Bonhams Scores the Top Sale with a $5M, 300-mph Bugatti
As the NFL football season spiraled toward a Taylor Swift-ified Super Bowl, the collector-car auction season kicked off with no sightings of the billionaire young singer in sight. The auctions did will even without the pop star’s seeming magic touch. According to Hagerty, the tally for the Barrett-Jackson, Bonhams, and RM Sotheby’s, Worldwide, and MAG auctions came to a about $245M, with Barrett-Jackson’s huge, 1,990-car no-reserve sale accounting for $200.3M of that.
As a comparison, Mecum’s 13-day mega-sale in Kissimmee, Florida had already registered a record $275M, with $17.9M of that for the last 1963 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider built. Mecum did not have an auction in Arizona, and neither did Gooding & Company. We previewed cars from Barrett-Jackson, RM Sotheby’s, and Bonhams. The latter scored the top sale of the week with one of reportedly eight Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ models built, selling it for $5.175M.
Barrett-Jackson logged six of Arizona’s top-10 sales, including a “regular” Chiron for $2.87M. The top car at RM Sotheby’s sale was a nearly new 2020 McLaren Speedtail for just over $2M. Two Mercedes-Benz 540K models from the Thirties landed in the overall top-10.
Top 10 Sales from January 2024 Arizona Auctions
- 2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport Coupe: $5,175,000 (Bonhams)
- 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing: $3,410,000 (Barrett-Jackson)
- 2018 Bugatti Chiron: $2,970,000 (Barrett-Jackson)
- 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster: $2,420,000 (Barrett-Jackson)
- 2020 McLaren Speedtail: $2,012,500 (RM Sotheby’s)
- 2005 Porsche Carrera GT: $1,870,000 (Barrett-Jackson)
- 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder: $1,787,500 (Barrett-Jackson)
- 2012 Lexus LFA Nürburgring Coupe: $1,650,000 (Barrett-Jackson)
- 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster: $1,545,000 (RM Sotheby’s)
- 1936 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante: $1,380,000 (Bonhams)
BARRETT-JACKSON
The customarily huge Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale sale dominated the Arizona auction landscape in January with a $200.3M total. The auction sold 1,990 cars at no-reserve. A 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing topped the sale here at $3.41M. The Gullwing, which received a documented three-year-year concours restoration by Coachwerks in Canada, featured the desirable Rudge wheels, fitted luggage, and two sets of seat cushions (leather and patterned fabric). The #3 car was a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster from the Don Williams collection, selling for $2.42M.
Modern supercars took seven of the top-10 positions at Barrett-Jackson, including a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT at #4 and an Acid Green 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder right behind it. The #6 car on the list was one of the 64 Lexus LFA Nürburgring package models made, getting a stunning $1.65M. A “regular” LFA brought $687,500 at this auction.
Of special note, the 1967 Corvette that placed ninth at this auction was not an L-88 or other rare factory model, but rather a stunning resto-mod.
Here’s how our three Barrett-Jackson preview cars did:
2019 Porsche 911 GT2 RS: $412,500
2006 Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster: $154,000
2018 McLaren 570S MSO-X: Withdrawn
Barrett-Jackson Top 10 Sales
- 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing: $3,410,000
- 2018 Bugatti Chiron coupe: $2,970,000
- 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster: $2,420,000
- 2005 Porsche Carrera GT: $1,870,000
- 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder: $1,787,500
- 2012 Lexus LFA Nürburgring: $1,650,000
- 2019 Ford GT: $1,375,000
- 2017 Ferrari F12tdf: $1,347,500
- 1967 Chevrolet Corvette roadster resto-mod: $1,100,000
- 1997 Lamborghini Diablo VT roadster: $1,100,000
RM SOTHEBY’S
The RM Sotheby’s auction rang in $22.9M in sales at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa. The auction house reported selling 68 out of 84 cars. The top sale was a 2020 McLaren Speedtail for $2,012,500. Number 69 of 106 individually ordered models produced, this was essentially a new car, showing just 54 miles at the time of listing. The car wore a McLaren Special Operations (MSO) Liquid Blue Silver paint job. The Speedtail was speedy, indeed, with a claimed 250-mph maximum velocity.
As with the Bonhams auction, the second-place car at RM Sotheby’s was a pre-WWII classic with a later re-body. The 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster, which sold for $1,545M, was originally a Cabriolet B with a body that was too far gone to save. The owner selected Cass Nawrocki of Moose Lake, Minnesota, a well-known and highly respected metalworker and coachbuilder, to create a new body in the style of the Sindelfingen Special Roadster, which was an in-house Mercedes design.
Two other notables included a 1957 Porsche 356A Outlaw by Emory taking 7th position in the auction ‘s top 10 for $747,500 – making this “outlaw” legit in anyone’s book. Right behind it, another German icon, a 1984 Audi Sport Quattro sold for $665K, exceeding the previous record for this model by $100K. The Sport Quattro, which was never offered in the U.S., was one of 214 made.
Our two preview cars, a 2018 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Coupe and a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series II, did not sell. (Post-auction, the Ferrari was on offer for a $1.65M asking price.)
RM Sotheby’s Arizona Top 10
- 2020 McLaren Speedtail: $2,012,500
- 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster: $1,545,000
- 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso: $1,352,500
- 1963 Shelby 289 Cobra: $1,215,000
- 2021 Ford GT Mk II track car: $1,006,000
- 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Sports Saloon: $797,000
- 1957 Porsche 356A Outlaw by Emory: $747,500
- 1984 Audi Sport Quattro: $665,000
- 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Berlinetta: $632,000
- 1965 Lamborghini 350 GT: $632,000
BONHAMS
The Bonhams January 25 sale at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa Pittman Lawn sold $12M worth of automobiles with an 80-percent sell-through rate, according to the auction house. The top two sales were Bugattis 86 years apart in age. A 2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ Coupe brought $5.175M. In second place, a 1936 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante sunroof coupe sold for $1.38M. This classic pre-WWII Bug was one of 18 total of this model made in 1935-1936, 10 having the sunroof.
The Chiron Super Sport 300+ earned its name by being the world’s first production car capable of exceeding 300 mph. Just 30 of these hypercars were built, and the sold car was one of eight delivered to U.S. customers. Its mileage on arrival, following all Bugatti factory testing, was listed at a little over 250 miles, and the car acquired just five more afterward.
A 1970 Maserati Ghibli Spyder with air conditioning and Maserati Classiche documentation came in third at $596,250. A 1966 Aston Martin DB6 Sports Saloon that sold without reserve for $268,800 was said to have surpassed its high estimate “due to keen bidder interest.”
Our single preview car from this auction, a 2007 Bentley Azure, sold for $80,640. That was well below the car’s $100K-$130K pre-sale estimate.
Bonhams Arizona Top 10
- 2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+: $5,175,000
- 1936 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante sunroof coupe: $1,380,000
- 1970 Maserati Ghibli 4.7 Spider: $596,250
- 1973 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS: $431,250
- 1936 Packard Twelve Coupe Roadster by Dietrich: $351,500
- 1966 Aston Martin DB6 Sports Saloon: $268,800
- 1965 Aston Martin DB6 Sports Saloon: $232,400
- 1939 BMW 327/328 Sports Cabriolet: $206,080
- 2010 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano HGTE: $198,800
- 1962 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL roadster: $184,800
