Vintage Results For Veteran Car Sale: Record Number Of Veteran Cars - All Over 100 Years Old - In £1-Million Bonhams Sale 

Bonhams' biggest ever London to Brighton sale on 31 October 2008 launched the Veteran Car Run's weekend in style with13 LBVCR-eligible veteran cars and a host of related automobilia changing hands for £975,000.

This year's London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (LBVCR) celebrated pre-1905 cars of French manufacture. In keeping with this Gallic theme, the top four cars in Bonhams' sale were all built in France, including the handsome 1902 Clément Twin-Cylinder 9hp Four-Seater Rear-Entrance Tonneau, a successful Brighton runner, which made top price of £150,000.

An old hand at the London to Brighton Run, the exceedingly rare 1903 Malicet et Blin 8hp Four-Seater had taken part in thirteen consecutive Runs between 1995 and 2007 and was offered with entry to this year's event. It sold on Friday for £84,000 and the new owner enjoyed a successful first outing on Sunday on the world's longest running motoring event.

The oldest car in the sale was the 1896 Léon Bollée Tandem Two-Seater. One of only four examples of this marque from 1896 to be listed with the VCC. the car's date guarantees a place towards the front of the grid at the start of the Run in Hyde Park.

The other veterans to sell were:

• 1904 De Dion Bouton Model Y 6hp Rear-Entrance Tonneau - sold £80,700
• 1903 Gamage Aster 6½hp Rear-Entrance Tonneau - sold £65,300
• 1904 Cadillac 6½hp Model CA Four-Seater Rear-Entrance Tonneau - sold £64,200
• 1901 Renault 4½hp Type D Series A Rear-Entrance Tonneau - sold £62,000
• 1901 De Dion Bouton 4½hp vis-à-vis Voiturette - sold £60,900
• 1901 Hurtu 4½hp Rear-Entrance Tonneau - sold £54,300
• 1904 Wolseley 8hp Twin-Cylinder Four/Five Seater - sold £49,255

In addition to the cars, some 250 lots of related automobila also went under the hammer, with furious bidding on many of the rare and highly collectable items. Highlights included a numbered 3.5hp Benz Velo engine, estimated at £4,000 - 6,000, which sold for a remarkable £14,375. ‘The Progress of Automobilism 1896 - 1900' an album containing 60 photographs documenting the early days of motoring was also in demand, selling for £12,650 (estimate £2,000 - 3,000).

The saleroom was packed out with collectors and enthusiasts, and the international participants in Sunday's Run stayed on after the sale for an evening reception hosted by Bonhams.

The Bonhams' collectors' car department are regular participants in the event, and this year eight members of the team took part.

CLICK HERE to see the results from the 2008 LBVCR Bonhams Auction.

CLICK HERE to see images from the 2008 LBVCR Bonhams Auction