Bonhams has announced that a preserved but unrestored 1956 Porsche 550 Spyder sold for £4,593,500 ($6,121,189) Saturday at its Goodwood Revival Sale in England. Bonhams said the figure is a world record price paid for a 550 Spyder at auction.
“The top lot of the auction is an icon of 1950s sports car design, the gloriously original 1956 Porsche 550 Spyder,” Bonhams International Group motoring director James Knight said in a news release.
“The car attracted much attention from bidders, with increments rising by hundreds of thousands until the gavel finally fell to achieve £4,593,500.
“The car is so original that you could travel back in time 60 years and find it in much the same condition. It’s exactly how a 550 would have looked, smelt and felt like when James Dean famously purchased his example back in 1955.”
Bonhams announced that the auction sales total was £14.5 million ($19.24 million) with a 70 percent sell-through rate.
Also selling very well as a 1950 Frazer-Nash Le Mans Replica raced by Roy Salvadori. The car sold for £610,000 ($803,987). Prices reported include buyer’s premium.
The next three highest prices were paid for Aston Martins — $606,455 each for a 1967 DB6 Vantage and 1964 DB5 and $472,131 for a 2000 Vantage Le Mans V600.
Top 10 sales, Bonhams Goodwood Revival Sale, 2016
1956 Porsche 550 Spyder, $6,121,180
1950 Frazer-Nash Le Mans Replica, $803,987
1967 Aston Martin DB6 Vantage, $606,455
1964 Aston Martin DB5, $606,455
2000 Aston Martin Vantage Le Mans V600, $472,131
1971 Ferrari Dino 246 GT, $399,000
1986 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato coupe, $377,808
1962 Jaguar E-type Series 1 ‘flat floor’ roadster, $337,808
1960 Jaguar XK150 S roadster, $315,420
1965 Ferrari 275 GT, $300,495
(Prices include buyer’s premium.)
Bonhams next auction is the Robert White Collection Sale on September 19 at the Bonhams salesroom on New Bond Street, London.