Bonhams|Cars' 10 biggest sales in 2023

10. 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Coupé 'Chambas'

Sold for €2,185,000 inc. premium

Our ‘low end’ starts at Les Grandes Marques du Monde a Paris  in February, with a stunning 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Coupe. 

This example is considered the most famous of the 36 T26 Grand Sports made, with the most Le Mans starts to its name under the ownership (and wearing the coachwork) of one André Chambas in period.

9. 1988 Ferrari F40 Coachwork by Carrozzeria Pininfarina

Sold for €2,185,000 inc. premium

Selling for an identical figure at the Parisian Bonhams|Cars sale was this wonderful Ferrari F40. Even for the famed supercar, is this figure a bit tall? Well give its one of the first 50 ‘pre series’ cars made, absolutely not. As close as it gets to the bedroom wall poster spec F40, resplendent in red and minus any catalytic converters, it’s the F40 you want.

8. 2006 McLaren-Mercedes-Benz MP4/21

Sold for US$2,760,000 inc. premium

Our next highest seller comes from one of the last big sales of the year and is a significant F1 car from the 2000s. This McLaren-Mercedes MP4/21 was Kimmi Raikonnen’s car during the 2006 season – the very car he famously finished on the podium in Bahrain and Melbourne and indeed, the very car he had a shot of winning with in Monaco before hopes of victory went up in smoke and a lick or two of flame… Coming from McLaren itself, the car has obviously been restored since its toasting in the principality…

7. 1973 3-litre Martini Racing Works Team Porsche Carrera RSR 'R7' Endurance Racing Coupé

Sold for £3,122,475inc. Premium

Our next lot takes us into the £3million realms and indeed, is a car we know quite well, given it sold at our own Goodwood Revival Bonhams|Cars sale. We also know it given  that our Website Editor Simon Ostler managed to blag a go for a few runs up and down the Hill. It is of course the 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Martini Racing Works car, with which Herbie Müller and Gijs van Lennep secured fourth at Le Mans.

“The transformation from lumbering impatience to bounding energy was alarmingly immediate,” Simon wrote in his account of the experience of driving this incredible car.

“Even at relatively low speed, the bombardment on my senses was all consuming. Sharing that confined space with that engine, you feel it as much as hear it. You can smell the fuel burning, eyes on stalks as the acceleration pulls you back into the clutches of the seat.”

6. 2007 Koenigsegg CCGT GT1 Competition Coupé 

Sold for £3,319,000 inc. premium

Staying in familiar climes our next big seller crossed the block ahead of the Porsche, during the Bonhams|Cars at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard. It is of course the one-of-one Koenigsegg CCGT, the Swedish hypercar marque’s stillborn GT1 racer of the mid-2000s.

Regulation changes put the kibosh on Koenigsegg’s dreams of Le Mans victory, as road car production requirements went up from 20 cars over several years, to 350 cars per year. GT1 cars were also prohibited from using a carbon-fibre chassis. Still, this is about as cool as white elephants get. We also have it on good authority that the buyer fully intends to get out and drive this magnificent machine. We’ll share videos as soon as we see them…

5. 2006 Maserati MC12 Corse 

Sold for US$3,811,000 inc. premium

Another GT1-derived beast to grace the Bonhams|Cars auction blocks in 2023 was a Maserati MC12 Corse. In fact, it took an early run at being the highest seller, making upwards of $3.8million at the January Scottsdale sale, only to be shortly toppled by another entry on this list. It still closed out the year in a respectable fifth place. As for what drove such a strong sale? Being one of just 12 made, it’s also one of the most original having covered delivery miles only. We hope the new owner went down the road conversion route…

4. 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta Coachwork by Touring

Sold for US $3,900,000 inc. premium

Knocking on the door of the $4million club was this 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta, which crossed the block at the Quail sale. Even at that price, it was somewhat in the shadow of the year’s top seller – another Ferrari to sell at the Quail. Nevertheless, this stunning open-topped Touring-bodied machine carries its own provenance, finishing Le Mans in 1951 seventh in class and 16th overall. A proper blue-chip beauty.

3. 1912 Simplex 50HP 5 Passenger Torpedo Tourer Coachwork by JM Quinby and Company

Sold for US$4,845,000 inc. premium

Speaking of Blue Chip, we’re now pushing the $5million mark with the January Scottsdale sale’s 1912 Simplex 50hp 5 Passenger Torpedo Tourer. At 111 years old, this is by far the oldest car on this list and it just goes to show, coming in third, some of these old-timers command incredible money. For the era, this thing was a bit of an American hypercar, with 50hp, a four-speed transaxle transmission and a top speed in the region of 85mph. With an original body, it was the first of its kind to come up for sale in almost 20 years.

2. 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta 'Tour de France' Coachwork by Pininfarina/Scaglietti

Sold for €4,830,000 inc. premium

The Zoute sale yielded some wonderful cars, with a good few transacting for over seven figures. Leading the bunch however was this Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Tour de France. Utterly stunning in its ‘Oro Chiarro’ (light gold) hue. Restored to a colour that wasn’t actually original, this gold was originally a very early-life repaint for the 250. We’re glad it’s back in this colour again as it’s simply gorgeous.

1. 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta

Sold for US $30,255,000 inc. premium

Well well well. Here we are at the top and doesn’t it just tower over everything else because it sold for a clear $25million more than anything else. It’s of course the 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta. This example is thought to be the only of its kind left retaining its original chassis, engine, gearbox and bodywork. It carries the billing of one of the most significant Ferrari sportscars to go up for public sale in the last five years. No, P cars don’t come up very often and when they do, they easily clear eight figures, so it’s no wonder this magnificent machine brought the dollars it did.

Honourable mentions

We have to add a couple of honourable mentions at the end for, while they didn’t make the absolute top seller list, they need to be given the attention they deserve. The first is the Jordan 191 in which seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher made his grand prix debut. Frankly, we reckon this thing will rocket up over the coming years from the €1.495million it pulled in.

The second is a Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 that has a history with Hollywood. Yes, it’s the Bayside Blue GT-R Paul Walker’s Brian O’Connor drove in Fast & Furious, the fourth entry in the Fast franchise. Famously, the car was modified to Walker’s own personal specification by Kaizo Industries. It sold for a strong $1.357million during a special sale.

Images courtesy of Bonhams/Cars