Hammer down

Not for sale

Typical. After we went to press with last month’s issue, news leaked that Bonhams’ sale of the Williams team’s reserve collection wasn’t going to go ahead after all: the entire cache of racers and related memorabilia had been sold by private treaty to an unnamed collector.

The auction, scheduled for December 14, saw a number of significant chassis set to go under the hammer. Registered bidders have been promised a refund, the auction replaced by an open day and the opportunity to visit the nine-time F1 Constructors’ World Champion’s in-house museum.

No news on who the mystery buyer is, but the collector Is not UK-based.

For sale

As we go to press Christies’ Exceptional Motor Cars and Automobilia sale includes a wealth of racing memorablia such as the Brooklands 1913 BARC Easter meeting trophy (above) awarded to WR Tuck for winning the Easter Sprint Handicap that year. This cup is expected to reach somewhere in the region of £2-3000.

Other items include original Auto Union German Grand Prix posters from 1936 proclaiming the team’s success. Estimates start at £1200. Further memorabilia from the Silver Arrows era includes a personal Bernd Rosemeyer Christmas card designed by artist Geo Ham (estimate £400-500), a 1939 Mercedes-Benz Internationales Eifelrennen lithograph at £280-350 and an Auto Union Italian GP poster at £1200-1500.

More recent items include rare press shots of Maserati Tipo 61 ‘Birdcages’ at Pescara and a number of old British racing programmes.