Auction record of £2.35m for Ferrari 121 at Bonhams Gstaad

A 1955 4.4litre Ferrari 121 LM Spyder Corsa, racing two seater, made the top price at Bonhams Gstaad Sale on December 20th, at CHF 3.9m (£2.35m), achieving a new auction record for this model.

The car in question. Lot 205, came from the late Antoine Midy Collection in France and was bought post sale by a fellow European car collector.

James Knight, Head of Bonhams International Motor Car Department said: “Although the car just failed to sell under the hammer at the Palace Hotel in Gstaad, the interest expressed pre-sale remained and we have had a happy outcome following the sale.”

Bonhams hosted their annual Ferrari and other prestigious Italian marques auction sale at the magnificent Palace Hotel in the Swiss ski resort of Gstaad where clients and collectors attended from all over the world.

In the packed saleroom (at full occupancy), collectors saw a lower than average sell though rate but for those motorcars that sold, healthy prices were achieved. The 1967 Ferrari 275GTB/4 Berlinetta at CHF1,000,000, (£696,060) 1933 Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 Cabriolet by Castagna at CHF398,000 (£241,248), 1965 Ferrari 275GTS Convertible at CHF623,168 (£377,677), and the 1961 Maserati 3500GT Vignale Convertible at CHF349,168 (£211,616) being notable highlights. Automobilia continued to surprise with Lot 58, original documents relating to the Le Mans GT winning Ferrari 250GTO selling for CHF11,500 (£6,969).

James Knight, who was the auctioneer at the sale commented, ‘We were obviously touched by the instability of the current economic climate but I feel other factors came into play as well. The market is witnessing an element of re-alignment for some models, such as Daytonas and Boxers and the weakness of particular currencies inhibited some participation. This naturally meant selective bidding that affected selling percentages. However, the cars we sold made, in my view, good money. The 275GTB/4 and 3500GT Vignale Spyder at the equivalent of £605,000 and £212,000 respectively were tremendous results. Having now sold a number of other cars since the auction we are very pleased with the outcome.”

‘We look forward to 2009 and our first sale of the year at Retromobile in Paris next February where some exceptional motor cars are consigned.”