Though the Exposition de Voituress Anciennes de S.A.S. le Prince de Monaco didn’t look exactly packed, there was clearly money floating about at Bonhams’ ‘Les Grandes Marques a Monaco’ sale on May 20 – although some of the big lots stalled, reflected in a sale rate of 45 percent after just 27 out of 60 cars offered sold. Rival RM’s big first sale at the Villa D’Este concours the following day couldn’t have helped.

Top price at the sale, held at the late Prince Rainier’s car collection and museum in Fontvielle, went to a 1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing at €563,500, while a later roadster was €373,500, and a fine Ferrari 275GTS sold for €437,000. The big Ferrari of the sale, a 512BBLM that had raced at Le Mans in 1981 and 1982, stalled at €1,050,000, about €200k short of what was needed to buy it. But the only glassfibre 308GTB Group B rally car built by Michelotto sold on the phone for a healthy €460,000, and the interim F2/F1 Cooper T45 that Maurice Trintignant took to a GP win here in 1958 fetched €184,000. The 1965 Paris Motor Show Aston Martin DB6 was in super order and fetched a strong €172,500; Swiss registered, it sold outside the EU. Had it sold into Europe it would have attracted 20% VAT on the entire hammer price and not just buyer’s premium, 15% at this sale.

A splendidly patinated but mechanically refurbished Jaguar XK150S reflected the new trend of ‘resto-rats’, bringing the right €82,800 and a 1997 Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster, originally resident in Monaco before it went to England when its owner returned home, looked good value at €79,350. The much awaited Panther Six, the second of two built, looked in good shape and attracted €41,400 – just enough to buy it and strangely very close to its original list price at London Motorfair in 1977.

Though the bare statistics looked a little disappointing, the take was healthy and that night Bonhams’ staff decamped to Newport Pagnell, where the following day its annual Aston Martin sale at Works Service was a blinder, with only one car unsold. Swings and roundabouts…