£23.5million Ferrari 412P leads bumper Bonhams Quail auction

Delivered new to Colonel Ronnie Hoare's Maranello Concessionaires Ltd, the car has history at Le Mans, Spa and Brands Hatch in 1967 with drivers including Richard Attwood, Piers Courage, Lucien Bianchi, Jo Siffert and privateer David Piper. Piper bought it latterly and took it to the Paris, Kyalami and Cape Town. The car had suffered a fire due to a fuel leak at the East London 500km but the original bodywork was spared, given piper had replaced the hand-rolled alloy with moulded GRP beforehand.

The original alloy panel work was re fitted during a painstaking nine-year restoration that took place after the last owner bought the car in 2005. The car was also returned to its original Italian racing red with a Cambridge blue nose. Indeed, chassis 0854 is a known and beloved car, with appearances at the Quail in 2015 and on the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2019.

The 412P was far from the only star of the Bonhams Quail auction, however. It was joined by a 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta, a 1966 Porsche 906 Carrera Six and a 1949 Talbot-Lago T26, each selling for £3million, £1.57million and £1.57million respectively. The 212 has Le Mans history, with a seventh-in-class finish when new, while the Porsche won at Suzuka three years on the trot, in the 1967 1,000km, 1968 500km and 1969 1,000km.

Other wonderful highlights from the auction include a 1999 Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S, a 1966 Lola T70 MkII GT Coupe, a wondrous Alfa Romeo 8C 2600 ‘Monza’ special. One close to our hearts? A 1909 Lorraine-Dietrich 16.4-litre Grand Prix, which was billed as a ‘Multiple Goodwood S.F. Edge Trophy-competing’ car. We hope the new owner continues campaigning it with us…

Next up for Bonhams? Beaulieu and of course, the Goodwood Revival on 9^th September.