The Month in Auctions
Senna F1 cars fly to over £5m and more than £50k is paid for a standard Ford Escort Mexico
by Richard Hudson-Evans
Buyers at the two major Monaco sales held during the Historic GP weekend spent £32.73m on 98 collector vehicles in less than 24 hours. Headlining at Bonhams were the first and last F1 cars Ayrton Senna raced round the street circuit. His 1993 GP-winning McLaren-Cosworth Ford MP4/8A was knocked down to Bernie Ecclestone in the garden of Villa La Vigie for £3.69m including premium, while his 1984 Toleman-Hart TG184 debut Monaco GP car fetched £1.42m.
In the Grimaldi Forum meanwhile, a Lamborghini Huracan signed by Pope Francis raised an almighty £712,250 for Pontiff-selected charities, but the top seller under the RM Sotheby’s gavel was a steel-bodied 1966 Ferrari 275GTB long-nose, which sold for £1.89m. The average paid per car at the Monaco sales this year was £335,057, the overall sale rate 71 per cent.
Back in Britain, nearly £4.8m was invested in the future of another 60 classics at Silverstone, where 24 Ferraris changed stables in Silverstone Auctions’ first specialist sale for the Italian marque, during which two of Jay Kay’s old cars were successfully rehomed. A world record £50,625 was paid for a standard production 1973 Ford Escort Mexico MkI during the allclassics Saturday session. The average paid per car at Silverstone was £79,395, the sale rate 62 per cent.
Historics hammered away 106 more classics for £2.69m with premium at the Brooklands Museum, the average paid £25,386, the sale rate 65 per cent.
Brightwells, meanwhile, shifted 106 of 166 cars offered for £882,662 with the average spend being £8237 per lot.