Something Old, Something New: Setting the Trend This Month at Goodwood

Bonhams Motoring Specialist and Head of Research Richard Stafford spotted the following trends in our most recent sale at the Goodwood Member’s Meeting:

“We have seen a general trend in recent years that Pre-War cars have been down, however two cars really bucked the trend at Goodwood. Firstly the Frazer Nash (Bonhams Cars : 1936 Frazer Nash TT Replica Roadster Chassis no. 2165 Engine no. 56338), with a pre-sale estimate of £150,000 - £200,00 which hammered at £240,000 after a bidding battle between the telephone and room bidders, the car was a fabulous example with good history and provenance, and showed that the money is still out there for sporting pre-war cars. The other car bucking the trend was the 3-Litre Bentley (Bonhams Cars : 1927 Bentley 3-Litre Sports Project Chassis no. TN1566 Engine no. TN1567), a true barn find, having been hidden away for some 50 plus years that hammered at £88,000 against a pre-sale estimate of £50,000 - £80,000.

On the modern side, we have seen in the last couple of years Mercedes-Benz SLR McLarens are doing well, have become more recognised recently with things you can do to them to update them. They spent some years in the 2010s at a lower price point after they reviewed negatively against their direct competition when new, however in recent years McLaren have released updates such as the SLR HDK and SLR by MSO, with McLaren Special Operations re-engineering these mid 2000s supercars to bring them bang up to date. The SLR Crown Edition in the Members Meeting Sale hammered at £370,000 against a pre-sale estimate of £200,000 - £300,000. The last one (of the ten built) to sell at auction was in July 2023, which hammered at £253,000, showing the uptick they have seen in the last nine months.” - Richard Stafford