10 lots to watch at the Members’ Meeting Bonhams|Cars sale

1976 Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 Coupé

Estimate: £50,000 to £70,000

This Ferrari 365 was supplied new to a French customer and remains in its original Oro Kelso colour scheme with contrasting black interior. Its originality extends beyond the sharp Pininfarina-penned aesthetic, too; it’s still fitted with its original engine, gearbox and rear axle. There’s even a period carphone together with a tape deck in the centre console.

The 365 GT4 was introduced towards the end of 1972 and had a production run that lasted until 1976, making this model one of the last produced. It was the biggest and best equipped Ferrari four-seater. Only 524 were built during its short life, of which only 94 were supplied to the UK. With its oh-so-period colour scheme, this straight-edged coupé will make for a great grand tourer.

1972 Alfa Romeo Montreal Coupé

Estimate: £35,000 to £45,000

The Alfa Romeo Montreal Coupé was a concept car made real. It was derived from a Bertone styling exercise designed by Marcello Gandini that was shown at the Montreal motor show in 1967. Three years later, at Geneva, the production version was revealed, by which time the 1.6-litre four-cylinder of the show car had been upgraded to a 2.6-litre V8 derived from that in the T33 sports prototype.

Very few Montreals were delivered new to the UK, the example coming to the Members’ Meeting sale being among that number. It arrived on these shores in 1972 and was sold to its first owner in 1973. The vendor has owned the car since 1979. A restoration in the early 1980s saw the colour changed from green to the current orange, and the history file comes with a bundle of relatively recent receipts. A period of recent inactivity does mean that recommissioning work is recommended.

1949 Bentley Mark VI 4½-Litre Drophead Coupé

Estimate: £45,000 to £55,000

Rolls-Royce and Bentley began to break with the coachbuilding tradition in the 1930s and continued in that vein after World War II. Some customers, however, still wanted a coachbuilt body, and indeed that was the only way if they wanted a convertible. One such customer was Madame Denyse Dreyfuss-Mosseri, who commissioned this Bentley Mark VI 4½-Litre Drophead Coupé.

It’s a rare survivor with its original Park Ward body and still has its original powered hood. In around 2010, it underwent a bare metal restoration that also saw new trim and upholstery, and more recently power steering and electric windows. Like the Alfa Romeo above, this Bentley has been in storage so will need some work to put it back on the road.

1968 Marcos 1600 GT

Estimate: £20,000 to £25,000

Dennis Adams created one of the most distinctive shapes when he outlined the Marcos GT. There really is nothing else that looks like it. Beneath the distinctive glassfibre bodywork of this 1968 example is a chassis made from marine plywood and a Ford Crossflow engine fitted with twin 40 DCOE Weber carburettors and a four-branch exhaust manifold. 

The previous owner of this car bought it to race with the HSCC but only completed two rounds in 2009 before the car was put into dry storage until 2021. The vendor bought it a year later, and there’s a host of receipts for parts and work, including an engine rebuild. At the Members’ Meeting sale it’s being offered with no reserve.

1922 Ballot 2LS Three-seater Skiff Tourer

Estimate: £300,000 to £350,000

From 1910, Ernest Ballot had a business supplying engines for fellow French car-makers, counting Delage, La Licorne and Mass among his customers. By 1919, he was also building his own racing chassis that incorporated his sophisticated twin-cam multi-valve engines. The 2LS road car benefitted from that motorsport experience, the 2.0-litre car having a top speed of 90mph. Impressive performance for the day.

When the Ballot 2LS was introduced in 1922, it was the first production car with a DOHC engine. As the most expensive sports car in the world, only 50 were built. Five complete cars survive along with one partial example.

The examples offered here was bought from the Ballot stand at the 1926 Paris motor show and shipped to its owners in New South Wales, Australia. It comes with a comprehensive history file that befits its place in the history of automotive development.

1988 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante X-Pack

Estimate: £200,000 to £250,000

The Vantage version of the Aston Martin V8 Volante arrived in 1986, eight years after the cooking version of the car. In league with the 405PS (297kW) engine came flared wheelarches, an integrated boot spoiler and an extended front spoiler. The optional X-Pack, such as this example, added more power. Up to 437PS (321kW) was available depending on the state of tune.

The service history contains receipts from Aston Martin’s in-house servicing department for most of the 1990s, while marque specialist Pugsley & Lewis has carried out annual servicing since 1998. In 2007/08, the same company fitted a new automatic gearbox and shift upgrade kit.

In 2016, damage to the offside wing triggered an £80,000 refurbishment at Aston Martin works, which was supplemented three years later by another £52,000 cosmetic refurbishment. Since then, it has been used for European tours, topping up the odometer to 65,000 miles. 

1954 Bristol 403 Sports Saloon

Estimate: £38,000 to £46,000

The Bristol 403 Sports Saloon coming to auction at Members’ Meeting is one of just 281 produced. It followed the 401, which moved away from the pre-war designs that Bristol had inherited from BMW, coachbuilder Touring introducing the Superleggera method of body construction that saw aluminium panels mounted on a tubular steel frame. 

The 403, introduced in 1953, looked similar to its predecessor but had a number of advances under the skin. The alloy cylinder head was revised to help release 101PS (74kW) and a front anti-roll bar was introduced together with finned alloy brake drums.

This example has been in one family ownership since new and underwent a long-term restoration from 2000 to 2017. It benefitted from a donor car that supplied additional parts, and comes with a large history file. Use has been sparing since the restoration work.

1961 Ford Thunderbird Convertible Indianapolis 500 Festival Car

Estimate: £45,000 to £75,000

Here’s a bit of road-going motorsport history. This 1961 Ford Thunderbird Convertible was one of 34 pace vehicles used for the 1961 Indianapolis 500, complete with documents to confirm it was used at the event. After its starring role, it was bought by Ford dealer Paul Thrasher, who kept it for the next 28 years to use in the summer months.

Once it had changed hands, the Thunderbird returned to the Indy 500 in 1991 to mark the 75^th anniversary of the race and 30 years since its previous appearance. In 1991, it was used to take drivers around the track as well as other parades. Revival-goers will also have seen the car in action here at the Goodwood Motor Circuit, including one occasion when the then Lord March, now the Duke of Richmond, drove it on track with astronaut Buzz Aldrin as passenger.

1983 Maserati Merak SS

Estimate: £55,000 to £60,000

The Maserati Merak enjoyed an 11-year lifespan from 1972 to 1983. By the time it bowed out of production, 1,832 examples had been built, making it Maserati’s most successful model of the time. Intended to take on the Ferrari Dino 246, the Merak used the V6 engine from parent company Citroën’s SM. The SS variant boosted power to 223PS (164kW).

This rare right-hand-drive car was bought by the vendor at a Bonhams|Cars sale in 2008 and has spent much of the past 16 years in storage having accumulated just 700 miles on the clock. Despite that, in 2019 it underwent much mechanical and electrical work, followed up by corrosion repairs and a repaint. Add a retrim, and the receipts for the work total more than £50,000.

1979 Ferrari 400 GT

Estimate: £25,000 to £35,000

We conclude our ten-car rundown from the Bonhams|Cars Members’ Meeting where we started – with a wedge of 1970s Ferrari. The 400 was first shown at the 1976 Paris motor show, where its 4.8-litre V12 engine differentiated it from its 365 GT4 predecessor. The option of a General Motors Hydra-Matic automatic gearbox was a necessity to rival four-seaters from Bentley and Mercedes-Benz.

There were 502 400 GTs built, and this example is a rarity in being right-hand-drive. Only lightly used for much of the 1990s, the car underwent improvements in 2016 to 2017, including a respray and replacement of the distorted black leather trim on the dashboard. The rest of the blue upholstery is original. The vendor bought the car from the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard auction in 2019 and subsequently commissioned detailed corrections and improvements, making it a better buy now than it was then.