Bonhams, MPH and the grass on the other side…

If we also take into consideration Brooks, Bonhams is the oldest European auction house for historic cars. The Brooks auction house was founded in 1989 following the impulse of Robert Brooks, the famous auctioneer at Christie’s who, in 1987, sold the Bugatti Royale Kellner for £5.5 million, a price that broke all previous records for a historic car (remaining undefeated until 2007). Robert Brooks, along with super-collector Evert Louwman, bought Bonhams in 2000 and from that moment became chairman of the entire auction house while his company transformed into the Motor Cars department of Bonhams. This was until 2018 when the two partners sold their respective shares to the Epiris investment fund and Brooks withdrew from business, not before selling his final lot... obviously a car!