Goodwood Revival, Goodwood Estate, Chichester, West Sussex, UK – 10.09.16

The atmosphere at the Bonhams auction on Saturday afternoon was electric as a world record-breaking £4,593,500 was reached in the sale of a stunningly original 1956 Porsche 550 Spyder.

James Knight, Bonhams International Group Motoring Director and auctioneer on the day, said: “We’ve had an excellent Goodwood Revival sale, totalling £14.5 million. The saleroom was packed full of enthusiastic bidders, with clients phoning in from all around the globe, leading us to sell more than 70% of lots, and creating a world record price for a Porsche 550 Spyder.

“The top lot of the auction is an icon of 1950s sports car design, the gloriously original 1956 Porsche 550 Spyder. The car attracted much attention from bidders, with increments rising by hundreds of thousands until the gavel finally fell to achieve £4,593,500. The car is so original, that you could travel back in time 60 years and find it in much the same condition. It’s exactly how a 550 would have looked, smelt and felt like when James Dean famously purchased his example back in 1955.”

Full results from the sale can be found here