Baby You Can Drive My Car

I rarely fail to turn my head when an old-timer passes by, a love-of-life driver at the wheel. And this time of year, on a sunny day, there are a lot of them to be seen on the roads—classic cars and motorcycles that never seem to lose their fascination.Coinciding with the International Autojumble at the Beaulieu Motor Museum in BrockenhurstBonhams will hold an auction there that Saturday featuring cars, motorbikes and automobilia. The Beaulieu Autojumble is Europe's biggest outdoor sale dedicated to motoring through the decades, with thousands of stands offering vehicles, accessories, parts and clothing. Among the highlights will be a range of early cars. And, despite an advanced age, the vehicles are "bought to be driven and to have fun with,Schofield, who heads Bonhamsmotoring department. He adds that collector cars have been doing particularly well at auction this year, as there is "a general appetite for tactile things.A Cadillac from 1904 is described in the sale catalog as "simplicity itself to start and drive," with a note adding that the car competed in the 2007 London to Brighton Veteran Car"achieving a complete and satisfactory run." The antique vehicle is also a treat to look at, with its red coachwork, gold lining on the bonnet, antique lamps and a wicker picnic basket on the side. To protect against the weather, it is topped by a canopy and fitted with a roll-down back window (estimate: £60,000-£80,000).Among the other gems will be a two-seater Pontiac open runabout from 1908, with big, high wheels painted red (estimate: £25,000-£35,000); a 1911 pea-green, single-cylinder car by De Dion Bouton, the pioneer French car makers (estimate: £18,000-£24,000); a Ford Model T pick-up from 1914 with a deep-blue body (estimate: £15,000-£20,000); and a stately Bentley from 1925 with timber coachwork (estimate: £80,000-£100,000).On Sept.16, Bonhams will conduct an auction at the Goodwood Revival (Sept.16-18), an annual event that celebrates the golden years of motoring in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s with historic and celebrity racing. The event was founded in 1998 by Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, Earl ofMarch and Kinrara, who manages the Goodwood Estate, his family's seat, at Chichester in West Sussex, England.The auction will offer plenty of contrast. A ceremonial Rolls-Royce from 1911, which was first owned by the Maharaja of Mysore, is estimated in excess of £300,000. Despite the royal glamour, its estimate is well beaten by a sleek Jaguar from 1964, which is expected to fetch in excess of £1.5 million, and an equally sleek, red Ferrari from 1971, estimated at £500,000-£600,000.An auction devoted to BMW cars, motorcycles, automobilia and motorboats will take place at the BMW Museum in Munich on Oct. 1. Among the lots at this Bonhams sale will be a cabriolet from 1938 (estimate: €225,000-€275,000); a racing car from 1979 (estimate: €450,00-€500,000); and a coupé from 1988 with less than 2,500 miles on the clock (estimate: €55,000-€65,000). For motorboat collectors, there will be a runabout from 1958 that is expected to fetch €175,000-€240,000.Turning to motorcycles, Bonhams will join the International Classic Motorcycle Show in Staffordshire on Oct. 16 with an auction of around 200 machines. The range of Italian and Japanese bikes will include a 1971 Laverda (estimate: £35,000-£40,000) and a 1973 Kawaski (estimate: £8,000-£10,000). A British motorcycle is first at the starting post, however, with a Brough Superior from 1929. It was the fastest motorcycle of the 1920s and, more than 80 years later, it can still turn on the speed (estimate: £240,000-£280,000).