Bonhams at Goodwood: The Weight of History

Bonhams' attempt to reverse the downward trend at the annual auction held at the Goodwood Revival did not have the desired result: on 13 September, compared to £5,818,297 last year, turnover fell to £4,886,234. Even considering that the value offered was lower than in 2024, the initial approach of offering fewer cars (71 compared to 89) to maintain high quality did not work. The estimated value of £9,066,000 was more or less consistent, in relation to the cars offered, with the £12,209,000 in 2024, and the average value per car of £127,000 instead of £137,000 could have had a strategic function.

But the market did not respond: only 39 cars were sold, equal to 54.93%, with a hammer price of £4,886,234, which was also down. Just to give an idea of the scale, the Iconic auction we talked about last week raised £8.4 million, and we are talking about an average auction.