Sensing Where the Market Is Headed: Bonhams at the Festival of Speed

Bonhams' sale at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is the result of a continuous evolution to stay in the top five of UK sales by prevailing over new (often Yankee) competitors ready to undermine the Crown of England. Darwin teaches that one must fight to defend the positions achieved through evolution. In 2005, the three most expensive lots (a Bugatti Type 59, a Delage and a 4.5-litre Bentley) were all from the 1930s; ten years later in 2015, on the other hand, the top of the leaderboard was a pre-war Aston Martin Ulster, but close behind were a Porsche RS61 and an Aston Martin DB5 Convertible, both from the early 1960s but with year-old settings. This year on the podium were all three cars produced after 2000 - there is one exception but it's justified and we'll get to that - proving that the market is constantly evolving even if the Queen is always the same.

Meanwhile, some numbers: 61 cars were offered, down from 2024 when there had been 72. Those sold were 39, slightly less than the 42 of 2024, but there was a big jump from 58.33% twelve months ago to 63.93% this year. In terms of value, there was a small drop in the amount sold (from £10,916,625 to £9,372,425), which also represents a decrease in the average price from £259,920 to £240,318. Overall, a good job.