Bonhams auction 2012

Bonhams to auction significant car collection at the 2012 Festival of Speed 

Our long-standing auction house partner Bonhams will be presenting the significant automotive collection of watchmaker George Daniels at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed auction on Friday 29 June.   The Daniels collection sale, consisting of seven cars and two motorcycles, is estimated to raise in excess of £8million, and will be headlined by the ex-Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin 1929-32 Bentley 4½-Litre Supercharged Single-Seater – the car that set the Brooklands Outer Circuit Lap Record at more than 137mph in 1931. 

Daniels was a huge fan of the legendary ‘Bentley Boy’ and between-wars boy’s hero ‘Tim’ Birkin, and enthusiastic bidding is expected for another Birkin car, the 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 Long Chassis Touring Spider. It formed part of the 1932 Le Mans Team Car entries with Birkin sharing driving duties with his great friend Earl Howe for the endurance race. Once its competition career came to an end, this stylish Italian classic was subsequently re-bodied in period by Pinin Farina and owned by the Mussolini regime’s Air Force Minister Marshal Italo Balbo, who is reputed to have delivered rousing political speeches while sitting on its bonnet.

James Knight, Group Head of Motoring at Bonhams, comments: 'We are immensely proud to have been selected to handle the George Daniels collection. It promises to be one of those landmark collection sales that will be talked about for years to come.'

Further highlights of the sale include:

• The ex-1908 French Grand Prix and 1910 Brooklands All-comers Plate winner (fastest lap at 101.8mph), 1908 Itala 100hp Grand Prix Car
• The ex-Frank Taylor of Taylor Woodrow Construction 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback by H.J. Mulliner
• The ex-Maharaja of Bhavnagar 1929 4½-litre Bentley Tourer by Vanden Plas
• The 1907 Daimler 45hp Roi-de-Belges Tourer originally built for the Earl of Craven