After a ten hour auction and the largest entry of motorcycles, motorcars and automobilia in the history of the National Motor Museum's Beaulieu Autojumble, Bonhams has posted a sale total of £2.8m ($4,434,140), with 93% sold by lot and 92% sold by value.
A huge contingent of Continental and Inter-Continental bidders fought against the home market, according to the auctioneer. No fewer than sixty motor cars and motorcycles were bought by overseas clients including the US, New Zealand and a number of Middle Eastern countries.
The top lot of the sale was a barn discovery 1937 Bugatti Type 57 Sports Saloon that sold for £165,500, over triple the pre-sale estimate of £40,000 - 50,000.
The lot received an overwhelming amount of interest, with ten telephone lines, six absentee bids and twelve bidders in the room, most of whom were still bidding over the top estimate.
 The barn discovery 1937 Bugatti Type 57 Sports Saloon |
Further highlights included a 1926 OM type 665S Tourer that sold for £106,000, against a pre-sale estimate of £40,000 - 50,000. A rare 1913 Isotta-Franchini 14-18hp Type FC Tourer, which had been in the same family ownership since new, sold for £78,500 - once again over double the presale estimate (£20,000 - 30,000).
The Meldonfoot collection, a historic collection of thirteen motorcars, which was largely shaped by the owner's appreciation for the mechanical genius of Henry Ford sold for a premium inclusive £260,000.
This included a 1904 Cadillac Model B 8½hp Rear-Entrance Tonneau that sold for £62,000 and a very early 1910 Ford Model T Tourer that sold for £26,000.
With the International Autojumble at Beaulieu at a close, the Bonhams Motoring department is now gearing up for its Collectors' Motor Cars and Automobilia Sale at the Goodwood Revival Meeting on September 16.
