GRR

£1M Miura tops our Bonhams Bond Street Christmas wish list

13th December 2022
Bob Murray

Stuck for that last-minute gift idea? Head for New Bond Street, London, on 16 December and don’t forget your wallet. It’s time to get that classic car you always promised yourself (or promised someone else…). Bonhams has put together a selection of collector cars for its last sale of 2022 to tempt even Scrooge - and top of our Christmas list this year is a curious example of what many consider to be the first true supercar. What do you fancy? Here’s what we would go for…

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10. 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo S

Sold for £50,000-80,000

Let’s start with a real seasonal sparkle – a very golden 911. It’s a one-owner 997 Turbo S, and its (rare) paint-to-sample Nordic Gold Metallic paint job is not even the most eye-popping thing about this 911's specification. The Swiss owner ticked all the boxes from new, so this left-drive Tiptronic Turbo S with Sport Chrono package comes with options from ceramic brakes to sycamore wood trim, park assist, leather headlining, heated seats as well as Speed Yellow dials and seatbelts. Topping it off, the odometer shows just 1100km (684 miles). With that spec it’s bound to be an absolute steal against what it cost new, but you will need to add 20 per cent VAT and import duty to get it on to UK roads. 

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9. 1961 Bentley S2 Continental

Sold for £60,000-90,000

Royal blue with a festive red leather interior, here’s a Bentley drophead perfect for top-down cruising in the winter or summer. Coachbuilder Park Ward created just 125 S2s with its distinguished convertible body, and of those 63 were left-drive, like this one. Despite that it was delivered new to the UK in ‘61, when it would have been the bee’s knees for luxury motoring, and with plenty of get up and go thanks to the S2’s all-alloy 6.2-litre V8 under that expanse of bonnet.

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8. 1954 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT

Sold for £90,000-120,000

An engineering tour de force clothed in sublime coachwork by Italy's foremost carrozzeria. That’s Bonhams’ verdict on the Pininfarina-designed Lancia Aurelia B20 GT and we couldn’t have put it better ourselves. Often hailed as the first true gran turismo, this right-hand drive B20 GT is a Series IV car with a 2.5-litre V6 and de Dion rear suspension. It’s been restored and looked after by top Lancia experts and is eligible for the Mille Miglia Storica, which in this car would definitely be fun. And what about that perfect Christmas numberplate?!

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7. 1972 Maserati Bora

Sold for £110,000-130,000

A Citroen-owned Maserati really put the wind up its rivals with its first mid-engined car when the Bora made its debut at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. Unitary construction, Giugiaro design, a four-cam 4.7-litre V8, independent wishbone suspension courtesy of the designer of the Maserati 250F F1 car, and clever, Citroenesque hydraulic control of brakes, pop-up lights, seats and pedals all added up to a 160mph supercar that did everything well. After 50 years there’s surely plenty to go wrong, but peace of mind with this blue beauty comes in the firm of £50,000 worth of receipts for restoration and refurbishment in 2021 from Maserati specialists McGrath. 

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6. 1958 Porsche 356A

Sold for £140,000-180,000

There's no shortage of Porsche 356s for sale at any one time, so why does this one stand out? It certainly comes across as being in rude health, and that would be right because it’s just a year out of a concours-standard rebuild, by marque specialists in Belgium, that came with a bill for £150,000. The pretty little Type 2 coupe, forerunner to the 911, was supplied new to Kenya, is right-hand drive and has had only four owners. 

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5. 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

Sold for £220,000-300,000

Are these collectible or what? The 8C, Alfa’s long overdue supercar take on its famous eight-cylinder sports cars of the 1930s, is a rare beast (500 coupes and 500 convertibles), and even rarer in yellow. We reckon this is a coupe that looks good in any colour. It was an in-house design job, with lots of styling echoes of Alfas of yore, and underneath relies on a mix of Maserati and Ferrari bits. It includes a Maranello-built 4.7-litre V8 good for 450PS (335kW) and 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds and a 180mph top speed. The 8C sold out fast when new, despite a UK price of £111,000 (plus options, of which this car has £34,000 worth), and we can’t see that changing any time soon. 

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4. 2020 McLaren 720S Le Mans

Sold for £225,000-275,000

Not just any orange 720S, but one of 50 built to mark the 25th anniversary of the five production McLaren F1 LMs – which in turn were built to mark the five F1 GTRs that cleaned up at Le Mans in 1995. The connection might be a bit tenuous then – it’s like a tribute to a tribute – but there’s no denying how special McLaren made this car. It’s loaded with McLaren Special Ops options, lots of carbon and bespoke features including roof scoop and racing seats. It’s had one owner and been driven just 1450 miles from new. 720Ss might be plentiful but there are only six Le Mans spec cars like this in the UK. 

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3. 2013 Mercedes AMG G63 6x6

Sold for £300,000-500,000

Winter driving can throw up all sorts of hazards, which is why so many people like something big, chunky and all-wheel drive. This is arguably the biggest, chunkiest and most all-wheel drive production car ever; a six-wheel double-cab pickup with full-on AMG V8 performance that could shrug off even the wettest and coldest January school run. This ultimate 6x6 G-wagen is (understandably) very rare, has done just 180km, and is fully loaded with luxury gear. Its first Middle Eastern owner paid £370,000 for it. 

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2. 2007 Mercedes SLR McLaren 722

Sold for £350,000-550,000

A supercar cooked up between Mercedes-AMG and McLaren in tribute to the all-conquering SLR of the 1950s was always going to be special - and collectable. Fifteen years on from launch, the Mercedes SLR McLaren is just that, especially in 722 guise. The 625PS (466kW) from the mighty AMG-built 5.5-litre supercharged V8 is still able to deliver true supercar numbers, with 0-62mph in 3.8 seconds and 0-125mph in 10.6, with the huge grunt not finished until the speedo is showing 207mph. The 722 Edition models that recall the SLR number 722 that Stirling Moss and his co-driver Denis Jenkinson famously drove to victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia. It’s been in storage since new and has just 250km (155 miles) on the odometer.

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1. 1969 Lamborghini Miura P400 S

Sold for £800,000-1,000,000

Miuras can sell for more than a million – indeed Bonhams sold one in the US in the summer for £1.63m. So what’s the story with this one? This example of the iconic supercar has been with the same owner since 1995, but has been used sparingly and is said to be “sound but covered in non-factory paint and surface rust”. It’s said to represent “a very sound restoration project”. It’s an original S model (only one of 140) with matching numbers, and was converted to right-hand drive early in its life, making it even rarer. Also, there’s no reserve price for that presale estimate, so you never know what it might go for…

The Bond St Sale starts at 14.00 on 16 December in Bonhams showroom in London, see the full catalogue here.

  • Bonhams

  • Auction

  • Lamborghini

  • Mercedes-AMG

  • McLaren

  • Alfa Romeo

  • Porsche

  • Maserati

  • Lancia

  • Bentley

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