acquired by the seller in 2006. During the consignor’s ownership it was found that this car was once part of the Sword Collection, likely sold by that collection in the late 1960s. It passed through the hands of notable collectors including Sir John Rogers and Graham White.
More recently it’s been maintained by Aston Martin expert Tim Butcher of Trinity Engineering. A complete engine rebuild was finished in 2019 and is known to have completed the London to Brighton Run following the engine rebuild.
An early model from the same firm that would eventually lead to the creation of the progenitor of the Shelby Cobra, the Sunbeam Tiger. This car benefits from a no-expenses-spared restoration that lasted several years and cost significantly more than its selling price at auction. Keeping that in mind, there’s no way to recreate this caliber of car, if one could even find another in good condition to restore, so for the right collector this was definitely well-bought in excess of its pre-auction estimate.
Although this Peugeot is currently undated, it’s the work of Ron Knight who spent years assembling the parts to restore chassis 5708. It was still being restored when he passed and it was sold to Keith Wormsley before it was offered for sale by Bonhams in 2009, not yet fully assembled.
Records from Peugeot state the chassis left their factory in 1904 and that it was equipped with a four-seat tonneau body and a twin-cylinder engine that generated 7 horsepower. It’s currently equipped with a 10 horsepower 1.8L Peugeot engine that was more commonly seen on the later Type 65 and Type 67 models, although that model engine was occasionally fitted to other Type 63A builds.
The car presents in excellent condition but will require more research to achieve its VCC dating for 1904. However, as a driver this seems to be everything one could want from a pre-war Peugeot Type 63A. For the right collector this was well-bought.