Peugeot, Daimler and Napier Break Records at Bonhams

NEW AUCTION WORLD RECORDS FOR VETERAN TRIO AT LONDON 'GOLDEN AGE' SALE

An 'ahead of its time' 1898 Peugeot Type 15 8HP Twin-Cylinder Double Phaeton led a trio of record-breaking Veteran Cars in Bonhams Golden Age Sale, selling for a staggering £494,500, surpassing its top estimate and becoming the most valuable Victorian era Peugeot.

The sale, the auction house's annual celebration of the Veteran Car Run staged in Bonhams Bond Street flagship saleroom in London, realised a total of £2.86 million and was 88% sold.

The fully-restored Peugeot offered advanced (for its day) 4-speed plus reverse transmission and an early form of cruise control. Subject to a specialist nut-and-bolt restoration in the 1990s, the Peugeot took part in the 100th anniversary Veteran Car Run upon completion. It had completed the journey from London to Brighton several times since and was a past winner of the associated Regent Street Concours.

1904 Napier 15hp Rear Entrance Tonneau, sold for a record-setting £368,000 at Bonhams

The other grand dames of the sale were a 1904 Napier 15hp Rear Entrance Tonneau which achieved £368,000. This supercar of the pioneer era had been found propping up a barn by its late owner in the 1950s who restored the Napier as a labour of love. Offered from more than 66 years' single-family ownership, the motor car today set an auction world record for a Veteran Napier.

The third record was set by 'The Owl,' an 1897 Daimler Twin-Cylinder 4HP Tonneau – the oldest example of the marque still on the road and offered from 72 years of single-family ownership - which achieved £345,000, becoming the most valuable Victorian Daimler to be sold at auction.

1897 Daimler Twin-Cylinder 4HP Tonneau, sold for £345,000, another auction world record

Tim Schofield, Head of Department, Bonhams Collector Cars UK, said: "We are so pleased to have achieved such fantastic - and well-deserved - results for this exemplary trio of historic early motor cars in our Golden Age of Motoring Sale.

"It is particularly apt that the Napier should set a new auction world record in the 120th anniversary year of the marque's success in the Gordon Bennett Cup, the pinnacle of early motorsport."

All three were the subject of spirited bidding between would-be buyers in the packed saleroom and those bidding from afar on telephones and on the internet, with the successful bidders all earning applause and cheers from the Bond Street audience.

The Golden Age of Motoring Sale offered a fine selection of more than 200 lots of Veteran cars and associated automobilia, with other highlights including:

1907 Stanley EX steam-powered motor car, sold for £140,300, exceeding its top estimate. Produced by the American Stanley brothers, the eponymous motor cars were considered the premier 'steamers' to own. This restored example was in previous family ownership for 87 years, passing through three generations.

1904 Swift 7hp Two-Seater, sold for £103,500, surpassing its top estimate.
An early motor car from the former British bicycle maker which had been owned by its vendor family since 1931.

The Bonhams Collector Cars team is now gearing up for the finale to the 2022 collector car calendar: the Bond Street Sale, also hosted at the flagship London saleroom on Friday 16 December. Consignments of important collector cars are being invited. Contact [email protected] for further details.