A set of bound volumes of early C&SC sister publication, The Autocar which once graced Rootes boss Lord Rootes' bookshelf, doubled its lower estimate when they sold for £8750 at Bonhams’ London to Brighton auction today.
The leather-bound books, which contain the first 218 issues (November 1895-December 1899) of the weekly motoring magazine, had been expected to sell for £4-5000.
The set was one of 147 lots, including eight veteran cars, that helped the London sale house to realise a total of £694,000 at its New Bond Street headquarters.
Also strong on the automobilia front was a 1903 scrapbook (below) on the Gordon Bennett Cup Race that made £2500 – against a £800-1200 estimate – while a post card album of early motoring themes changed hands for £1875, despite Bonhams’ £600-700 prediction.
Top seller out of the car lots was an 1899 Panhard-Levassor Type M2F 6hp Wagonette (below) that crossed the block for £158,800, comfortably breaking its £130-150,000 estimate. It was sold complete with an entry to Sunday’s London to Brighton Run.
Also featuring the option of an entry to the annual pre-1905 run was a 1901 Sunbeam-Mabley (below). In the same hands since 1973, it smashed its £35-40,000 guide price to sell for a spectacular £65,300, while other estimate-busting lots included a 1902 Deckert 8hp two-seater, which was knocked down for £66,400, against a £50-55,000 prediction.
See Bonhams for more.
