Pre-war cars still in demand
02/09/2018
The surprise at yesterday's Bonhams auction at the Grand Palais in Paris was not the results of the modern super sports cars or the youngtimers, but for once the performance of some pre-war cars. Even more unusual was the fact that it was not award-winning racing and sports cars that were particularly prized, but supposedly "unattractive" vehicles with many doors/entrances and doors with seats, as well as towering bodies from the early days of the automobile. This began with the Renault 35 CV Type AIB Limousine Découverte from 1910, for which the buyer offered EUR 137,000 instead of EUR 70,000 to 90,000, 1.6 times more than expected.
But the surprise was even greater when a bid of EUR 525,000 was made for the Minerva Type K 40 HP as a Limousine/Torpédo Transformable from 1907, which with surcharges/commissions led to a price of EUR 603,750, over EUR 200,000 more than expected.
But as always, there is of course a special story behind this special result. The car belonged to the collection of a Mr. Vander Stappen. This man had very special interests, having mainly collected cars from Belgian manufacturers for decades. He had several Minerva cars in his collection, which at the time competed with the top products from Rolls-Royce. However, the Type K had a very unusual history, which was charmingly explained to the auction visitors. A niece of the first owner appeared before the audience and explained that her grandfather, Joseph Fulchiron, then aged 29 (!), had bought the exact car on offer at the Paris Motor Show at the Grand Palais in 1907, after Rolls-Royce had waited a year before supplying him with a car of a similar specification. The family kept the car until 1966, and it survived two world wars unscathed. It then changed hands several times until it ended up with Jacques Vander Stappen.
A fully documented ownership history and virtually unchanged original condition is certainly exceptional for a 111-year-old car, something that the bidders obviously valued, along with the history.
The complete results of the Bonhams auction at the Grand Palais, including the highest bids for the unsold cars, will of course be published later.
