Auctions & Sales

Barons is adding three specialist auctions to its 2016 calendar, including a Rolls-Royce, Bentley and prestige classic car and memorabilia sale at the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club rally at the magnificent Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire. Entries are now invited for the sale, which takes place on June 25th at the RREC’s biggest gathering of the year. The three-day international Annual Rally and Concours d’Elegance attracts thousands of cherished Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, and their enthusiastic owners, from all over the world. “We were delighted to be invited by the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club to hold a classic car auction at their very special event,” said Barons’ director Peter Gascoigne. “Barons has a strong history with Rolls-Royce and Bentley at auction; for example, in 2015 we achieved £739,000, nearly double top estimate, for a 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback ‘barn find’ restoration project. Whilst […]

This isn’t an article about Jaguars, but I have been thinking a lot recently about them. Specifically a pre-2005 XK8. I need an adult daily-driver car with a bit of style and an XK8 seems like it would fit the bill nicely. As I do my research and price out the different years and models I inevitably began pondering the question of what else that same money might buy. In short order that led me to talk with some car buddies about the relative merits of the different choices. A variation on the “if I won the lottery” theme. Let’s stay that you had $10K to spend on a British car. The rules are that you must buy a British car with it that you will drive every day – both sun and rain, summer and winter. Of course, you could […]

Autoweek is running an article about RM Sotheby‘s upcoming Scottsdale, Arizona auction and nine cars to watch. What really caught our attention in this one is the inclusion of one of our favorite, but often overlooked, supercars – the Jaguar XJ220. To quote Autoweek… Jaguar’s technological masterpiece is getting to that stage when some of those who wanted them as kids now have the ability to buy them, whether they have to sell their houses to do it or not. The XJ220 had a complicated history, and like an impressive number of 1990s supercars it was conceived during an economic boom to arrive in their owners’ driveways a couple of years after a market crash. The recession of the early 1990s dealt a heavy blow to the XJ220 without killing it outright, though the car itself was in some ways […]

The Aston Martin DB10 – the first car created exclusively for James Bond by British luxury brand Aston Martin – is to go under the auctioneer’s gavel at the London auction house of Christie’s on 18th February with proceeds donated to Médecins Sans Frontières. ‘Spectre – The Auction’ celebrates the release of the 24th Bond film on Digital HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD with 24 special auction lots going under the hammer for charity, led by the Aston Martin DB10. Celebrating the great British brand’s half century with Bond, which started with the iconic DB5, the DB10 gives a glimpse of the future design direction for the next generation of Aston Martins. Production of the DB10 was strictly limited to ten examples of the bespoke sports car which was developed and hand-built by the designers, engineers and artisan craftspeople at Aston […]

Original “Italian Job” movie stunt driver and Mini racer, Phil Wicks, is offering his highly successful 1967 Mini Cooper S 1275 race car for sale. The price is listed at $55,000. This car was originally an SCCA racer and has the original race log book from 1972. There is also the current up to date log book. Wicks has raced and prepared the car for the past five years, competing in 42 vintage races with 39 first in class and many overall Group 1 first places. First place in the Walter Mitty at Road Atlanta for the past five years. First place at the Gold Cup at VIR for the past five years.

We don’t often run two videos on the same day, but when it involves a buddy, we make an exception.  The first Keno Brothers Fine Automobile Auction was held in New York City, back on November 18th and 19th. Our sometimes contributor Bob Seider was part of the team that put on the auction, and we ran his story on the E-Type offered. From Davids Films, “this video  short impression of what it was like to create something entirely new for the Collector Car World. A dynamite team pulled this one off with great creativity and huge passion for cars. This is how we roll.” The next automobile auction put on by the brothers of Antiques Roadshow fame will be held in Pennsylvania in June. On June 10, 2016, the auction will be held in conjunction with The Elegance at Hershey. […]

A pristine slice of Group B rallying history is going up for sale at the Coys auction at Autosport International, in the form of a show-condition MG Metro 6R4. The Metro 6R4 is headlining a star-cast of over 60 rare and collectable road and race cars going under the hammer live at Autosport International. This particular example is one of the lowest mileage examples of its kind, having covered just 3,100 miles since it was built in 1985. Its pristine condition is down to the fact that, unusually, it has never been raced or rallied, as it was the original Rothmans show car. Instead, it was mainly used as a display car at shows, although it was used for the occasional demonstration. As a result, it is a perfect, almost box fresh example of the 6R4.

A one-of-a-kind Land Rover Defender sold for a record £400,000 at a prestigious charity auction at Bonhams tonight, from which all proceeds are being donated to Land Rover’s humanitarian and conservation partners. This is the thought to be the most valuable production Land Rover ever to be sold at auction. The unique vehicle, the two-millionth of the iconic Series Land Rover and Defender models manufactured at Land Rover’s Solihull plant since 1948, was sold to a bidder from Qatar. The vehicle was built in May 2015 by an all-star cast of brand ambassadors and people from Land Rover’s history including Bear Grylls, Virginia McKenna OBE and Stephen and Nick Wilks, sons of the founders of Land Rover. All proceeds from the sale will be donated to Land Rover’s humanitarian and conservation partners: the International Federation of Red Cross and Red […]

Renowned antique and collectible appraisers and stars of PBS’s long running Antiques Roadshow, the Keno Brothers staged their inaugural collector car auction, Rolling Sculpture, in New Your City’s vibrant SoHo district on November 19. Leigh and Leslie Keno, also known for their judging of Pebble Beach’s annual Concours d’Elegance, have almost single-handedly raised preservation class automobiles to their current status. Passionate for provenance, originality and authenticity, the finely-curated auction featured cars with impeccable history and documentation.

Barons is set to become the first UK classic car auction house to feature a lady auctioneer when Helen Gascoigne brings the hammer down on a selection of lots, assisting Barons’ long-standing auctioneer Fabian Hine at the Yuletide Classic Sale at Sandown Park on December 15th. The daughter of Barons director Peter Gascoigne, 33 year-old Helen is a senior lawyer by profession but is adding another string to her bow by combining her love of classic cars and knowledge of the family business to embark on learning the classic car auction trade.  In a year of ‘firsts’ for Barons, which has included the company twice setting its highest-ever price for a car sold at auction, it is only fitting that the season ends with another first, not just for Barons, but for all specialist UK classic car houses; the introduction […]

A two-day Series Land Rover and Defender heritage exhibition will be on display at Bonhams London from 15-16 December ahead of the prestigious charity auction of the Defender 2,000,000. The exhibition will celebrate 67 years of UK production and chart the Defender’s journey to becoming a global automotive icon. Prospective bidders and the general public are invited to preview the Defender 2,000,000 throughout the specially curated exhibition, which celebrates almost seven decades of Land Rover production at the Solihull manufacturing facility in the UK. With a ‘hall of fame’ depicting the Land Rover playing a supporting role to Hollywood heroes such as Steve McQueen and Daniel Craig in his role as James Bond 007 and Sir Winston Churchill and British nobility including Her Majesty The Queen, the exhibition will illustrate the journey of an icon that has travelled the world, […]

The famed C-Type Jaguar XKC 011 driven by Sir Stirling Moss at Le Mans, the Goodwood 9 Hours, the Mille Miglia and the British Empire Trophy Race on the Isle of Man will go up for auction next year. In addition to it being a memorable occasion when such an iconic car goes up for auction, this event will likely mark a milestone for prices paid as the car is expected by many estimates to reach the £5,000,000 mark, which is about $7.55 million at today’s exchange rate. After being sold by Jaguar into private hands and club raced, C-Type XKC011 went into the current owner’s family in 1963. It has remained there ever since, over 50 years, and his been maintained in original condition.

A very special Range Rover Sport first owned by David Beckham will be offered by Classic Car Auctions (CCA) in its sale on 5th December at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre. The 2007 car was exclusively designed and upgraded for the ex-England football captain by Kahn Conversions at a cost of £100,000. It’s now offered for sale at auction, estimated at between £23,000 and £25,000.

94 amazing classic cars spanning 83 years, as well as a host of automobilia and luxury lifestyle items, will be offered this weekend at Silverstone Auctions’ sale at the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show. One of the biggest classic car auctions in the calendar, the two-day sale takes place on the 14th and 15th of November at the NEC, Birmingham. The highlight of the sale has to be a fabulous ‘on the button’ low mileage 1991 Jaguar XJ220, estimated at between £300,000 and £350,000. Chassis no. 220693 was hand built by TWR Jaguar in Oxford in 1991 before being exported to Brunei by special order of the Royal Family. The car remained as part of the world renowned, royal car collection until September 2002 when it returned to the UK.

A rare 1966 Lotus Elan S2 once owned by famous comedian, actor, photographer, singer and all round icon Peter Sellers, will be auctioned at the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show on Saturday 14th November by Silverstone Auctions, estimated at between £45,000 and £50,000. The car was delivered to Peter Sellers’ Haymarket home on 22nd June 1966 and driven by him, with wife Britt Ekland in the passenger seat, until 29th February 1969. ‘SAR 57D’ then went through two other owners before being purchased by the current vendor.

JD Classics drew huge interest with its wide array of cars at the inaugural Classic & Sports Car – The London Show at Alexandra Palace last weekend. With 12 beautiful models across two stands, JD Classics had the biggest dealer display of the show. This included three Aston Martins including an original factory demonstrator Series 3 DB4, two Jaguars and three Ferraris, including a 250 GT/L Lusso. Also featured were a 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster and a 1968 Lamborghini 400 GT. Taking pride of place on the dealer’s display was a very special ex-works Formula One Scarab Transporter, used in the film Le Mans. Commissioned in 1956 and then later used by American team Scarab for the 1960 Formula One Championship, the works transporter was made with a Fiat chassis and designed by coachbuilder Bartoletti. In 1964, it was sold […]

Following a highly successful year in 2015, which saw brand new sales and record-breaking prices achieved for cars, Silverstone Auctions has released details of its upcoming sales for 2016. Kicking off the auction calendar will be the Race Retro sale, the fifth sale of its kind that the auction house has held there. The two-day sale will take place on 27-28 February and will feature a collection of classic road cars, historic racing cars, motorcycles as well as automobilia and lifestyle items. The specialist auction house will return to the Practical Classics Restoration and Classic Car Show on 6 March. The sale will offer buyers the chance to acquire some of the most exceptional restoration projects as well as intriguing barn-finds. Returning to its spiritual home at The Wing, Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone Auctions will hold its popular stand-alone May Sale […]

The first production right hand drive 1967 TR5 Roadster is to be sold by leading classic car restorers Classic Motor Cars (CMC). This incredibly special car was the first TR5 P1 to be built on the normal assembly line, and is one of only 1,100 to be produced, carrying with it an indisputable history.