GT icons set sale records at Zoute
Bonhams achieved a total of €8.25m at its sixth annual Zoute sale in Belgium on 5 October, with the highest price going to a 1962 Aston Martin DB4. Presented in concours condition following a five-year rebuild, the matchingnumbers Series V Vantage was one of only 17 left-hand-drive cars produced with faired-in headlights, and had spent most of its life in California. It sold to a European bidder in the room for €1,212,250, establishing a new auction record for the model. Offering similarly timeless elegance and pace, a superb 1960 Ferrari 250GT Series II also set a new benchmark, the Pininfarina Coupé soaring past its pre-sale estimate of €600-800,000 to change hands for €989,000.
For fans of more avant-garde classics, few can upstage droptop versions of the iconic Citroën DS, and one such car clearly inspired bidders. One of only four produced to fuel-injected DS23 spec, the 1973 Décapotable sold for a vast €425,500. Another ’70s open-top lot to do well, meanwhile, was a Rolls-royce Silver Shadow that originally belonged to former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali. With a €40-60k pre-sale estimate, the lefthand-drive 1970 H J Mulliner Park Ward drophead went to a new home for a massive €132,250.
Other British models to capture bidders’ interest included a 1936 Bentley 4¼-litre cabriolet by Jean Antem of Courbevoie; ordered new by André Embiricos, the curvaceous Derby Bentley made €408,250. Among the more sporting machines were a 1958 AC Ace – an original left-hand-drive example with the AC engine – that was sold to a bidder in the room for €322,000, and a 1956 Austinhealey 100M that made €184,000.
Less sporty, perhaps, but still coming with impeccable competition history, was a 1954 Fiat 1100 TV. A Mille Miglia participant in both 1954 and 1955, the restored saloon sold for €150,650.