As we predicted, Bonhams sale on April 30 at the RAF Museum at Hendon, starring some wonderful Vintage and Veteran machinery from the Lucey Collection, previously displayed in the Museum of Irish Transport in Killarney, attracted huge interest and when the final hammer fell, the sale had grossed over two million pounds.
Many of the Lucey cars sold well above their top estimates, the top price being 161,000 which was achieved for two of the cars, the 1902 Wolseley 10HP Twin-cylinder rear-entrance tonneau and the wonderfully rakish 1905 Germain 5.7-litre Royal Tonneau (pictured).
We said before that it would be rather sad if the wonderful and unique Silver Stream 18/24HP Roi de Belges tourer, built for Irishman Philip Somerville-Large who dreamed of an Irish-built car to rival Rolls-Royce, left Ireland: well, it hasn't - it sold to a private Irish buyer for 144,500. Well done, sir: perhaps you were inspired by our comment?
Over in Europe, Bonhams is gearing up for an exciting sale at Monaco on May 21, with entries ranging from the stunning 1952 Jaguar XK 120 Supersonic by Ghia (370-450,000 Euro) to a 1965 Matra Bonnet Djet 5S at 10-12,000Euro (which, like several other entries, is being sold with no reserve). See www.bonhams.com for the full list.
New entries consigned for the Goodwood Festival of Speed sale on June 22 include the ex-Lord Carnegie 1954 Bentley R-type Continental in Athenian blue with Oxblood interior and just 78,000 miles from new (230-260,000), a 1937 SS Jaguar 100 2.5-litre (145-160,000), a genuine 1964 AC Cobra (220-260,000), a 1959 Costin Lister-Jaguar (400-500,000) and the original Vanwall race team transporter from 1957-1961 (10-20,000).
Malcolm McKay, Motorbase News Editor
