The most attention grabbing lot at Bonhams yesterday was the unrestored Mini, but top-selling honours went to a Bentley 1957 S-Series Continental.
The subtly stylish coachwork – by HJ Mulliner – was reason enough for this car’s sale price of £191,900, but this particular example had money lavished on it for work including a bare-metal respray, engine detailing, interior retrim and woodwork refurbishment, new fuel pumps and a full brake system rebuild.
Second place (in sales terms) went to another Bentley – this time a 1924 3 Litre Speed Model Tourer, which sold for £163,900. Equipped with a four-cylinder fixed-head engine, it is believed the car was fitted with its current Vanden Plas body in 1935. In 2010 it was given a revamp that included replacing the front springs, clutch, radiator, water pump, rear hubs, tyres, battery, and overhauling the carburettors, brakes and wheels.
Combining Italian good looks with an American V8 was the third-placed sale, a 1969 AC 428 Coupé that made £77,660 – more than £10,000 above estimate. The effortless style of the Frua coachwork matches the 7-litre Ford Galaxie engine’s lazy 345bhp, which provided 0-100mph in around 14.5 seconds and a top speed of over 140mph.
An ex-Keith Richards 1950 Pontiac Chieftain, a 1958 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN6 Roadster at £44,275 and a 1935 Talbot BA105 Tourer at £66,460 concluded the other big sales of the day.
