Gipsy Moth bi-plane from seven-time Oscar-winning motion
picture sold for a world auction record €201,250 to an anonymous
telephone bidder in Kenya
A 1929 Bentley 6½-Litre Speed Six tourer was the top-selling lot,
realising €828,000, while a 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Vantage
cabriolet more than doubled its pre-sale estimate at €805,000.
The entire sale realised just short of €13 million from 86 motor
cars, 84 motorcycles, and more than 100 lots of automobilia, with
successful bidders from 27 countries worldwide.
The aeroplane which featured in the seven-time Oscar-winning
1985 film 'Out of Africa' is on its way back to the country after
nearly three decades, after finding a new home in Kenya at the
Bonhams auction at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on
Thursday 7th February.
The 1929 American Moth Corporation De Havilland 60GMW Gipsy
Moth bi-plane which featured in the Sydney Pollack-directed
movie starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford sold for €201,250
to an anonymous telephone bidder at the auction, held during the
capital's RĂ©tromobile week. The sale set a new world record for a
Gipsy Moth.
Bonhams' second visit to the historic automotive venue, following
a spectacular first sale in 2011, realised just short of €13 million
from 86 motor cars, 84 motorcycles and more than 100 lots of
automobilia.
In the motor car section the top lots were a 1929 Bentley 6½-litre
Speed Six Tourer that beat its pre-sale estimate to realise
€828,000, a 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Vantage cabriolet that more
than doubled its estimate at €805,000, and the 1938 Bugatti Type
57C Coupé that was formerly owned by Ettore Bugatti himself and
sold for €690,000.
Meanwhile the collection of former architect Charles H Brown
realised over €1.2 million, with the top-selling lot a 1931 Bentley
8-litre Sports tourer at €483,000. Outside the collection, a 1928
Rolls-Royce 'Playboy Roadster' that was formerly in the collection
of self-made multi-millionaire commercial real estate developer
Jerry J. Moore realised €287,500.
In the motorcycle section, two headline collections realised a
combined total of almost €600,000. Top-selling lot in the Garelli
Grand Prix Collection was a 1926 Garelli 348cc Racing
Motorcycle at €29,900, while a 1917 Indian 7hp Powerplus led the
way among the bikes of the late Claude Lesellier, selling for
€28,750.
Top motorcycle lots were a 1968 Egli-Vincent 998cc Racing
Motorcycle at €40,250, a 1952 Vincent 998cc Series-C Rapide at
€37,950, and a c.1941 Zündapp KS750 'Sahara' Motorcycle
Combination at €35,650.
Immediately after the auction, a 1925 Coventry-Eagle 980cc
Flying-8 Sidevalve was sold for €40,090.
On the automobilia side a fine cased picnic set for six persons by
G W Scott & Sons, c.1910, was the top lot at €23,750.
Meanwhile, one of only five 1:8 scale models of a Bugatti Type
57S 'rolling chassis' constructed by master craftsman Jean-Paul
Fontenelle sold for €12,500, and a Bugatti radiator realised
€6,250.
For the first time, the Motoring team was joined by the 20th
Century Decorative Arts department, which held a separate sale
at the venue. Top-selling lot was a c.1910 gilt-bronze figural lamp
cast as the famous performer Loïe Fuller by François-Raoul
Larche (1860-1912), which realised €36,250.
Philip Kantor, Head of the Mainland European Motoring
department, said: "We are delighted to have returned to the Grand
Palais, the spiritual home of not only motor cars but also
aeroplanes in the centre of Paris.
"Following a 1,200-person reception the night before, bidders
turned up in large numbers for a marathon 11-hour sale, resulting
in 80 per cent of lots sold across the board."
James Knight, Group Motoring Director, added: "The global
motoring department has enjoyed a stellar start to the year. The
highly successful Paris auction follows on from the success that
the US division recently achieved in Las Vegas (Motorcycles) and
Scottsdale (Motor Cars). Yet again motor cars were sourced for
the Paris Sale from teams on both sides of the Atlantic,
demonstrating a global approach to our blue riband Sales."
Images Peter Singhof ... www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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