A prewar supercharged Mercedes-Benz 26/100/180 S-Type Sports Tourer was announced for the Bonhams Quail Lodge 2021 sale at the Monterey Car Week auctions in mid-August in California, USA.
A pre-war 1928 Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 S-Type Supercharged Sports Tourer, estimate “Refer to Department”, is the latest top car announced for the Bonhams Quail Lodge 2021 auction at the annual Monterey / Pebble Beach sales in mid-August in California, USA. This large Mercedes-Benz is sold from nearly six decades of single-family ownership. It joins previously announced cars for the auction including an elegant 1948 Talbo-Lago T26 Record Sport Cabriolet Décapotable and a 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America.
Bonhams Quail Lodge 2021 Sale
Bonhams held its 24th Quail Lodge Sale in Carmel during the annual Pebble Beach / Monterey Motor Week on 13 August 2021 in California, USA.
In 2021, Bonhams earned $36,877,800 with a sell-through rate of 89% — 124 lots sold, 15 unsold.
In 2020, with most of Monterey Week events canceled, Bonhams held a live online auction behind closed doors to earn just below $13 million with a sell-through rate of 63%.
In 2019, Bonhams earned $32 million with a sell-through rate of 76% of the 217 cars on offer. In 2018, Bonhams earned $37.7 million with a sell-through rate of 82% with 110 of 135 lots sold. At the 2017 Quail Lodge auction, Bonhams earned $56,430,000 with a sell-through rate of 80% of the 105 cars on offer.
The Quail Lodge auction record was set in 2014 when Bonhams sold a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO for $38,115,000 — still the second most expensive car ever sold at public auction.
1928 Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 S-Type Supercharged Sports Tourer
The latest star car announced for the Bonhams Quail Lodge 2021 classic car auction is a 1928 Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 S-Type Supercharged Sports Tourer. This remarkable car bore testimony to the excesses of the swinging 20s before economies crashed down. The car is offered from over 50 years of single-family ownership. Estimate: Refer to Department. Bonhams previously sold a similar 1928 Mercedes Benz Typ S 26/120/180 Supercharged Sports Tourer for $4,812,500 at the Scottsdale 2017 auction.
The 1928 Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 S-Type Supercharged Sports Tourer is one of just 146 examples of the firm’s flagship automobile built and described as the ‘acme of motor car perfection’ and the car for kings. These large Mercedes-Benz sports tourers were acquired by royalty and the glitterati alike – with owners including Al Jolson, the Marx brothers, and land speed record holder Sir Malcolm Campbell – between 1927 and 1930 before the depression set in.
Created in a golden age for Mercedes-Benz, the model was engineered by Ferdinand Porsche who built a powerful, yet versatile automobile, equally at home on the racetrack, at hill climbs, indeed winning its class on its debut race at the Nürburgring, or for providing spirited driving on the road. Its signature ‘on demand’ Roots Supercharger would boost power from its 6.8-litre engine from 120bhp to 180bhp in a matter of seconds.
The example offered lives up to this ‘all-rounder’ reputation, having been owned for the past 57 years by the same family and over this time being pressed into service for the ‘school run’ as well as winning prestigious concours and competing in road rallies, most recently the Colorado Grand in 2015.
Incredibly, this car was bought ‘sight unseen’ for $15,000 by the current owners’ father in 1964 having been spotted in the showroom of the Vintage Car Store in Nyack, New York State, by his brother. Four years later, he commissioned an extensive restoration, with a distinctive two-tone color scheme which it would wear for fifty years. The car was handed down to his children in 2016 who decided to repaint it in a striking raven-black hue, simply accented by its copper brake drums and chrome accessories. It will be seen publicly in this guise for the very first time at The Quail Lodge Auction.
Rupert Banner, Bonhams Group Motoring Director, said: “The supercharged S-Type is one of the legendary models of Mercedes-Benz brand. This distinctive sports tourer has been part of the Classic Car community in America for more than five decades, always being awarded, prized, and coveted. Freshly repainted in the strikingly beautiful black guise, its sale provides a ‘baton-passing’ generational opportunity for a new collector to continue to show or tour this wonderful Mercedes.”
More Top Cars at Bonhams Quail Lodge Sale 2021
A few further top cars announced for the Bonhams Quail Lodge 2021 classic car auction include:
- 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Record Sport Cabriolet Décapotable. Estimate on request. One of only two surviving bespoke T26 Record Cabriolets, designed by the celebrated carrossier Figoni et Falaschi and restored to concours condition.
- 1952 Ferrari 212 Europa Cabriolet, coachwork by Carrozzeria Ghia. Estimate on request. The 1952 Geneva and Torino Auto Show car is Ferrari-Classiche Red Book certified and retains matching numbers.
- 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America, coachwork by Pinin Farina. Estimate on request. One of only 181 left-hand-drive examples of this iconic sports car. A California car from new with well-documented history, it has been expertly restored.
Monterey Motoring Week 2021
Most of the traditional Monterey Motoring Week events returned in mid-August 2021 after the cancellations in 2020. Top classic car auctioneers with sales during Monterey Week 2021 included Gooding (Pebble Beach), Bonhams (Quail Lodge), RM Sotheby’s, and Mecum.
Monterey 2021 Auction Results:
- Monterey 2021 All Auctions: Auction Results General Overview, Top Ten Results, List of Million-Dollar Cars
- Bonhams: Quail Lodge Sale Results
- Gooding: Pebble Beach Sale Results, McLaren F1
- RM Sotheby’s: Monterey Sale Results, Andrews Estate Collection Sale
- Mecum: Monterey Sale Results
Monterey 2021 Auction Announcements:
- Bonhams: Mercedes-Benz 26/100/180
- Bonhams: Talbot-Lago T26 Décapotable
- Gooding: Ferrari California Spider Competizione
- Gooding: Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR Strassenversion
- Gooding: Prewar British Cars
- Gooding: Prewar American Cars
- Gooding: Bugatti Type 35B
- Gooding: Ford GT40 Alan Mann Lightweight
- Gooding: Neil Peart’s Silver Surfers Collection
- Gooding: American Racing Cars
- Gooding: Porsche 934 & 935
- Gooding: McLaren F1
- Gooding: Italian Coachbuilt Cars
- RM Sotheby’s: Porsche 917K
- RM Sotheby’s: Le Mans Racing Cars
- RM Sotheby’s: Andrews Estate Collection (Aston Martin DB4GTs)
- RM Sotheby’s: Top Ferraris
Previous Monterey Week Auction Results
