LONDON.- Bonhams’ annual Festival of Speed Sale saw spectacular results, with the ‘Fearsome Four-Nine’ Ferrari 375-Plus battled out between bidders, and the hammer finally falling at £10.7 million ($18.2 million USD).

Robert Brooks, Bonhams Co-Chairman, said: “We’ve had a truly diverse range of spectacular motor cars at our Sale this year, causing great excitement in the sale room for both spectator and bidder alike, and achieving an outstanding result.”

“With a total of £22.6 million worth sold in four hours, it’s been another fantastic Festival of Speed for Bonhams”

Bonhams and Goodwood racing car historian Doug Nye, said: “This Sale has offered a phenomenal range of really special and important cars with their various classes. Above all, each of the prime cars offered has links with some of the greatest racing drivers of all time. Names like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, John Surtees and so many more. It’s always a pleasure to see new owners’ delight as the gavel falls. After all, they’re winners too.”

A 1902 De Dietrich - formerly part of the Michael Banfield Collection (over 1,000 lots from which were sold by Bonhams earlier this summer) - achieved at Goodwood today an astounding £998,300 ($1.7 million USD). Few cars can have come to light as spectacularly as this magnificent veteran, which was discovered during World War Two when a German bomb demolished the stable in which it had been sleeping on blocks since 1912. With just four owners from new, the powerful four-cylinder 4078cc De Dietrich is identical in specification to the works racers built for the 1902 Paris-Vienna challenge.

From ancient to modern, the Bonhams sale supplied all tastes. One of the most iconic sports cars of the 20th Century - a 1975 Lamborghini Countach LP400 ‘Periscopio’ Coupé - sold for a new world record £953,500 ($1.6 million USD).