javier romagosa
[dropcap] E [/ dropcap] l last weekend, in the Chantilly Elegance Contest, the auction house Bonhams sold the famous maserati boomerang (1971) for 3.3 million euros. It is an icon of design from the 70s designed by Giurgetto Giugiaro that, as many of you will know, was sold new in Spain.
Indeed, as it is seated on the chassis and the mechanics of the Maserati Bora, it is registrable and, as such, it can circulate on the open road. All an eccentricity that, as it reveals Racetrack In its last issue, it took a wealthy merchant from Bilbao nicknamed Manolito "El Honrado" to take over after the Barcelona Hall of 1973, in which it had been exhibited and put up for sale by the astronomer for 5 million pesetas.
Let's put ourselves in a situation: A kind of flying saucer with a 8-liter V4.7 engine roaring through a Spain full of 600 in which imports were generally prohibited ... maserati boomerang it had to cause a real sensation among our ancestors.
[su_youtube_advanced https=»yes» url=»https://youtu.be/8FFvPAMSoGs» width=»700″]
Before long, the maserati boomerang changed hands being bought by an Argentine composer living in Madrid for 8 million pesetas !; later, in 1975, it would be sold by a Valencian merchant to its last Spanish owner. Apparently the engine was damaged and they repaired it that way, that is, with parts from other cars ... Difficult issue that was not solved until in 1981 a German took it over and restored it completely.
Unfortunately, by then the maserati boomerang it was already outside our borders. After making a pilgrimage through the best elegance competitions in the world, and finally, it has recently been auctioned by Bonhams reached a bid of nothing more and nothing less than 3.3 million. In his line, without a doubt.
Bonhams also auction a Bugatti by Nicholas Cage
The truth is that the auction of Chantilly, Although small, it had exceptional pieces. You can hardly miss the presence of a whole Bugatti 101 Type 1954C Antem coupe ex-Nicholas Cage -yes, it seems that he also gives these things-, late issue that finally did not sell but makes one wonder, at least aesthetically, how the brand could sink.
Nor was there any luck with a 1900 Alfa Romeo 1959 C Super Sprint Coupé bodied by Ghia, although it was one of the four SS coupes that remain out of the only five built; nor with the little one OSCA 1600GT Coupé from 1961, an exclusive sports car bodied by Touring reminiscent of the Pegaso Z-102. OSCA is the late banner of the Maserati brothers, who abandoned su brand in the postwar period to embark on a new adventure.
The last of the damned -for not being sold- that I will mention is a beautiful Aston Martin DB2 Sports Saloon from 1951, a unit of the first that sports an atypical front grill "Washboard".
Bonhams sales in Chantilly
But let's go with the lots that were awarded: To begin with, I would like to highlight a pre-series Citroën DS 19 Cabriolet, again a copy early which changed hands for 230.000 euros. On the other hand, it must have been difficult to resist the charms of a 1959 AC ACE Bristol, or a Bentley S3 Continental Cabriolet "Chinese eyes" of 1962.
Special mention deserve the Lancia Aurelia B52 Coupe from 1951 with unique bodywork from Bertone in three volumes and sold for 172.500 euros; or the 1968 Maserati Mexico, a unique prototype of the Frua body whose beauty made it easy for the deck to drop by 621.000 euros, if I'm not mistaken, a whole record for the model.
Finally, I refuse to leave out the imposing Mercedes 500K Cabriolet from 1934, a marvel of German engineering of the time whose award for 609.500 totaled together with the rest of the lots sold one sales figure of 7,5 million euros. And it seems to go to Whipped Cream rent.
If the reader wants to see the full results of the auction, I encourage you to click here.
* Text: Javier Romagosa / Photos: Unai Ona
More photos of the auction ...
