The Bonhams Bonmont Sale 2021 will be held as a traditional live auction on Sunday, June 20, with bids accepted from clients in the room (respecting social distancing and all local COVID-related guidelines).
The sale will also be available the Bonhams App, which provides registered bidders the opportunity to bid in real time online via Bonhams.com while watching the auctioneer and videos of cars on offer. Absentee and telephone bids are also encouraged.
Pre-sale viewing will take place at the Bonmont Golf & Country Club on June 19 and the morning of June 20.
1963 FERRARI 250 GT LUSSO BERLINETTA
“This new luxury Berlinetta has been developed from the car which allowed so many gentlemen to enjoy sports car performance. It boasts those characteristics valued by enthusiasts while also possessing the comfort required by the ladies.” – Ferrari’s brochure for the 250 GT Lusso.
Arguably the most beautiful product ever to carry the Maranello marque’s prancing horse emblem, the 250 GT Lusso debuted at the Paris Salon in October 1962. Styled by Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti, the Lusso (Luxury) combined racetrack looks with new standards of passenger comfort. Beautifully proportioned, it blended a low-slung nose, reminiscent of that of the SWB Berlinetta, with a sculpted Kamm tail by means of some of the most exquisite lines yet seen on an automobile. Slim pillars and wide expanses of glass not only enhanced the car’s outward appearance but made for excellent visibility and a pleasantly light and airy interior. “The design of the body was at once elegant and exciting and no other road Ferrari before or since has earned the same degree of enduring admiration for its aesthetics,” declared Road & Track. Find out more
NUMBER ‘180’ OF 375 PRODUCED: 2014 MCLAREN P1
Nowadays, in these increasingly environmentally-conscious times, even supercar manufacturers are expected to make at least a cursory nod in the direction of better fuel economy and reduced emissions; hence the arrival of ‘hybrid’ technology in this previously exclusively fossil-fuels-only sector of the market. This has had the effect of endowing the modern supercar with some green credentials, while at the same time bringing with it a welcome performance boost in the shape of an additional (electric) motor.
McLaren’s first offering in this expanding category was the P1, a limited-edition plug-in hybrid coupé that was first shown to the public in 2012 at the Paris Motor Show. Like its conventionally-powered 12C predecessor, the mid-engined P1 used a carbon-fibre combined body tub and roof structure – ‘MonoCage’ in factory parlance – while retaining the marque’s signature dihedral doors that had been a featured of its first road-going supercar: the F1. Find out more
2000 LAMBORGHINI DIABLO GTR
After 17 years in production, the legendary Countach was replaced by the Diablo, which on its arrival was the fastest, most advanced and most expensive Lamborghini ever built. The name ‘Diablo’ had been inspired by the world of bullfighting (the company’s emblem is a fighting bull and founder Ferruccio Lamborghini was born under the Taurus star sign). The original Diablo of the 19th Century was a bull that is said to have fought the famous toreador, El Chicorro for several hours. Diablo is also Spanish for devil.
First exhibited publicly at Monaco in January 1990, the Diablo improved on its illustrious predecessor in every way, setting a new benchmark in supercar design. Nobody can have been surprised to learn that it had been styled by Marcello Gandini, the man responsible for the Lamborghini Miura and Countach, for the family resemblance was obvious. Typically Lamborghini, the Diablo was low, wide and aggressive, and retained the ‘beetle wing’ doors first seen on the Countach. Find out more
1939 BUGATTI TYPE 57C ‘ARAVIS’ CABRIOLET
By the early 1930s Ettore Bugatti had established an unrivalled reputation for building cars with outstanding performance on road or track; the world’s greatest racing drivers enjoying countless successes aboard the Molsheim factory’s products and often choosing them for their everyday transport.
Although Bugatti is best remembered for its racing models, most of the 6,000-or-so cars produced at the Molsheim factory were touring cars of sporting character. Produced from 1934 to 1940, the Type 57 exemplified Bugatti’s policy of building fast and exciting touring cars possessing excellent handling and brakes. Find out more
1964 ASTON MARTIN DB5 SPORTS SALOON COACHWORK BY SUPERLEGGERA
“Like all classic GT cars, it combines enormous speed with comfort and the more you put into your driving, the more the car returns for your entertainment. And the DB5 really is entertaining to anyone who can exploit its outstanding performance, handling and brakes.
It will also carry four people (just) and a fair amount of luggage so the merits of family transport (if need be) have not been entirely sacrificed to speed and elegant looks.” – Motor. Find out more
Ex-Federer Mercedes is Wildcard at Bonhams Bonmont Sale
One of the Noughties’ most powerful Mercedes formerly driven by Roger Federer, one of the era’s greatest tennis players, is to be offered for the first time at auction next month (20 June) before a home crowd at the Bonhams Bonmont Sale in Cheserex, Switzerland.
The 2009 Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG Black Series was delivered new to Federer, holder of 20 Grand slam men’s singles tennis titles (an all-time record shared with Rafael Nadal), in the year he secured his first Grand Slam of all four major tennis titles, with his name being the first in the vehicle’s registration document. It has an estimate of CHF150,000 – 200,000.
One of fewer than 1000 produced, the CLK63 AMG two-door coupé was, at the time, the most powerful of the Mercedes-Benz AMG series. With its 6.2-litre engine producing 507bhp, the AMG is capable of accelerating from 0-62mph (100 kmh) in 4.7 seconds and has a limited top speed of 188mph, comfortably exceeding Federer’s fastest recorded serve of 143mph.
The AMG’s specification is as impressive as Federer’s player statistics. As a track-focused Black Variant, the suitably sporty Grand Tourer’s V8-engine is matched to a Speedshift 7-speed paddle shift automatic transmission and a mainly hand-built tuned exhaust system. Inside the stripped out interior features bucket seats front and rear and a carbon fibre fascia.
The AMG will be one of the stars when Bonhams returns to the Bonmont Golf & Country Club for its third edition of the prestigious sale. This will also be the first live sale for the auction house on the continent this year.
Paul Darvill, Bonhams European Auctions Manager, said: “There is nothing like the energy and ambience of a traditional saleroom, particularly at The Bonmont Sale, which has established itself as one of Bonhams flagship auctions.
“We are looking forward to returning to Switzerland and welcoming our Swiss clients back to our saleroom – and we are sure that the audience will welcome this AMG which will appeal to not only to motor car collectors but tennis enthusiasts and fans of Roger Federer, surely one of the world’s most well recognised sports star and a great ambassador for his native Switzerland.”
