Six classic stunners in the Bonhams Revival sale

The car is certainly no stranger to Goodwood where it has raced to podium places at both Revival and the Members’ Meeting for many years, at the hands of its owner, Valentine Lindsay, and other esteemed historic racers. The finned Shortnose has also competed at Mille Miglia and Le Mans retrospectives, as well as at Spa and Silverstone. 

So why is Bonhams estimating it at £900,000-1.2m rather than in the tens of millions that other D-types have sold for? Do not think it is not a real Jaguar, albeit one (as Bonhams puts it) with an “interrupted early provenance”. XKD 570 was built in 1956 as a completely assembled and finished sports-racing car – only then to be dismantled for parts by Jaguar. It effectively disappeared until the 1980s when the parts – not least its engine believed to have once been fitted to famous D-type OKV2 – “coalesced” into a single car again.

Today it confirms more closely than ever to the original Jaguar works specification thanks to love and attention from Jaguar specialists CKL Engineering. 

Bonhams sums up the car up as “a wonderfully useable, raceable, enjoyable, roadworthy – and extremely competitive – item of historic-racing sports equipment which could be yours for a fraction of the cost of an entirely genuine, frontline race-history D-type – if one could be found.”

The best million any historic racer could spend? Could be. Meanwhile, here are five more road racers in the Revival sale that do it for us…

1951 Renault 4CV Grand Luxe, £15-25,000

Coming in at the other end of the road-racer scale, this 1951 Renault four-door appears to have nothing in common with the sleek D-type, but, like the Jaguar, it is a veteran of the Mille Miglia retrospective. In 1989, it came home a highly creditable 41^st out of a field of 315 starters. 

Bonhams describes it as “wonderfully sound and full of impish character”. The rear-engined Renault is UK registered, and has been since 2016, but comes with Italian papers. Do potential tickets to the Mille Miglia rerun come any more affordable than this? 

1965 Sunbeam Tiger, £26-32,000

This road registered but FIA Appendix K-prepared British American hybrid – a kind of early AC Cobra with its transplanted Ford 4.2-litre V8 under the bonnet – has been transformed from fast road car to fast road-racer in the years since 2004. And its extensive record in events like the Classic Marathon, Le Jog, the Liège-Rome-Liège and classic rallies in Norway, Iceland, France and Portugal speaks for itself: the car has never failed to finish an event. 

1966 Ford Lotus Cortina, £40-50,000

Ermine white with a green stripe, what else but a Lotus Cortina? This is the 2,065^th right-hand drive example of the classic Lotus-powered Ford, a MkI that comes with masses of history including magazine features on it. 

The two big events in its life were its rebuild in 1977 using a genuine Lotus Cortina bodyshell, and then its return to the road in the late 1990s, after a 12-year hiatus, following a fully documented restoration by two enthusiasts. That was when it got its Ermine White paint job – along with essentials like “unleaded” valve seats and fast road cams. 

1934 Riley 12/4 TT Sprite replica, £65-75,000

This car is the result of a three-year, no-expensive-spared transformation from prim and proper Riley 12/4 Falcon saloon into a rakish and raunchy replica of the Riley TT Sprite – a much more sporting prospect.

The metamorphosis, by Riley experts in Kent, involved shortening the chassis rails, nickel plating the cross members and chrome plating the wire wheels, as well as rebuilding the engine with its Phoenix crankshaft and four Amal carburettors. It hasn’t covered many miles since completion in 2008 and has all been recently re-commissioned so it’s ready to go. 

1952 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT, £140-180,000

Hailed by many as the original gran turismo coupe, Bonhams says this handsome Italian is sorted, fast and comprehensively equipped, as well as being in tip-top shape after restoration bills totalling £180,000 – same as the top estimate. You do the maths…

The restoration, completed by noted Lancia specialists Thornley Kelham, has resulted in a B20 GT Series II coupe that’s prepared for historic road rallying and which would be eligible for many of the most prestigious historic motoring events.

The Pinin Farina-designed B20 is full of superlative engineering – unitary construction, all-alloy 60-degree V6 engine, semi-trailing arm rear suspension, rear transaxle – and could top 100mph, giving Ferraris a hard time in period in events like the Mille Miglia. This is one of 731 Series II models – and a shoe-in for the greatest road rally events. 

There are plenty more highlights of the Bonhams Revival sale, which takes place in the Bonhams marquee “Over the road” at Revival on Saturday 18^th September, with cars starting at 13:00. Everything from an entire race team of works Lagondas that competed at Brooklands in the 1920s, to children’s pedal cars, historic racers, supercars and true rarities will be crossing the block looking for new homes.

The Stan West collection of 24 Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Bristol, Aston Martin, Lagonda and Bristol cars promises to be a hit with fans of classic British machinery, while a Jaguar XJ220 with just 385 miles up and prepared by Don Law Racing looks enticing at £400-500,000, while for half that you could bag a one-owner Iso Grifo 7.4-litre Series II coupe from 1971 – one of just three right hookers – and revel in a very yellow expression of front-engined Italian machismo. 

The sale will be livestreamed via bonhams.com and of course goodwood.com/grr.

Images courtesy of Bonhams.