In last week’s Market Monday, we previewed two auctions from Bonhams Cars, one of which was The Bonmont Sale. Held in Cheserex, Switzerland, the sale included over 30 collector cars plus a collection of lovely motorcycles in its lineup. Quite a few of the cars were offered at no reserve, and a number of those had the potential to be imported to the United States under the 25-year rule. Read on to find out if any amazing deals were snagged this past weekend.

The Bonmont Sale is a long-running auction for Bonhams Cars, and is situated in a suitably posh location befitting the high-dollar metal on offer. Overlooking Lac Leman and adjacent to the Chateau de Bonmont, the Bonmont Golf & Country Club offers picturesque views and a top 100 golf course if you’re into that kind of thing. Personally, my favorite use for a fairway is for the display of beautiful cars.

The sell-through rate for the auction’s total of 46 listings (including vehicles of the two-wheeled variety) was a respectable 74%, perhaps helped by the number of lots sold at no reserve. Total sales volume was $9 million USD, with the average sale price standing at $196,574. Since quite a few of the tastiest lots were not available to those of us in the US, we’ll focus on my picks of cars built prior to 1999 for this review.

I sadly don’t have the time to delve deeply into the convoluted history of this lovely Bugatti Type 43, but let’s just say that it appears to suffer from the George Washington’s axe effect. Having been rebuilt over the years after much neglect—including being chained to a tree—this Type 43 was never going to bring the value of more original cars, which trade in the $1M US range.

If, like me, you crave the pre-war Bugatti experience but are more limited in means, this rebodied and restored Bugatti was a nice buy at $503,054 including buyer’s premium.

Yet another Pre-A Porsche 356 Speedster hits the market at auction and results in a no-sale. This white on black Speedster, with a history of ownership including a noted race car driver, was in very good restored condition in its original colors. Naturally, it wore the typical aftermarket wider chrome wheels, but that’s easily changed. Estimated at $387-498K USD, this car hammered just under the low estimate at $354,381 including buyer’s premium.

At this point, I feel safe in saying the market for Pre-A Speedsters is soft this year.

As I cannot afford and will likely never be able to afford a classic Ferrari that ends with “GTO”, I find myself looking at other variants, like the GTE. Being a 2+2 is a plus for me as I tend to like the more upright, large greenhouse driving experience of a grand touring coupe. Bonus: they’re a heck of a lot cheaper than the $20M+ you need to acquire a 250 GTO.

This lovely 250 GTE in Ascot Blue over beige sold for $509,422 against an estimate of $443-664K USD.  That’s a nice deal for a totally restored 60’s Ferrari in gorgeous colors.

The Aston Martin DB6 is often overlooked in favor of everyone’s favorite Bond car, the DB5, and its predecessor the DB4. The DB6 is a bigger car, having been enlarged to provide a proper 2+2 grand touring experience, but it cuts a similarly beautiful form and has the added bonus of a pretty darn sexy Kamm-tail at the rear. The average price of a DB6 is around $280-300K USD.

The example on offer at Bonmont was a Mk2 example in metallic dark green over beige and estimated at $193-245K USD. It sold for $267,447 including buyer’s premium, a pretty fair deal for a manual transmission DB6 in driver condition.

The Urraco is one of the wedge-era Lamborghinis that is still attainable by mere mortals. This 1974 P300 model is one of only 205 made between 1974 and 1979. Basically a V8 version of the Miura, the Urraco was meant to compete with the Dino 308 and the Porsche 911. Bonham’s offering was a black over beige example in rather good condition with a tidy interior.

Estimated at $132,893-177,190USD, this car sold for a heartbreaking (for the seller) $84,055 all-in. That’s not a lot of money for a gated-shift classic Lambo. What an amazing buy for the high bidder. Perhaps the repaint in 2015 from its original Pearl Gray hurt bidding on this one.

For fun, let’s look at the car that brought the most money and the “car” that was had for the least money at The Bonmont Sale.

The most expensive car that actually met reserve and sold at Bonmont, this 2015 McLaren P1 painted in achingly beautiful Mauvine Metallic sold for $1,069,786 including buyer’s premium, or smack dab in the middle of the house estimate. A VERY close runner up was the 2021 McLaren Elva at $1,018,844.

The closest I’d ever be able to get to a 917K with an equally poor chance that I could fit inside, this 72% scale replica of Porsche’s iconic 917K sold for a scant $12,000 not including buyer’s premium. Amazingly, this little racer can reach speeds of 28mph and will technically fit an adult with the child seat removed. On second thought…

With the Pebble Beach auctions only a couple of months away, we’ll probably start previewing the August auctions from the big houses in another week or two in upcoming Market Mondays. 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!