The 2024 Bonhams Goodwood Revival auction finished a rain-soaked early September weekend with barely half of the 88 vehicles on offer sold, well down from the 71 per cent sell-through rate in 2022 and the 66 per cent in 2023.
Held in conjunction with the spectacular Goodwood Revival that brings some of the most exciting historic racing in the world, this auction typically leans toward sports and racing cars and this year was no different, though many of the more interesting racing cars failed to meet reserve. However, there were still plenty of highlights and a few record prices achieved. Our colleague Chris Sharpe braved the rain to inspect cars in person and provide valuable notes on the condition of the Goodwood lots. We look at the most interesting cars in detail below.
Lot 109: 1965 Abarth-Simca GT
Sold for £117,500
Chassis no. 1360125. Rosso Alfa over black. Recent restoration, #2- condition.
Equipment: RHD. 1150cc Simca 1200S inline-4, 4-speed, Campagnolo wheels, leather-wrapped Momo steering wheel, Jaeger gauges, long nose/ducktail aluminium bodywork.
Condition: Sold by the factory to Abarth’s UK concessionaire Radbourne Racing in 1968 and since fitted with a Simca 1200S engine and converted to RHD. Professionally restored by DTR Sports Cars 2019–21 and represented as having covered 1000 miles since completion. The body has a very good finish with good panel gaps. It has clean exterior trim and smart wheels. The windscreen has a lot of delamination near the driver’s side A-pillar, but a new windscreen is included with the sale. Mechanicals look tidy and well tended. A mostly beautiful little historic racer.
Bottom line: French carmaker Simca got its start in the 1930s building Fiat-based automobiles for its home market, and Simca’s products remained closely tied to the Italian giant after World War II. The Italian ties were there even when making a sporty car, as Simca turned to Fiat tuning wizard Carlo Abarth to produce one in the early 1960s. The first product was the Abarth Simca 1300, which retained some of the underpinnings of the Simca 1000 but with a larger Abarth-built engine and a special aerodynamic body. These cars did well in small-displacement sports car racing in Europe, and soon Abarth came out with the even-quicker 1600 GT and 2000 GT. The long nose versions like this car are particularly pretty.
Only a handful of these obscure Franco-Italian sports cars have sold at auction over the past decade, with some selling in the low-six-figure range and a few with good history bringing over £200K. This result is on the low end then, likely due in large part to the valuable original Abarth engine being replaced by a more humble Simca-built unit.
Lot 148: 1922 GN ‘Akela’
Sold for £152,950
Chassis no. 3092; Engine no. 3092. Red and bare metal body over red leather. Competition restoration, #3 condition.
Equipment: RHD. 1100cc front-mounted V-twin, 2-speed transmission by chain and dog clutch, then by belt to the rear wheels, steel frame, black wire wheels, alloy body.
Condition: A former GN works car with in-period Brooklands race history and known ownership history. It is represented as one of only two overhead-cam ‘V-Drive’ GNs. The bright red bonnet paint and exposed alloy body are ageing but honest. The chassis and mechanicals all look well preserved. It looks exactly what it is, light and fast. Any Archie Frazer-Nash car holds high esteem in the UK so this one garnered interest, especially with its period Brooklands history.
Bottom line: The GN cyclecar was made in Hendon, North London, between 1910 and 1925, then in Wandsworth, London, by H.R. Godfrey (“G”) and Archibald Frazer-Nash (“N”). They were successful for a period, with 500 staff employed, making 55 cars a month. Some 1600 GNs were made under license in France, too. GN made its own 1100cc engine, using some Peugeot parts. The engine was mounted in the chassis with the crankshaft parallel to the front axle, driving through a two-speed transmission by chain and dog clutch, then by belt to the rear wheels. The two-seat car was very light, weighing only about 180kg and thus capable of 60mph.
Cyclecars, which were small automobiles that filled the gap between motorcycle and car in the early 20th century, waned in the 1920s as full-sized automobiles became more affordable. H.R. Godfrey went on to build HRG sports cars and Archibald Frazer-Nash went on to build cars bearing his own full name. Few cyclecars have been preserved, and the closest comparable sale to this GN at auction any time in recent memory is a $110,000 sale from 2014. Given a decade that has passed since then, this result makes sense, especially since it happened in the UK, where GNs and cyclecars are more widely known and appreciated.
Lot 151: 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Touring
Sold for £471,500
Chassis no. 9113601383; Engine no. 6631343. Bahia Red with black Carrera script over black leatherette with cloth inserts. Older restoration, #3- condition.
Equipment: RHD. 2687cc/210hp flat-6, 5-speed, Fuchs wheels, original radio, power windows, sunroof.
Condition: Represented as an original UK-supplied car with factory fitted electric sunroof and electric windows. In present family ownership since 1976. Represented as matching numbers. Large rust bubbles in the paint on some panel edges, particularly the rear wheel arches and door top edges. There is another rust patch above the rear lights. The wheels are very smart and the car has a clean, original-looking interior. The body needs a full strip down, sand-blast and restoration. Which leads you to think a lot of other work will be required too.
Bottom line: The ’73 Carrera RS 2.7 is a rare car in any configuration, with just 1580 built, including the 1000 needed for FIA Group 4 racing homologation. So despite this car’s flaws, the right-hand drive and UK delivery is a big, seldom seen bonus. The result reflects a serious premium for that and its long-term ownership, as in our UK price guide it shows a condition #3- car sold for condition #3+ money.
Lot 156: 1957 AC Ace
Sold for £230,000
Chassis no. AE220; Engine no. CL2329W. Damask Red over black leather. Recent restoration, #2+ condition.
Equipment: RHD. 1991cc/90hp AC inline-6, 4-speed with overdrive, black wire wheels, side curtains, hardtop.
Condition: Known history from new. Stunning paint. The wheels and chrome work are bright as a button, too. The AC boot badge is polished smooth, which is the only clue to this car’s true age. Superb gauges, dash, and controls. The floor and front bulkheads are bare aluminium, and the leather is lightly used. Full restoration started in 2016 and finished earlier this year. A mostly top-grade presentation, very impressive.
Bottom line: The AC Ace was a brilliant and successful sports car in the 1950s, particularly when fitted with the popular optional 2.0-litre straight-six borrowed from Bristol. The standard engine for the Ace, though, was AC’s own 2.0-litre six, but this was an ancient unit with roots dating back to the end of World War I. Many standard-engined Aces have been retrofitted with Bristol units, but not this one, which has a reassuringly known history, recent restoration, and rarely seen hardtop. This result is right within its £200,000–£250,000 estimate range, and should leave both parties happy.
Lot 157: 1968 Ford Escort 1.6
Sold for £195,500
Chassis no. BB48GM11978; Engine no. FVA0144. Red and gold over black. Older restoration, #3+ condition.
Equipment: RHD. 1598cc/210hp Cosworth FVA inline-4, 4-speed, bucket seat, roll cage, alloy wheels.
Condition: Group 5 racing saloon driven by Graham Hill, Jackie Oliver, Peter Arundell, and later Yvette Fontaine. Built by Alan Mann Racing. One of six Alan Mann team Escorts built-up during 1968. Best finish of second place at Brands Hatch. The contrast between the red and gold works well, and the paint finish is very good indeed. Clean, stripped-out matte black cabin with a very small, low-set bucket seat. The side windows are Perspex. The alloy wheels look right but are a little aged. Restored during the 2000s and early 2020s, and owned in the 2000s by Alan Mann himself. Retains its original body, suspension, steering rack, and wheels. Certainly not your dad’s Escort.
Bottom line: Big money for an Escort, but Alan Mann Racing is legendary for racing Fords in Britain, having campaigned everything from Anglias to GT40s. The lineup of famous drivers who piloted this Escort in period further boosted its desirability. In fact, it’s the fourth most expensive Ford Escort sold at auction, behind Princess Diana’s ’85 RS Turbo that brought £722,500 two years ago, Pope John II’s ’76 Escort, which sold for £370K in 2005, and another ’68 Alan Mann car with similar history that sold for £203,100 in 2017.
Lot 158: 1998 Porsche 911 Turbo
Sold for £614,200
Chassis no. WP0ZZZ99ZWS370750; Engine no. 61W01228. Ocean Blue over Night Blue leather. Original, #1- condition.
Equipment: LHD. 3601cc/444hp twin-turbo flat-6, 6-speed, blue wheels and callipers, strut brace, additional oil cooler, 92-liter fuel tank, fully trimmed Night Blue leather interior including switches, door latches, heater controls, and instrument bezels.
Condition: Billed as the “Last Waltz,” this is the last air-cooled 911 to leave the factory (technically, the last one built is a different car that sold to Jerry Seinfeld). Ordered new by German author Clauss Venderborg with the “WLS 2” optional upgraded engine and Special Wishes interior trim. Showing 11,029 km and still presents nearly like new. Clearly treated as the historically significant Porsche that it is.
Bottom line: The 1998 model year was the last of the 993-generation of Germany’s signature sports car, and the last year the company used air-cooled engines, making this car the last of the last ofs. Given the build date and the options, it’s one of a kind. The price is a lot, but it’s not a record for a 993 Turbo. That’s held by “Project Gold,” a 993 Turbo Classic Series built 20 years later out of OEM parts and which sold for £2.5M in 2018; the car was built to raise money for charity.
Lot 181: 1964 Austin Mini Cooper 1071 S
Sold for £69,000
Chassis no. CA2S7487629; Engine no. 9FSAH27605. Turquoise with red stripe and yellow nose. Recent restoration, #2- condition.
Equipment: 1293cc inline-4, straight-cut 4-speed, leather-wrapped steering wheel, Speedwell tachometer, period roll cage, race seat, Irvin harness, Cooper racing wheels, Dunlop Racing tires, race exhaust, Speedwell anti-roll bar.
Condition: Successfully raced in period by Anita Taylor (sister of Team Lotus driver Trevor Taylor), at Goodwood, Oulton Park, Aintree, Crystal Palace, and Brands Hatch. Upgraded with a 1275cc engine in period. Known ownership history since. Restored in 2019–20 and presented in its original Aurora Gears Racing livery. Smartly presented original colours and decals. A race bucket driver’s seat in black contrasts with the likeable grey and red original seats elsewhere. Even so, the car looks just right for Goodwood.
Bottom line: Cooper’s experience with BMC’s A-Series engine allowed it to develop the very first “Cooper S” engine, a 1071cc unit with a specially cast block, nitrided steel crankshaft, and dual SU carburettors for 70bhp and 62lbft of torque, which was more than double the output of the base 848cc Mini. The later 1275cc Cooper S was more prolific, but the 1071 model brought Mini its first two (of three) victories at the Monte Carlo Rally, in ’64 and ’65. The price for this one is over twice the price guide value, but it reflects the history and race prep. And though the result is expensive for a Mini, the car will pay for itself in event eligibility and all the on-track fun it will bring.
