Five affordable beauties of the Bonhams Festival of Speed sale

1985 Audi Quattro, £17-22,000

Turbo power and four-wheel-drive… yes, it’s time to fire up the Quattro! Everyone loves the iconic Audi and there’s good reason to love this one: GRRC members voted it winner of the concours at the 2018 Goodwood House Open Day. Earlier this year it was displayed in the Royal Automobile Club's Pall Mall clubhouse. So it’s a smart one.

It sounds like a straight one, too, with Audi or Audi marque specialist history from new. Since Bonhams last sold it, at the 2008 Festival of Speed, it has been subject to ongoing restoration and refurbishment and is said now to be in very good condition.

A guide price that starts at £17,000 is not a lot for such a machine – a real game-changer with a rally pedigree to die for – that also seats four and you can use every day. And thanks to its pioneering all-wheel-drive, that 200bhp performance will hold no fear come a wet winter.

1913 Hupmobile Model 32, £15-20,000

Hup, Hup and away… but what is it? The Model 32 was a powerful four-cylinder American touring car from the pioneering auto engineer Robert Hupp. With more than 11,500 of the 32hp cars selling in the US in its launch year alone, the Model 32 was a hit Hup.

This example, complete with modern ignition and carburettor for reliability’s sake, used to live in Yorkshire until it was bought by the vendor, its current owner. That would be Bonhams. The auction house acquired it in 2009 and as the “Scuderia Bonhams” car has been enthusiastically campaigned in Veteran Car Club touring events by staffers from the motor car department.

As you might expect, the car has been restored and fettled to perfection – £50,000 worth of perfection in fact. Which, with a guide price of under half that, could make this something of a steal… as well as surely a great deal of fun on those VCC touring runs.

1974 Citroën DS23 Pallas, £25-35,000

Help Citroën celebrate its centenary this year with a superb example of one of its very finest creations. Another icon like the Audi, but this time beautiful with it, the DS is always in or around the top six greatest cars of all time. Which would make running around in one rather special.

We like this one because it’s black with black leather interior and looks very presidential-cool; it’s a top-of-the-range Pallas with all the bells and whistles; it’s got the larger 2.3-litre engine combined with manual five-speed ‘box; there’s a rare full length Webasto roof fitted; and it’s a late, UK-made right-hand-drive example.

We also quite like the fact that it had an eight-year restoration which was completed in 2011 since when the car hasn’t been used. Some re-commissioning work to do then – just to make sure all that ahead-of-its-time fuel injection, self-levelling hydro-pneumatic suspension, power-operated brakes, clutch and steering, and swivelling headlights all function as intended.

1994 Bentley Brooklands, £15-18,000

Another centenary special… and an affordable way to mark Bentley’s 100^th year in leather and wood veneer splendour. In the 1990s this was a near £100k car, but 25 years (and only 48,000 miles) later it comes with a much more attractive price.

But would you want a Brooklands from this era of the firm’s past when Bentleys were mainly rebadged Rolls-Royces? As badges go, “Brooklands” is certainly an evocative one but the car backed up the sporting suggestion by being in effect a Turbo R without the turbocharger. So not as quick but just as sporty to handle, and complete with dynamic damping control and new four-speed automatic – and floor rather than column-mounted shift. Bonhams says Brooklands are becoming increasingly collectible, too.  

This example in fetching Sherwood Green with Spruce Green-piped beige leather interior was supplied new and serviced by P&A Wood, and since 2014 has been in a humidity-controlled museum.

1930 Ford Model A Shooting Brake, £20-25,000

Here’s a Woodie to die for. It’s a rare coachbuilt (by Hercules Body Company of Evansville, Indiana) station wagon that Bonhams says is correctly restored and beautifully presented.

The gloriously half-timbered machine – an eight-seater often cited as the first multi-purpose vehicle – was last sold by Bonhams at its Amelia Island sale in the US in 2015. Restored in the US by a noted Model A garage – with marine specialists taking care of the woodwork – the Woodie was brought to the UK, further fettled and used sparingly around a farm.

Could there be a better way for a group of people and a picnic to get around one’s estate?

Photography courtesy of Bonhams.