Bonhams Triumphs at Zoute 2024 Auction

I had never been to Zoute, Belgium, on the coast of Flanders, where the highly successful Zoute Grand Prix takes place annually. I understood, thanks to the quality of the cars and the wealth of opportunities for attendees, including the Bonhams auction, why people rave about it. I highly recommend visiting! Unfortunately, I'll only focus on the auction, my specialty, where I can share more interesting insights and make fewer mistakes. Comparisons to the 2023 edition should be based on percentages rather than absolute numbers, as there were 68 cars offered compared to last year's 96, with 59% being no-reserve cars, up from last year's 54%. In this context, the excellent 82.29% of cars sold last year was far surpassed, reaching an impressive 92.65%, exceeding even the major auctions at Pebble Beach! The turnover was €20,578,675, with an average price per car of €326,646, aligned with 2023. For Bonhams, this was a real success, especially considering that this figure is close to the combined totals from Pebble Beach and Goodwood auctions.

Perhaps the most remarkable statistic is that at the moment, 18 out of 63 cars sold (almost a third) exceeded the maximum estimate. Among these was the top lot: a 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss. Let's be honest, the low estimate was a bait: the last one sold for €3.4 million (a record), so how could this one be valued at only €1.5-2.5 million? Admittedly, the first thing you noticed was the color, red with red interior, which put it at a disadvantage compared to the silver (with red interior) of the other, but mostly because it came from outside the European Union, meaning duties (a total of 32% in Belgium). Either way, it was easy to predict it would exceed the estimates, and it did: €3,220,000. If we added a million in duties, it would’ve set a new record!