Auctions & Sales

Collectors and enthusiasts turned out in force when BCA Blackbushe offered two classic British cars on Wednesday 14th October.  Both the 1957 Morris Minor and the 1960 Ford Prefect had generated a lot of pre-sale interest and there was some very competitive bidding both in the auction hall and online as the cars were offered. The Morris Minor had only been sold once before, at BCA’s former Frimley centre in 1980 when it realised £680.  Thirty-five years later it made over four times that value, selling for £2,850.   The two-owner Morris was in need of some gentle renovation to return to its former glory and came with  a number of original spares including a pair of boxed ‘as new’ Lucas semaphore indicators, Morris badges, carpets, new floor panels, chrome overriders and a complete set of spare wheels. The beautifully restored […]

A rare early Range Rover convertible conversion is due to be sold at Silverstone Auctions’ last auction of the year, The NEC Classic Motor Show Sale, on 14-15 November 2015. Starting life as a 1973 Range Rover ‘Suffix B’, the car was converted in the late Eighties by Special Vehicle Conversions, who specialise in bespoke convertible conversions for Range Rovers of the period. The rare right-hand drive convertible has covered just 62,500 miles from new and having recently been restored to its original Special Vehicle Conversions specification, it will be sold at The Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show auction with an estimate of £35,000 – £40,000. The car was apparently won by the previous owner in a card game in the Nineties, who then stored it in a lock-up as he didn’t have space in his garages. The vendor heard […]

The original Jaguar XJ12-C Broadspeed that appeared in the cult 1970’s TV series, The New Avengers, sold at auction Thursday, October 15, for £62,000 – some £50,000 over initial estimates. The iconic Jaguar, driven by secret agent John Steed (played by Patrick Macnee) in the hit series, began life as a pre-production prototype vehicle for the marque. Bought by a private collector at the H&H Classics’ auction at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Cambridge, the XJ12-C completed its early development and testing work with Jaguar before being sent to Broadspeed Engineering Ltd. to be fitted with upgraded bodykit including wider bumpers and wheelarches plus bigger wheels and tyres in preparation for filming.

With a diverse and impressive range of cars already consigned, the early entries for Barons’ Autumn Classic (October 27th, Sandown Park) indicate that the auction house’s strong run of sales in 2015 is set to continue. The sale is headed by a very fine 1962 Bentley Continental S2, which was built for the celebrated musician, nightclub owner and bandleader Edmundo Ros, a huge star worldwide from the 1940s to his retirement in the 1970s. Once a familiar sight around the streets of Knightsbridge, London, this handsome Tudor grey Bentley has been the subject of considerable restoration, and comes complete with a comprehensive history file, including original Bentley build sheets and correspondence with Edmundo Ros. Estimate: £85,000-£105,000. The Bentley is followed by a magnificent, concours-winning 1965 Series One E-type Jaguar convertible, which spent most of its life in New York, returning […]

With British-made classic cars continuing to hold their own at auction, Bonhams is offering for sale a unique collection of Bentley, Aston Martin, Frazer Nash and Invicta vehicles. The fleet was assembled by Lancashire-based businessman Gordon Willey. British cars are sometimes effectively beating more highly estimated cars at auction. With Ferraris hitting records, buyers have been selective in recent sales at several houses. Willey’s multi-million-pound collection includes seven Bentleys such as a 1929 4½-Litre Tourer estimated at £400,000-£500,000. There are also pre-war cars such as a 1938 Frazer-Nash BMW 328 Roadster, once owned by British dance-band leader Billy Cotton and estimated at £550,000-£650,000 ($101,000). The lots also include Willey’s 1964 Aston Martin DB5 Sports Saloon, estimated at £400,000-£500,000, and delivered new to the Nizam of Nabunda. There is also an ex-Nigel Dawes 1934 Invicta 4½-Litre ‘S’ Type Low Chassis Tourer, […]

Light rain during the opening hour of this year’s International Autojumble didn’t in any way dampen the spirits of the thousands of motoring enthusiasts who had eagerly anticipated their annual pilgrimage to the motoring mecca that is Beaulieu. By Sunday, grey skies had given way to warm sunshine, the fields full to bursting with exhibitor stands and visitors contributed to make this year’s International Autojumble a blissful Beaulieu. The event retained its cosmopolitan feel with thousands of European and overseas motoring enthusiasts joining the British contingent for the 49th International Autojumble, held in the parkland of the National Motor Museum on the 5th and 6th of September.

Joining the headlining Colton Collection Ferraris at H&H Classics’ 14 October Duxford sale is another car from one of the Grandes Marques, this time an Aston Martin, though certainly not one many would recognise. Named the ‘Sotheby Special’, after sponsor W.D. & H.O. Wills’ brand of cigarettes (yes, the ‘Sotheby’ comes from a short-lived licensing deal with the auction house), the cutting edge lines of the car were by Ogle Design, the Letchworth-based studio also responsible for the Raleigh Chopper bike, Reliant’s Scimitar GTE and the Bond Bug. The Sotheby Special was based on an Aston Martin DBS V8 chassis (DBSV8/10380/R), with outrageous 1970s glassfibre coachwork supported on a Reynolds 531 tubular steel frame. The entire ‘glasshouse’ is in Perspex. Under the bonnet lies an early prototype Aston Martin V8, while the cockpit is a riot of bright green courtesy […]

The entry list for Barons’ sale at Sandown Park on September 15th features an eclectic mix of cars spanning 10 decades, turning the saleroom into something of a ‘pop-up’ motoring museum. The sale is headlined by an extremely rare 1936 Alvis Speed 20 SD drophead coupé with Vanden Plas coachwork. One of five such examples built, just three are believed to still be in existence, and this is the only car of its type registered in the membership list of the Alvis Owner Club. It comes with a complete record of owners since its manufacture nearly 80 years ago, and still drives very well and performs strongly. Estimate: £100,000-£130,000. Another rarity is the unrestored, highly original 1972 Alfa Romeo Montreal V8 Bertone Coupé, which has covered just 38,000 miles in over 40 years, and has been barn-stored since 2011. Whilst […]

If you are familiar with PBS’s Antiques Roadshow, then you will immediately recognize the Keno brothers, high-energy twins who are quick to point out the key differences between a $500 Chippendale table copy and a multimillion-dollar original. Hemmings Motor News has a good write up on the brothers’ upcoming auction – which we hope to have more on in the near future. Surrounded by collector cars since birth, Leigh and Leslie Keno are lifelong car guys who restored their first car, a 1963 Jaguar XK-E roadster, at age 16 (with their father’s guidance). They’ve judged at Pebble Beach, lectured as subject-matter experts on automotive preservation and contributed to the book The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles. This November, the brothers will add to their impressive resumes with the debut of Keno Brothers Fine Automobile Auctions in New York City. Scheduled to coincide with art […]

Anglia Car Auctions continued its 2015 run of mega-sales as just shy of 300 cars came under the hammer on Saturday 22 August, resulting in around 75% of lots sold and a total of £2 million. Top price of the sale was the £152,250 including premium paid for a 2001 BMW Z8. The bright red Roadster, which has been sold new to the Middle East, had covered 55,000km from new and was one of just 77 available in that colour. A 1957 Austin-Healey 100/6 that was part of a Danish collection made £49,350 and a 1962 Jaguar E-type Coupe was bought for £49,350, both with premium. The 1980s performance models continue to strengthen in popularity with a 1987 Cosworth Sierra with 33,000 miles from new, owned by the vendor for ten years, made £30,450 and a 1983 XR4i with 45,000 […]

An MG sports car owned and driven during World War Two by the RAF hero Sir Douglas Bader is expected to sell for £80,000 at auction. The fighter pilot, who famously flew in the Battle of Britain despite losing both legs, was the first owner of the Midget TA Roadster. He bought it in 1938, seven years after he lost his legs, registering the open-top car to his address in upmarket Kensington, West London. The British car was powered by a 1.3-litre engine which gave it a top speed of around 80mph – an impressive speed for a 1930s sports car.   Autocar magazine tested the MG in 1937, with motoring journalists saying it gives “an unusually good performance for its engine size”. When the war broke out Bader rejoined the RAF and became one of the heroes of the […]

A very rare McLaren F1 has became the most expensive British car after it was sold as part of a record-breaking £43 million fleet. The 1998 McLaren F1, part of the Pinnacle Collection featuring 25 super-important models from the past 50 years, sold for £8.8 million – nearly $14 million USD. This made the super-rare hypercar, built in Woking, Surrey, the most expensive British car to ever sell publicly. The McLaren, capable of more than 240mph, is one of only two road-spec F1s upgraded by the British firm to LM specification.

An ultra-rare, unrestored and highly original 1969 Aston Martin DB6 Mk 1 Volante Vantage set a new record for Barons when it sold for £781,000 at Sandown Park on July 28th. The highest price ever achieved for a car at a Barons sale, it broke the auction house’s previous record of £739,000, set just three months ago for a 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback ‘barn find’. “We believe this may be a record for an unrestored example of this particular Aston Martin, so these are very exciting times for Barons,” said company director Peter Gascoigne. “The past six months since Tony Cavell and I took the reins have seen significant growth in the value and quality of cars across the sales, and in the overall sale results. To have two such cars within three months of each other is truly […]

The MG YB. First of all it is a model that you just don’t come across very often. Second, they don’t normally pop up as barn finds. And third, this is the very first MG YB to roll off the line. Sounds like an MG lover’s dream. This rare car is now up for auction on EBay. Wouldn’t this be the perfect Just British staff car? Then it could be deducted as a business expense. Right? We will just quote the seller’s description to give you some idea of the car itself. It was thought that the very first MG YB was long lost, but has now been unearthed after 40 + years locked up in hibernation, by the previous owner. The proverbial ‘barn find’……… Number 1 – Chassis 0251 – First Registered 01 January 1952 –  First off the […]

Classic Car Auctions (CCA) will be offering the ‘ultimate’ Land Rover Defender in its auction at CarFest South on August 29th. When the 90 and 110 Land Rover models were launched in 1983 they revolutionised the model in terms of both road handling and off-road ability and paved the way for what would become known as the Defender. Most desirable of the range was the V8 County Station Wagon, featuring 12 seats and the same 3.5 litre engine and gearbox as fitted to the Range Rover.  It also had improved interior trim plus the distinctive body stripes. This unique and bespoke example, estimated at between £19,500 and £21,000, was first registered on 1stJanuary 1984 making it one of the earliest built. It features the rare and desirable sliding windows, flush door handles and the ultra-rare seat-box mounted high and low […]

Among a catalogue of many significant cars to be offered by H&H Classics at its forthcoming 11 July Chateau Impney Hill Climb sale is not only a historic car in the legend that is the MG Car Company, it’s also a star of the silver screen. The 1957 MGA Twin Cam Roadster Prototype, registration ‘ORX 885’, features in a 1955/1956 promotional film for the British Motor Corporation, The Sports Car Of The Year, produced by Associated British Pathé Ltd. MG’s top-of-the-range sports car can be seen at the MIRA test track lapping at its impressive top speed of 120mph. Not only that, in later frames it also demonstrates the powerful stopping power of disc brakes – quite an innovation for MG and at that time generally only fitted to racing cars such as Jaguar’s D-type. Since service as a factory […]

A selection of iconic racing cars rarely seen on the open market will be available in the competition car-only Silverstone Auctions sale held ahead of the Silverstone Classic on 23 July 2015. For the first time since its conception in 2011, Silverstone Auctions has introduced a stand-alone Competition Car Sale. Due to the unprecedented demand and appeal of historic racing cars and the increased demand of Silverstone Classic, the auction house have introduced a dedicated racing car-only sale on 23 July. The event will complement the two main classic car sales over 24-26* July.

A 1923 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost carrying ingenious painted ‘wood-effect’ shooting brake coachwork from a car once owned by the future Edward VIII – one of the earliest ‘woodies’ – burst through its £120,000 upper estimate to sell for £161,280 at H&H Classics’ 20 June auction. The sale was held in conjunction with the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club Annual Concours & Rally at Burghley House, Lincolnshire. The lady vendor had driven the 92-year-old car to the event, no doubt relying on Rolls’ reputation in the day for making the ‘best car in the world’ – although it’s no stranger to adventure, having enjoyed many Ghost Club tours through Europe, South Africa and Australasia. In recent weeks the car has been the subject of much Fleet Street speculation that the then Prince of Wales employed it to smuggle Mrs Simpson out of Balmoral, […]