The year’s Zoute featured a brand-new Zoute Gallery: a large Pavilion-tent measuring over 7,000 m2. The pavilion served as home to all the historic cars exhibited during the Zoute Grand Prix, including the Bonhams Auction, a recurring tradition that we loved in the past years.
This year’s Zoute Sale marks the 10th anniversary of the event’s in-house auction, and Bonhams managed to bring together some truly impressive 150 lots (including cars, motorcycles and memorabilia) that will go under the hammer on Sunday. The organisers aimed to break last year’s record when the auction totalled more than 25 million euros and apparently, they did.
The organisers reported a total revenue of 27.200.000 euros. The absolute highlight was the golden 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France, also featured on the Auction’s poster. It fulfilled its role of favourite and changed hands for no less than 4.830.000 euros, the highest amount achieved for a car at the Zoute Sale.
The Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competition officially received its designation Tour de France, as the organisers allowed winners and class winners of the French car racing marathon to add the name of the race to that of the car. The Ferrari’s 250 won nine consecutive victories with the original model and then the short wheelbase version.
This car Ferrari 250 GT Competizione is the 77th Tour de France model, the last long-wheelbase TdF built by Scaglietti. Its original colour scheme was red with a beige interior, delivered to Italy in 1959 for a price of 5,500,000 Italian Lire. Both the first owner and the second and third Swiss owner entered national road races and then spent the next four decades in Switzerland. The car moved to Belgium in 2013 and received its striking golden colour during its 2016 restoration.
Speaking of 250, there was a white SWB edition, that was not included in the catalogue, and quite a few other Ferraris that sold in the range of 2-500.000 euros. The only replica was actually a race simulator, The 55,200 euro sales price would be a bargain for a Ferrari but quite an amount for a simulator.
Beyond Ferraris, the auction featured several iconic Italian brands, like the 1959 Lancia Flaminia Sport 2.5-Litre “double bubble” Coupé (did not sell), and the Maserati Sebring. There were unusually few Alfas, but the most striking was a green minivan: the 1970 Alfa Romeo ‘Autotutto’ F11 Minibus sold for 63,250 euros.
Bugatti was again well represented at the Zoute Sale, with a 1929 Bugatti Type 37 Grand Prix Two-Seater selling for 1.150.000 euros, a 1994 Bugatti EB110 GT Chassis sold also for 1,150,000 euros and a similar fate was intended for the 2006 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 that did not find a buyer.
Another impressive specimen was a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio with coachwork designed at Gangloff. This car was not listed among the auction lots, but rather a spectacle for visitors as part of the Gallery.
The best-represented brand was however Aston Martin. The most striking part of it is the Orange Collection, a selection of eight modern Aston Martins, all in tangerine orange. Aston Martin Lagonda Limited received a special commission from a private gentleman for the company’s road-going production range of their 2010 models. Each motor car is liveried in a bespoke special-order shade of Orange with a matching leather interior.
We were somewhat surprised to learn that the entire lot was sold, somewhere between 74,750 (for the Rapide) and 120,750 euros (for the DBS Volante ). But they remained far from the older models, selling north of 200 grand…
The blue DB5 topped the Aston regiment with a 598.000 euros sales price, but the second most expensive was a fairly recent specimen, a 2016 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish Zagato Coupé sold for 373,750 euros.
We also appreciated the 1987 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato Sports Saloon, one of 52 built, sold for 224,250 euros and the blue/greenish 2016 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Coupé sold for 109,250 euros.
There were a few Jaguars and Bentleys, our favourite was the 1939 Bentley La Sarthe Coupé and the Jaguar 220XJ sold for 517,500 euros..
An auction can never miss German brands and there were numerous cars from Germany. The best-selling German car was a fairly recent one: the red 2014 Porsche 918 Spyder sold for 1,207,500 euros, closely followed by a 1995 Porsche 911 Type 993 GT2 sold for 1,035,000 euros.
Quite a few Mercedes managed to land in the elite club of lots selling over half a million euros. These include mainly modern cars like an SLR and an SLS, 2 high-end G Class off-road vehicles but also a Pagoda with a new tech from Mechatronic.
Also, the high-end G Class off-road cars scored well. These cars were no ordinary cars, but the special versions with portal axes, one of them was even a six-wheeler.
Outside the ordinary, there was a fairly recent SAAB. The unique specimen was created for SAAB’s 50th anniversary in 1997. Built by Per Ekstrøm in Oslo in collaboration with SAAB Trollhattan and the Norwegian road authorities. This gag was worth 74,750 euros to somebody…
The EY gallery featured a few cars that were not part of the auction, and one of them towered over the other cars. Project Mondo G is the result of the collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and the fashion brand Moncler. It combines the characteristic features of the iconic G-Class with the fashion brand’s equally iconic puffer jacket.
The artwork was unveiled in the spring during London Fashion Week and has since been on a world tour where it is only shown to the general public at events.
Speaking of Art, the Gallery also featured an Art Car by none less than David Bowie. In 1999, Bowie was asked to design a special Mini for the brand’s 40th anniversary, among other artists.
Bowie created a chrome car, wrapping the Mini Cooper in reflective mirror plating. The only parts of the car that remained untouched from the chrome wrapping were the rear lights and the tyres.
In addition, Jaguar also joined the Gallery with a small stage dedicated to classics and luxury models, with participation from the Jaguar classic car centre from Essen, which we visited last year.
Unlike last year, Rimac exhibited its car in the Gallery, instead of the Prado tent. The Nevera is still a breathtaking car and the platform served as the basis for other brands like Pininfarina’s own Battista.
So there you are, this was an auction with some memorable moments and the Gallery offered quite a show with its exhibits.
