Bonhams celebrated its best ever motorcycle sale at Stafford in April, achieving several world record prices in a storming sale that realised £2,000,000 ($4,000,000). This is the highest ever sale total for any UK motorcycle sale, emphatically confirming Bonhams position as clear market leader for collectors motorcycles.

This was the first of four dedicated motorcycle sales at Bonhams this year, and launched the 2008 calendar in commanding fashion, with 88% of all lots selling and the top three bikes each realising over £100,000 ($200,0000 – all three selling to UK private collectors.

The 1934 Brough Superior 996cc SS100 made top price of £166,500 ($330,000) – a world record price for the model and the highest price ever paid for a British motorcycle at auction.

The Brough Superior, a rare example of this legendary pre-war superbike, represented the JAP-engined SS100 in its ultimate form. Incorporating ‘two of everything’ (carburettors, magnetos, oil pumps), it was one of only six made to this specification in 1934 and retained its original frame, engine and registration mark. The machine formed part of the Murray Motorcycle Museum Collection in the Isle of Man from 1973 to 2005.

The next auction will be held on monday : Bonhams will auction off an astounding collection of vintage motorcycles worth $2 million at the Royal Air Force Museum in London.
The sale represents the largest single-owner collection of motorbikes ever to come to auction; all 300 machines are from the Professor Fritz Ehn Motorcycle Museum in Austria. (source : press release)

Bvlgari have expanded the Bvlgari Diagono watch collection with a luxurious new limited edition model.

The Bvlgari Diagono Retrograde Calendar Moonphase watch features a 42mm case made from brushed and polished 18K rose gold, a bezel engraved with the iconic Bvlgari-Bvlgari signature, and an intricate dial that showcases multiple textures and polished and faceted indexes.

The watch displays the moon phase on a half dial at the bottom of the display and the rose gold sectors at 9 and 3 o’clock show the day of the week and the date.

Two Italian companies known for their inspirational design have collaborated to create the Versace and Lamborghini Roadster LP640 which is going into production for fall.

The limited edition luxury car, designed by Donatella Versace, will be produced to order and displays the signature Versace Greek Key motif on the front bumper and the lower part of the doors. The cradle seats are clad in black and white leather, while opulent full grain soft nappa leather – hand-embroidered with the Versace Greek fret motif – upholsters the instrument panel, the doors and the central console.

To create the new super roadster, the Maison Versace’s designers joined forces with designers from the Lamborghini Design Centre (Centro Stile)and specialists working on the “ad personam” project. This Lamborghini program allows individual clients to create personalised sports cars, choosing the equipment specification, the colour of the exterior body and of the interior fittings.

Versace has also designed an accompanying line of black calfskin accessories including a trolley bag, suit carrier, sports bag, as well as a briefcase, suitcase, gloves, driving shoes, belt, wallet, key ring, beauty case, hat andeven a pair of jean,s all bearing an engraved metal Lamborghini Versace tag.

This prestigious accessory collection will be exclusively available at Versace Boutiques and selected Lamborghini showrooms beginning in November 2008.

Gianni Versace’s CEO Giancarlo Di Risio emphasised: “This new supercar and the exclusive Collection LP640 represent a natural evolution of excellence for both Versace and Lamborghini through the creation of these unique, one-of-a-kind projects.”

Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., said: “Our collaboration with Versace turned out to be an excellent experience and is an example of how we are pursuing our strategy of developing luxury products outside of luxury sports cars. We are proud to be in this prestigious, Made in Italy partnership with Versace, which adds to our other recent successes.”

The price of the special-order Murciélago LP 640 Roadster Versace has yet to be named, but it is expected to be above the base price of $358,000. (Source : Press release)

An unused life jacket from the doomed transatlantic cruise ship “Titanic,” which struck an iceberg in 1912 and sank, fetched 68,500 dollars at auction at Christie’s in New York late Wednesday.

The cork-filled life preserver – still largely intact, but stained and torn in parts – was thought to have been found by farmer John James Dunbar on the Halifax shoreline after the passenger ship sank off Newfoundland in April, 1912.

The liner sank during its maiden voyage from the British port of Southampton to New York when it hit an iceberg, causing some 1,500 people to die.

The Quattroporte has been on the market for five years and since the complete replacement is not due until 2012, Maserati has chosen to develop a mid-lifecycle update.

Details on this redesigned version of the Maserati Quattroporte and Quattroporte S, for the 2009 model year, have just been unveiled.

The Quattroporte will use a 4.2 liter engine with four hundred horsepower output and a top speed of 270 kilometers an hour while the Quattroporte S will use a 4.7 liter engine which outputs four hundred and thirty horsepower and has a top speed of 280 kilometers an hour.

Al Nakheel Properties and the Trump Organization announced Monday that one of the two exclusive penthouses in Trump International Hotel & Tower on Palm Jumeirah will be breaking property records by selling for more than $30 million (The earlier record was $12 million for a penthouse at the Burje Tower, Dubai).

The two towers of the Trump International Hotel & Tower, scheduled for completion in 2011, will form the gateway to Palm Jumeirah, the offshore development that will co-host a permanent residence for the Cirque du Soleil and the retired QE2 cruise liner, along with hotels, apartments and villas.