NEWS
VSCC PRINCIPAL ASSOCIATE, BONHAMS SELL EX-TAZIO NUVOLARI 1935 ALFA ROMEO FOR WORLD RECORD BREAKING PRICE OF £5.9 MILLION AT GOODWOOD REVIVAL SALE
Thursday 19 September 2013
One of the most charismatic of all the great pre-war Grand Prix racing cars - the ex-Tazio Nuvolari 1935 Alfa Romeo Tipo C 8C-35 ‘50013’ - Scuderia Ferrari Nr ‘65’ sold for £5,937,500 at Bonhams Goodwood Revival Meeting on Saturday 14 September, creating a new world record for an Alfa Romeo sold at auction.
The previous record for this marque was £4,245,118 for a 1933 Alfa Romeo 8 cylinder Monza 2300 sold in California in 2010.
The previous record for this marque was £4,245,118 for a 1933 Alfa Romeo 8 cylinder Monza 2300 sold in California in 2010.
Bonhams Goodwood Revival sale saw the iconic 330-horsepower supercharged Alfa Romeo Grand Prix car make history yet again at the scene of its best-remembered post-war exploits, Goodwood. Now ‘50013’s pre-war record as a truly classic, race-winning Alfa Romeo, campaigned by that most revered of motor racing figures, Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari, has a new laurel - a world record price.
This follows hot on the heels of the sale of the F1 Mercedes driven to victory by Juan Manual Fangio in 1954/55 which Bonhams sold at Goodwood Festival of Speed in July this year for £19.6m (the highest price for any car sold at auction). Combined with today’s result Bonhams 2013 Goodwood sales have achieved nearly £50m.
Today’s result means Bonhams now hold world records for the following 11 marques at auction: Alfa Romeo (£5,937,500, Aston Martin (£3,200,000), Austin-Healey (£843,000), Bentley (£5,000,000), Jaguar ($4,955,000/£2,655,000), Lagonda ($1,382,000/£740,000), Lotus ($998,000/£672,000), Maserati (£4,033,500), Mercedes-Benz (£19,601,500), Rolls-Royce (£4,700,000) and Talbot-Lago ($4,847,000/£2,597,000).
James Knight, Bonhams International Managing Director Collectors Motor Cars, said after the sale: “Once again Bonhams has been privileged to offer a world-beating motorcar and help it to achieve a world-beating price. Selling something like this, one is aware that history is a guest at the auction, due to the car’s past, its performance today, and what all automotive enthusiasts will say about the car in the future. It is more than a car for all of us who are passionate about cars.”
The 1935 supercharged Alfa Romeo 8C-35 was campaigned as new by Alfa’s proxy factory team, the celebrated Scuderia Ferrari – including the legendary Tazio Nuvolari, one of the greatest racing drivers of all time.
Nuvolari, then already 43 years old, was renowned for his utterly fearless and totally-committed approach to racing. He is often credited with developing the power-drift driving style, and as star of the Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo team he led Italian racing’s rearguard action against the state-backed German ‘Silver Arrow’ cars of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union.
Other top prices achieved at Bonhams Goodwood Revival sale included:
Another world record was made at this sale for a standard road-going E-Type Jaguar with a 1961 E-Type 3.8 Series 1 flat floor roadster going for £225,500. It was owned by one family since 1963.
An ex-Works, Irish Tourist Trophy, Brooklands ‘Double-Twelve, George Field, Dudley Froy 1931 Invicta 4.5-litre S-Type ‘Low Chassis’ Sports with coachwork by Cadogan sold for £953,500.
A 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV Coupe with coachwork by Carozzeria Bertone, a car delivered new to Rod Stewart, one of just seven right hand drive examples went for £919,900.
A 1961 Ferrari 250GT Series II Cabriolet with coachwork by Pininfarina, in need of restoration. It had been in the same family for 40 years, and was sold for £707,100.
The next Bonhams motoring department event is the ‘Preserving the Automobile’ sale at the Simeone Foundation Automobile Museum on Monday 7 October. For further details click here.
This follows hot on the heels of the sale of the F1 Mercedes driven to victory by Juan Manual Fangio in 1954/55 which Bonhams sold at Goodwood Festival of Speed in July this year for £19.6m (the highest price for any car sold at auction). Combined with today’s result Bonhams 2013 Goodwood sales have achieved nearly £50m.
Today’s result means Bonhams now hold world records for the following 11 marques at auction: Alfa Romeo (£5,937,500, Aston Martin (£3,200,000), Austin-Healey (£843,000), Bentley (£5,000,000), Jaguar ($4,955,000/£2,655,000), Lagonda ($1,382,000/£740,000), Lotus ($998,000/£672,000), Maserati (£4,033,500), Mercedes-Benz (£19,601,500), Rolls-Royce (£4,700,000) and Talbot-Lago ($4,847,000/£2,597,000).
James Knight, Bonhams International Managing Director Collectors Motor Cars, said after the sale: “Once again Bonhams has been privileged to offer a world-beating motorcar and help it to achieve a world-beating price. Selling something like this, one is aware that history is a guest at the auction, due to the car’s past, its performance today, and what all automotive enthusiasts will say about the car in the future. It is more than a car for all of us who are passionate about cars.”
The 1935 supercharged Alfa Romeo 8C-35 was campaigned as new by Alfa’s proxy factory team, the celebrated Scuderia Ferrari – including the legendary Tazio Nuvolari, one of the greatest racing drivers of all time.
Nuvolari, then already 43 years old, was renowned for his utterly fearless and totally-committed approach to racing. He is often credited with developing the power-drift driving style, and as star of the Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo team he led Italian racing’s rearguard action against the state-backed German ‘Silver Arrow’ cars of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union.
Other top prices achieved at Bonhams Goodwood Revival sale included:
Another world record was made at this sale for a standard road-going E-Type Jaguar with a 1961 E-Type 3.8 Series 1 flat floor roadster going for £225,500. It was owned by one family since 1963.
An ex-Works, Irish Tourist Trophy, Brooklands ‘Double-Twelve, George Field, Dudley Froy 1931 Invicta 4.5-litre S-Type ‘Low Chassis’ Sports with coachwork by Cadogan sold for £953,500.
A 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV Coupe with coachwork by Carozzeria Bertone, a car delivered new to Rod Stewart, one of just seven right hand drive examples went for £919,900.
A 1961 Ferrari 250GT Series II Cabriolet with coachwork by Pininfarina, in need of restoration. It had been in the same family for 40 years, and was sold for £707,100.
The next Bonhams motoring department event is the ‘Preserving the Automobile’ sale at the Simeone Foundation Automobile Museum on Monday 7 October. For further details click here.
