Auctions Commentary from CCFS Market Analyst Richard Hudson-Evans
After 27 years of occasional use and 8 of them in storage, an apparently still original Peugeot 205 1.9 GTI with 7986 mileage by one owner from new in 1989, when it cost £10,001.93p, fetched a record £30,938 under the Silverstone Auctions gavel during Silverstone Classic weekend where buyers spent £4.63m on 89 collector vehicles, an average of £52,040 per car.
Some of the market confidence measuring sale rates would appear to be back on track, too, with over 70% of road-going collectibles auctioned by Silverstone selling in Northamptonshire and 63 more pop classics - a post-Brexit result topping 81% of those entered - fetching another £535,902 with premium, an average of £8506 being spent therefore per car, at the Friday morning SWVA drive-through at Parkstone, just outside Poole.
The highest-priced seller from the five sales held during what was a four day auction weekend was the statistically very rare and unraced 1981 Porsche 924 Carrera GT3 chassis 10 which cost a Silverstone Auctions buyer a within estimate £495,00 during their Thursday evening Competition Cars session.
Below guide price sums were accepted meanwhile for a 1966 911 2.0 SWB racer sold for £103,500 and the 2000 BTCC campaigned Ford Mondeo Super Tourer with Prodrive 004 chassis number sold for £83,250. A 1975 FIA Group 2 Ford Escort BDG replicating a Zakspeed original was bought at auction for £57,375 and promptly wheeled out of the saleroom and driven to third overall on the GP circuit outside.
The Saturday sale starring Bristol D Series powered 1958 AC Ace, left to right-hand drive converted when repatriated from Canada in 1990 and much retro-event exercised since 2010, made a £65,000 more than top estimate £249,750. A 2005 Ford GT with Roush upgrades sold for £213,750 and a 2009 Ferrari 420 Scuderia lefty did well to achieve £131,625 with premium, within their forecasts.
A 1961 and very early Jaguar E Type S1 3.8 Roadster number 62 that was last restored during the 1990s, but had lost its external bonnet lock handles and was ripe for improvement, found £140,625, the low estimate, only just. Whilst an only recently restored and upgraded 1965 E S1 4.2 Coupe with 5-speed box achieved a £38,000 more than top estimate £123,750. A one owner 1987 Ford Sierra RS500 with 19,700 mileage was applauded when a long bidding battle ended with a £73,375 selling price, just over forecast money. A 1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1 went for £57,375 and a 1974 Ford Capri RS3100 also overtook its estimate to sell for £51,750.
The top seller in the Sunday sale was a 1994 Ferrari 512 TR with the steering wheel on the right side that had been well serviced during three ownerships, the most recent of which had been Peter De Savary, and which sold for £162,000, forecast money. A Porsche factory ‘Flatnosed’ 1986 911 930 Turbo SE that had come to market after a spell in a Swiss showroom raised a forecast £94,500 and a UK supplied in 1972 911 2.4T made £84,375, close to the low estimate figure, while a 1972 home market E Type S3 V12 Roadster that had been resident on the European mainland for far too long a mid-estimate £75,375.
Apart from the stupendous 205 1.9 GTI valuation, a Retro Ford Mag featured 1974 Ford Escort RS2000 Mk1 minter deservedly pulled a more than expected £36,563 and an Audi Quattro Coupe 5-pot sold new in 1984 in the then Manx resident TeamLotus F1 driver Nigel Mansell cost a buyer without a CBE £26,438.
During the previous day’s auction however, celeb provenance of having been owned by Sir Geoff Hurst MBE and Sir Bruce Forsyth CBE did nothing for the fortunes of a 2000 Ferrari 550 Maranello and an open-top 1971 Corniche Roller, unsold for £104,000 and £31,000 respectively. With such honours being dished out by the previous occupant of Number 10 to reward Remain donors and family member hair stylists, old world gongs have clearly become deeply tarnished goods that no longer impress voters.
Over-taxed punters meanwhile are encouraged by the lowest base rates ever to spend any spare pounds they might have left before they are further devalued by the next wave of quantitative easing! Another classic car might be a less painful hedge.