Gooding & Co Auction

IT’S HAMMER TIME

GOODING & CO’S LARGEST LONDON SALE HAS PLENTY TO TEMPT, FROM PRE-WAR BENTLEYS TO A COMPETITION PORSCHE AND FERRARIS, PLUS MORE BESIDES

HAMPTON COURT HAS BEEN THE SCENE OF high drama many times in its history, and this year’s Gooding & Co auction promises scintillating tales of its own.

It’s the auctioneer’s largest UK sale so far, and boasts 40 lots spanning more than a century of motoring, from a 1910 Stanley Model 60 Runabout to a 2012 Ruf RT 12 S; outputs of 10bhp and 770bhp, respectively.

The star lot has to be the 1960 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, which was originally part of the famed North American Racing Team assault on the 1960 Le Mans 24 Hours, with George Arents and Alan Connell Jr taking the car to fifth overall and second in class. It was later raced at the Goodwood Tourist Trophy by Pierre Dumay, and then sold to Guy Rivillon of Rivillon Coachworks. He enjoyed the car on several rallies, hillclimbs and circuit races between 1964 and 1965, with highlights including a fifth overall finish at the Coupe de Vitesse at Montlhéry and a first in class and fourth overall at the Rallye Rouen. Following stints in the collections of noted Ferrari collectors, it’s been extensively restored by Lanzante, and has an estimate of £6-7 million.

If you’re a fan of patinated Porsches, the barn-find 1956 Porsche 550 Spyder will surely tempt. Chassis 550-079 was first sold to Swiss racing driver Rita Rampinelli in red with white darts. After a brief time with the car, she passed it onto fellow Swiss driver, Heinz Schiller, who raced it across Europe. It was then sold to another racing driver, Edouard Margairaz, who used it to tackle Swiss hillclimb events.

In the 1960s, 550-079 was upgraded with factory ‘werks’ components to boost it to then-current specifications. These changes included a factory engine and RS60 bodywork. According to paperwork with the car, Swiss Formula 1 winner Jo Siffert owned the Porsche for some time, and it was also in the hands of Herbert Kuke for a while, too.

It came to the UK in 1982 to form part of an extensive collection, but aside from two appearances at the Oldtimer Grand Prix and an historic race at Zolder, it hasn’t been seen for 35 years. Described as being in ‘as found’ condition, RIGHT 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione is predicted to be the star of the auction.

FAR RIGHT ‘As found’ Porsche 550 Spyder has a long competition history.

ABOVE Proceeds from the sale of this 2CV Dolly will go to the Ukraine Voices of Children charity.

RIGHT Rare Ruf RT 12 S has 770bhp and an estimate of £350,000 to £450,000.

RIGHT Avions-Voisin C14’s hand-painted décor is inspired by a Vogue magazine cover.

RIIKO NÜÜD

GOODING & CO

GOODING & CO it’s estimated at £1.2m to £1.75m.

If your tastes are for something pre-war, then the Timeless collection comprises four exceptionally well-preserved vintage Bentleys. A 1928 Bentley 4½ Litre Sports Tourer with Vanden Plas bodywork leads the collection with an estimate of £1.2m-£1.5m, while a one-of-100 1932 Bentley Eight Litre Saloon with HJ Mulliner bodywork is expected to sell for between £900,000 and £1.2m, while another 1932 Eight Litre, this time in Vanden Plas-bodied Sports Tourer form, has an estimate of between £750,000 and £1m. The final car in this collection is a 1929 Bentley Speed Six Sports Saloon, one of just 182 cars built. It wears a Freestone & Webb body and is estimated at between £700,000 and £900,000.

Moving to more modern cars, there are two hardcore Porsche 911s. Purists will marvel at a vanishingly rare 2011 Porsche 997 GT3 RS 3.8 with just 7400km on the clock: its estimate is between £300,000 and £350,000. The RS tweaks comprise 450 RS-specific parts including a larger, 3.8-litre Mezger engine with 450bhp and an 8500rpm redline, plus a wider rear track and titanium exhaust system. The modifications for the 2012 Ruf RT 12 S are even more extensive – this 770bhp all-wheel-drive monster is one of just three built. It’s estimated at between £350,000 and £450,000.

Now for something completely different and one that’s hard to miss. The 1926 Avions-Voisin C14 Lumineuse’s elegant coachwork was inspired by Georges Lepape’s cover artwork on the first British edition of Vogue magazine, where a Sonia Delauney-inspired dress was worn by a model leaning against a Voisin painted in an Art Deco fashion. The owner chose to have the car finished in a variation of this style, hand-painted by Dutch artist Bernadette Ramaekers, which took six months to complete. It’s up for grabs with an estimate of between £275,000 and £350,000.

Keeping to the French theme, the lowest-estimated car is also one of the most important. The 1987 Citroën 2CV Dolly has had just two owners from new, and its current owner, Gregor Fisken, bought the car to transport his children to and from school as an introduction to the old car scene; it has just 19,000 miles on the clock. The consigner will donate all of the sale proceeds to the Ukraine Voices of Children to support families affected by the war in Ukraine. “I hope our Dolly can help these families and bring them some comfort, a fine testament indeed to the joy it has brought our family over the years,” said Gregor.

These are just a handful of the wonderful cars on offer. Gooding & Co’s experts will be on hand to provide advice and answer any queries – happy bidding!