concoursdelegance

Bonhams' 10th Anniversary Aston Martin Auction

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Auctions

On Saturday May 9th Bonhams will celebrate its 10th Anniversary auction sale at the Aston Martin Works Service facility, at the marque's spiritual home in Newport Pagnell, UK. The sale is dedicated solely to the Aston Martin and Lagonda marques, and Bonhams work closely with the Aston Martin Owner's Club who also schedule their annual International Concours d'elegance over the same weekend. Over the past decade Bonhams has sold over £16 million worth of Aston Martins and related automobilia, making them the worldwide leader in this sector.

Last year, they sold a 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Coupé for £1,079,500, a new world auction record for the model. Aston Martin Works Service is offering a "premier client package" to those looking to celebrate the 10th Anniversary sale in true style. The package includes reserved parking, entrance with catalog, morning refreshments, a delicious luncheon served in the marquee and priority reserved seating in the saleroom. Tickets are limited to 100 and cost £155 per person.

Tags: Aston Martin, AstonMartin, Bonhams, Concours delegance, ConcoursDelegance, UK

Bugatti to Celebrate 100th Anniversary with Quartet of Special-Edition Veyron Centenaires at Lake Como

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Hard to believe that with owners selling off their unique Veyrons, Bugatti is still producing new special editions. But so the case would appear to be as the most premium of premium automotive marques gears up to celebrate its 100th anniversary this weekend with not one, but four new versions of its seven-figure supercar.

Following up on the one-off Bleu Centenaire edition which Bugatti unveiled at the Geneva show last month, the new Centenaire edition is scheduled to debut at the prestigious Villa d'Este auto show on the shores of Lake Como where, as we reported earlier, Ralph Lauren will also be demonstrating his very special Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic to commemorate the marque's centenary. Each of the Veyron Centenaires pays tribute to one of Bugatti's pre-WWII driving aces, each hailing from a different country and represented by a different color: Sir Malcolm Campell's in British Racing Green, Achille Varzi in Italian Racing Red, Jean-Pierre Wimille in French Racing Blue (Bugatti's signature color) and Hermann zu Leiningen in an off-white to represent Germany. No word yet on pricing, but prospective buyers can expect to pay an extra premium over the – ahem – "ordinary" Veyron's million-euro asking price. Stay tuned for more.

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Tags: anniversary, bugatti, bugatti veyron, bugatti veyron centenaire, BugattiVeyron, BugattiVeyronCentenaire, centenaire, centennary, concours delegance, ConcoursDelegance, special edition, special edition veyron, SpecialEdition, SpecialEditionVeyron, veyron, veyron centenaire, VeyronCentenaire, villa deste, VillaDeste

The Classicist: Memories of Motoring's Golden Age

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Luxury Cars & Autos, Auctions, The Classicist

As a side note to Bonhams' classic car auction at the annual Greenwich Concours d'Elegance in Connecticut this weekend, the sale also includes some reminders of a more elegant age of motoring. In addition to the amazing automobiles on offer, there are a few rare examples of perfectly-preserved traveling cocktail, picnic and tea sets in leather cases from the 1910s and '20s.

More elegant and elaborate antecedents of the kind of picnic sets still produced by the likes of Dunhill - such as the one my colleague Rigel Gregg wrote about the other day - these are the sort of cases one's servants would put into the boot of the Rolls for a day's motoring along with a hamper of delectables from Fortnum & Mason (which are still available today - see the gallery for a picture of their $200 Regent hamper featuring champagne, truffles, paté and port).

Included in the Greenwich auction is this gorgeous Dunhill traveling cocktail set from the 1920s featuring a nickel cocktail shaker, four stacking tumblers, a glass bitters bottle with a silver plated top and three silver plated spirit flasks, in a monogrammed honey leather carrying case, est. $3,000 - $4,000. If these days it seems a bit odd that so much thought and effort went into ways of drinking and driving, remember that as often as not one's chauffeur did the actual work behind the wheel.

Gallery: Traveling in Style

Suitcased teaset by J C Vickery of Regent Street, London, 1909.

Two person picnic set by Drew & Sons, c.1909.

Tags: Asprey, Bonhams, Classic cars, ClassicCars, Cocktails, Concours dElegance, ConcoursDelegance, Dunhill, Fortnum Mason, FortnumMason, London, Luggage, Rolls-Royce

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Classic Cars on Offer at First Greenwich Concours Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Auctions

On Sunday June 8 London auction house Bonhams will stage its first ever auction in conjunction with the annual Greenwich Concours d'Elegance in Connecticut. The top-priced lots are rare racing cars prized by automotive historians, such as a 1931 Maserati Tipo 8C-2800 competition two-seater, est. $600,000 - $850,000, and a 1965 McLaren-Elva M1A Sports Racer, est. $250,000- $300,000. However, there are plenty of beautiful and highly collectible cars that one can actually drive on offer as well.

Among our favorites is this perfectly-restored British made 1956 AC Ace, est. $140,000 - 180,000, in British racing green, natch. Other highlights include: a 1963 Porsche 356B 1600 Super 90 Cabriolet, est. $110,000 - 130,000; a 1972 Ferrari 365 GTC/4 Coupe, est. $110,000 - $135,000; a 1974 Jaguar Series III V-12 XK-E Roadster, est. $50,000 - $70,000; a 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 Cabriolet, est. $100,000 - $150,000; and the steal of the sale, a 1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II Saloon, est. only $25,000 - $35,000.

Gallery: Greenwich Auto Auction