What will you be able to buy for £300,000 at the 79th Members’ Meeting on 10 April? Turn up at the traditional Bonhams classic car auction at Goodwood with that amount burning a hole in your pocket, and you will face a dilemma. Mistral Spyder, DB5, Lagonda, 911 Rally, or Berlinetta Boxer? Choosing between them is the problem, if a rather nice one…
This famous five from Maserati, Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari are shaping up as the five top lots at this year’s sale. And all come with presale estimates around the £300k mark. Which will you go for?
1967 Maserati Mistral 4.0-Litre Spyder, £300-400,000
Last of the six-cylinder Maseratis, with a twin-cam engine related to that of the world championship-winning 250F race car, the Mistral is the epitome of Italian two-seat grand touring. And, as here, it’s a rarity in convertible Spyder form with only 123 ever made.
This is among the last of them, a fuel-injected 4.0-litre car with five-speed manual ‘box that started life in the US and came to the UK in the early ‘80s as a restoration project. And restored it has been. The UK owner of the past 42 years, a past chairman of the Maserati Owners’ Club, entrusted the work to noted Maserati specialist Bill McGrath. And doesn’t this Frua-designed Italian thoroughbred look good on it? If you can do without the wind in the hair, there is also a Mistral coupe in the sale at a more affordable £70-90,000.
1975 Lagonda Series 1 saloon, £200-300,000
Aston Martin’s 1970s attempt to resurrect the Lagonda name saw the Aston V8 of the day stretched so two extra doors could be squeezed in. Aesthetically it works too, which must have pleased David Brown whose idea it was – he wanted to be chauffeured around in a car of his own making.
Sales-wise it didn’t work thanks to a certain oil crisis (yes, another one…). Only eight were ever made. This car was the 1975 Earls Court Motor Show exhibit and in the years since then has been fettled by renowned specialist R S Williams – including getting that firm’s 7.0-litre V8 conversion with 480PS (358kW) for what is said to be a 170mph top speed. It has done just 3200 miles since its restoration and is being offered without reserve.
1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 Rally, £200-300,000
This Porsche is well known around the world for the simple reason there aren’t many corners of the world it hasn’t been. The Porsche-authenticated rally weapon’s first outing was the 1977 London to Sydney marathon (it led all the way to Singapore).
In that marathon event, it was driven by Polish rally star Sobislav Zasada, while in a long subsequent career there’s barely been a long-distance rally without it: the Repco Reliability Trial around Australia, Australian Safari Rally, Targa Tasmania, London Sydney Marathon (again), and the East African Classic Safari Rally (with Björn Waldegaard crewing) – it’s done the lot. It’s said this car has covered more competitive kilometres than any other Porsche. It’s also well known in Goodwood, last appearing here in its famous “Waldegaard Martini” guise at the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard in 2019. We even promoted FoS one year with a video of this car!
1964 Aston Martin DB5, £280-350,000
There are a great many Astons at all price points in the sale, as we have already featured. This DB5 is the daddy of them, a highly cherished, two-owner UK car that’s been in the same ownership since 1969 when it was bought as a used car from H R Owen with 37,000 miles on the clock for £1950.
It’s been off the road since 2018 and is now in need of recommissioning. Despite that, its Dubonnet paint with fawn interior and the optional chrome wire wheels look good to us.
1974 Ferrari 365 Berlinetta Boxer 365GT4, £200-300,000
The ultimate early 1970s pin-up supercar, the Boxer was as acclaimed for its sexy Pininfarina curves as its performance. Ferrari’s first flat-12 engined model, by 1974 standards its top speed was just as off the clock as it price.
This example, in Blu Chiaro with beige Connolly leather, is a right-hand drive UK car (one of only 58). Maranello Concessionaires in Egham delivered it to its first owner with the numberplate, 77 D (since changed). It’s a matching numbers car and has done just 500 miles since a full restoration was completed in 2020 – at a cost of £94,000…
Keyword: Five incredible classics to buy at the 79MM Bonhams sale