London, 22nd April, 2021

A unique Rolls-Royce Silver Spectre Shooting Brake, with the world’s first infinity starlight headliner, will make its FIRST official public outing, lining up with a stunning array of collectors’ motor cars in Bonhams The Monaco Sale 'Les Grandes Marques à Monaco' on Friday 23 April, over the weekend of the Monaco Historic Grand Prix (23 – 25 April).
This bespoke motor car is the only one produced to date by renowned Dutch designer Niels van Roij, featuring an infinity starlight headliner, built by respected coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet. Based on a 2015 Rolls-Royce Wraith Grand Tourer, itself one of the world’s most exclusive motor cars, the Silver Spectre was the hand-built result of 2,500 man-hours of craftsmanship over 18 months at a cost of €300,000.

1991 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16V Group A Rally Car, estimate €380,000 – 480,000 (£330,000 – 410,000 / US$460,000 – 580,000)

The Integrale dominated rallying in the late 1980s, picking up the world championship title in 1987 and 1988. This car was campaigned by the famous Italian Jolly Club team in the livery of the Belgian oil company FINA – one of only six Lancia Delta Integrales believed to be finished as such - crewed by driver Didier Auriol and navigator Bernard Occelli, including in the 1991 Acropolis Rally in Greece where it finished in an impressive 4th place.

Following an engine overhaul in 2019, the Integrale has taken part in the Rally della Lana 2019 and the Rally Città di Torino 2020 regularity events.

M1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA 1600 Stradale, Coachwork by Carrozzeria Bertone, estimate €280,000 – 350,000 (£240,000 – 300,000 / US$340,000 – 420,000) NO RESERVE

Produced as the road variant of the competition focused Giulia Sprint GT, this GTA was prepared to the Corsa (race) specification by marque specialist Ital Auto. It was campaigned extensively in prestigious historic events such as the 2015 and 2016 Tour Auto by its previous custodian, German collector and Alfa Romeo enthusiast, Jürgen End. The GTA is now offered at NO RESERVE.


The Bonhams Monaco Sale, 'Les Grandes Marques à Monaco' will be staged in the principality as a live auction on 23 April at 14.00 at the Fairmont Monte-Carlo overlooking the famous hairpin bend of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit, which will host the Monaco Historic Grand Prix over the same weekend.

The sale marks a welcome return to the traditional Bonhams format with the auctioneer on the rostrum and a limited audience in the saleroom, in accordance with local COVID-related restrictions. In addition the auction will be livestreamed to a worldwide audience via Bonhams.com and the Bonhams app. Absentee and telephone bids are also encouraged.

Viewing
The sale preview will be staged at the Fairmont Hotel on Thursday 22 April, 10.00 to 18.00 and on Friday 23 April from 09.30.

Due to the current local COVID-related restrictions, a PCR test of less than 72 hours will be required by the Monegasque authorities at the Monaco border and by the Fairmont Hotel for auction attendees. (Clients visiting for less than 24 hours from the Maritime Alps and the Var are exempt).

The Carrrera trio is completed by a classic 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS Touring, estimate €450,000 – 550,000 (£390,000 – 470,000 / US$540,000 – 660,000). This second series RS has the correct thin steel body panels, with original rare livery of Bahia red, finished with the iconic Carrera insignia, as well as original Fuchs wheels and a period-correct Becker Grand Prix radio. A Monaco-registered car, it was extensively restored in 2006 and recently had its engine overhauled.

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1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello GTLM Competition Coupé, estimate €500,000 – 700,000 (£430,000 – 600,000 / US$600,000 – 840,000)

The first 550 Maranello built for racing was constructed for Red Racing by Enjolras (the Peugeot works rally team, with the permission of Ferrari and was initially raced in the French and Spanish GT Championships from 1999-2002, before campaigning at Le Mans with the French team XL Racing. In later years it has appeared at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and has competed in the Montreux Grand Prix Historique.

The Silver Spectre’s new coach built bodywork, stretching from the car’s A-pillars to the tailgate is topped by a light carbon-fibre composite roof to keep extra weight to a minimum. Inside the roof is finished by a statement hand-made ‘infinity starlight’ fibre-optic headliner, with stars fading towards the rear to give the impression of an endless starlit sky.

The luggage area with its chiselled lines, reminiscent of a classic speedboat, features padded leather upholstery, complementing the cabin’s interior, and is equipped with a bespoke picnic hamper trunk.
First registered in its Wraith guise to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, The Silver Spectre is offered by its second custodian who oversaw the conversion. This majestic motor car has covered fewer than 18,000 kilometres from new, and a mere 200 kilometres since its conversion.

It is now offered with an estimate of €370,000 – 550,000 (£320,000 – 470,000 / US$450,000 – 660,000).

Another one-off motor car to cross the block at Monaco is the 1949 Georges Irat Sports Two-Seater, estimate €70,000 – 100,000 (£60,000 – 86,000 / US$84,000 – 120,000), created 70 years earlier. The eponymous small-scale car maker, who had enjoyed some success in the 1920s and 30s, started work on a new car which featured a magnesium chassis and body. The final prototype, the car offered by Bonhams, was unveiled at the 1949 Paris Motor Show held in the city’s Grand Palais.

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The model was never put into production and the prototype was mothballed. Fortunately, when it was discovered at the Georges Irat factory some years later, its distinctive bodywork, crafted by the famous Parisian coachbuilder Labourdette, had survived with its characteristic cyclops headlamp and Vutotal frame-less windscreen.

The surviving bodyshell was mated with a Simca chassis and was fitted with a 1,100cc Simca engine, enabling the car to be driven and exhibited at historic motoring events. As the last representative of this historical French manufacturer, the Georges Irat is the perfect candidate for the world’s leading Concours d’Elegances.

The Bonhams Monaco Sale, 'Les Grandes Marques à Monaco' offers an exclusive selection of collectors’ motor cars spanning nearly a century of motoring and ranging from pre-war motorsport masterpieces to modern and future classics.

Leading the Bonhams grid is a rare 1936 Delahaye 135 S Compétition Court racing car, estimate €800,000 - 1,100,000 (£690,000 – 950,000 / US$960,000 – 1,300,000) which campaigned in 1930s' endurance races including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Known as ‘Buzz II’ the Delahaye was purchased new by Irish American heiress Lucy Schell, who was the first female motorsport team owner, and made its debut on track at the 1936 ‘Three Hours of Marseille’ endurance race 1936 as part of Écurie Bleu, her three-car semi-works team. The cars’ sky-blue paintwork, together with the muffled ‘buzzing’ sound of their engines, earned them the nickname Blue Buzz’.
This Delahaye competed in pre-war Grand Prix races at Donington, Pau and Commiges and endurance races such as the Belfast Tourist-Trophy before its greatest challenge, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1939. That same year, the Delahaye was rebodied in a more aerodynamic style by the respected coachbuilders Chappes Frères.

The 135 S is now offered with coachwork in the style of the Chappes Frères bodyshell, retaining its original period running gear, engine and, most importantly, the original chassis – which is a rarity for a racing car of this period. It is eligible for a host of world-class vintage racing and concours events.

Also eligible for the Le Mans Classic is this 1949 Simca Deho Barquette (barchetta), the creation of racing driver Jean Estager. He decided to transform a Simca Eight classic into a race car with a 1086cc engine prepared by Simca specialist Roger Deho and a hand-shaped aluminium body by renowned Milan based coachbuilder Motto.

The car was sold in 1951 with its new owner wasting no time in entering it into the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. Despite being entered with drivers Deblon-Daguet, the car failed to make the start line, but redeemed itself participating in various sporting events in the early 1950s, notably at Montlhéry in 1953.

The barchetta was rediscovered in the early 2000s as a barn find, but still retaining its original chassis and engine. Its next owner, an important Delahaye collector, embarked on a full restoration of the car, although keeping the interior of the driver’s door in its original condition as a reminder of how it was found. Estimate €190,000-240,000 (£160,000 – 210,000 / US$230,000 – 290,000).

Another important post-war competition car, a 1947 Cisitalia D46 Monoposto, will also cross the block in the Monaco Sale, with an estimate of €150,000 – 200,000 (£130,000 – 170,000 / US$180,000 – 240,000).

The renowned Italian marque was established by industrialist Piero Dusio who wanted to bring back motor racing to the post-war world. His travelling Cisitalia fleet featured the period’s greatest drivers such as Nuvolari, Ascari and Chiron contesting races around Europe and the wider world in these monoposto open-wheel racing cars which introduced the innovative spaceframe chassis.

This rare motor car was one of 14 examples built, of which 12 are known to survive, and is believed to be the ex-Grand Prix de Bern car, number 48, driven by Harry Schell, the first American driver to start a Grand Prix race and the son of Lucy Schell.

Early custodians included the Horschell Racing Corporation, Écurie de Paris and a succession of Australian sports car racers, before it was bought by Belgian racing driver Paul Swaelens who kept it for more than 40 years. Purchased by the vendor in 2003, this authentic Cisitalia has been fully restored, using its original engine and chassis, and is eligible for a host of prestigious events worldwide.

Leading the charge of exclusive and exotic road cars which would surely be at home parked in front of the Casino de Monte-Carlo is a supercar rarity – a 1991 Isdera Imperator 108i, estimate €500,000 – 700,000.

The Imperator was the realisation of the Mercedes-Benz design experiment of the late 1970s. Engineer Eberhard Schulz, who headed the original concept design team, formed Isdera to build his own supercars.
The 30 examples produced over nine years remained true to the original simple concept. Super-lightweight striking gullwing coachwork on a tubular steel chassis married with outrageous power from the highly-regarded Mercedes-Benz 5-litre M119 V8 engine, resulted in unrivalled performance for its time, with a top speed of 275km/h and an acceleration from 0 to 100km/h in five seconds.

The motor car offered is finished in traditional Silver Arrows paintwork, emphasising the wedge-shaped lines, with contrasting black leather interior.

When your name is Ferrari, it is not surprising that your motor car of choice should sport the famous prancing horse badge. In 1983, Piero Lardi Ferrari, the younger and only surviving son of founder Enzo, took delivery of a new 400i GT 2+2 Coupé, produced to his own specification, which is now offered in the Monaco Sale with an estimate of €65,000-95,000 (£ 56,000 - 82,000 / US$78,000 – 110,000) with NO RESERVE.

Piero inherited his father’s passion for motor cars and mechanics, gaining a degree in mechanical engineering at the Fermo Corni Institute in Modena in 1964. A year later, he was working for the family firm on the production of the Dino 206 Competizione racing car; he is now Ferrari's vice chairman. This former Ferrari of Signor Ferrari is believed to be the only 400 to feature a third seat on the rear bench and also included a desirable manual gearbox.

Former Belgian Formula 1 and sportscar racing driver Jacques Swaters and friend of the Ferrari family, was the second custodian of the 400i GT 2+2 in the 1980s. The GT 2+2 has been in the ownership of its third and current owner for more than 30 years.

Also offered is one of the first Porsches to bear the Carrera name – a 1958 356 A T2 Carerra 1500 GS Cabriolet, estimate €650,000 – 850,000 (£560,000 – 730,000 / US$780,000 – 1,000,000).
This 1950s supercar was the fastest 1.5- litre production car of its day and a formidable racetrack competitor, with a top speed of more than 193km/h.

This example is one of five examples fitted with one of the last Carrera 1500 GS Type 547/1 roller-bearing engines from new which also had the newly introduced T2 body, with coachwork by Reutter.
The 356 A was always aimed at the US market and this car was delivered new to California where it was discovered nearly 40 years later as a project. The Porsche was bought by the vendor’s father and shipped over to Belgium where it was extensively restored to its former glory.

2005 Porsche Carrera GT: the marque’s supercar for the ‘noughties’, was inspired by Porsche’s win at Le Mans with the 911 GT1 in 1998. With its carbon monocoque chassis and racing-derived 5.7 litre V10 engine producing 610bhp, the GT is capable of a 200mph top speed, with a rear wing which rises automatically at 75mph, for high-speed stability on track.

One of just 1,270 produced, this millennial Carrera, which has covered fewer than 15,000 km since new, is offered in the rare colour scheme of ‘Fayence yellow’ and with an estimate of €790,000 – 850,000 (£680,000 – 730,000 / US$950,000 – 1,000,000).