Once again I joined the live stream of the Bonhams’ Festival of Speed Sale taking place at Goodwood and thoroughly enjoyed the great banter in the online chat, as I did last year. The overall mood under the tent and in the chat seemed less somber than last year, which could be a good sign for the market. There were a few showstopping lots on consignment to note and some amazing deals were to be had, making me wish this event weren’t in another country. In this week’s Market Monday, I share the top 3 standout lots and top 5 bargains from this year’s auction.

Consignments this year were special, but perhaps not quite as special as 2024’s catalog when comparing back to back. The auction house brought a total of 60 lots to Chichester, compared to 74 cars at 2024’s sale. Of the total lots, 12 were offered at no reserve.

In total, 39 cars hammered sold to the top bidders for a sell-through-rate of 65%, a 3% increase over 2024. The house took in $12.7 million in volume with an average vehicle sale price of $325,000.

There is one absolute star from this year’s event, and we’ll get to that in due time. Bonhams had what I believe to be the first public auction of a Mercedes-AMG ONE hypercar, which was rather impressive to see. Comparables are non-existing, but the car sold for $3,317,000 including buyer’s premium, against an original sale price of between $3,240,000 to $3,780,000. This particular car was highly optioned with the Motorsport Styling Package, which is how I’d take my AMG ONE.

You might think the lowly Bugatti Veyron is outshone by the Chiron and Tourbillon these days, but they still bring big money at auction, especially when they’re barely driven. Bonhams sold a lovely Mocca Brown over White Coffee example at the Festival of Speed Sale, thought it is located outside of the country. Regardless, it hammered for around $2.1M after buyer’s premium against a market average of $1.6M, setting a new world record for the model.

Overshadowing both of these results, amusingly, might be the 1992 Mazda RX-7 Veilside Fortune that sold for a staggering $1,236,000 against an estimate of between $390,000-$546,000. Of course, this isn’t your average RX-7, rather one modified by Veilside specifically for use as a stunt car (versus a drift car) in the movie The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. This is actually one of my favorite of the FATF films, and I’m not alone as it has an underrated reputation among many. This is definitely my standout sale of the event, owing mostly to its realized price compared to the house estimate.

Unsurprisingly, the most attractive deals were once again British cars, it is a sale in England, after all. We just continue to see a lack of excitement and interest that persists into the current market. A real shame, as British brands boast both tremendous heritage and distinctive style.

I felt this car was a massive deal, considering it was the top spec and the daily driver of the man who designed the car in the first place, Ian Callum. He’s a legend in the automotive design world, and I was shocked to see this car sell for below market average. I call this one well bought, indeed.

The Virage is a polarizing car, being a bit of a bodybuilder in a British suit, but it’s undeniably an Aston Martin, if you’re old enough to remember the 1970s DBs. The interior is a bit old-fashioned, but Rad-era cars are in vogue right now, so I was surprised to see this beast sell for what is basically market value. It was claimed to be an 18,000km car, but an odometer glitch had it reading 65,000kms, which may have scared away serious bidders.

Here we have yet another Aston, and in my opinion the truly closest you can get to the Goldfinger car driven by Bond, since the movie car was a DB4 modified to look like a DB5. Presented in rather nice condition and in original Vantage spec, I expected more. The car sold for just $466,000. Any DB5 under half a million is a good buy. Congrats to the new owner.

One of the prettiest cars ever built by any manufacturer, in my humble opinion, the Chapman-era Lotus Elite featured the world’s first fiberglass monocoque tub, a fully independent suspension with disc brakes, and a 112mph top speed, all in the early 1960s. This car’s sale price is mostly due to its status as a rough condition car with an engine swap (albeit to a more potent twin cam). It sold at no reserve for $34,313.

I was kind of surprised to see this car in the catalog, because at least in the United States a Bentley Continental GT of this vintage is really just a massively depreciated wallet vacuum. The looks and performance are stunning, but these cars are showing their age a bit. With just 30,000 miles and in pristine condition, a winning bid of $21,835 including buyer’s premium took this home. Very, very well bought.

So what can we learn about the overall state of the market from the Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale? First, that there is perhaps some mild optimism coming back, perhaps driven by some more stability than we saw in the Spring of this year when tariffs were the talk of the town and the market was in the toilet.

Second, that optimism may or may not continue into the Fall selling season depending on whether the trade war continues to escalate. I was speaking with a fellow appraiser not too long ago, sharing our perspectives on the state of the market and the word I used to describe the current mood was “tentative.”

In my opinion, the mood is still tentative — with a touch of hope. Have a great week, everyone.

Wolf and Mare provides car finding, appraisals, and auction services for buyers and sellers of collector European cars. If you’re interested in acquiring an overseas car, give us a call or drop a line!