Auctions Commentary from CCFS Market Analyst Richard Hudson-Evans
A 1963 Jaguar E Type Series 1 3.8 Fixed Head for restoration certainly magnetised competitive bidding in a packed ACA auction hall at Kings Lynn until taken on by a winning contestant who was prepared to take on the still fashionable project for £72,450
Latest classic car auction commentary: 12/04/2016
Anglia Car Auctions are one of the few vehicle auction firms that still conduct their sales off-line, which means you have to make the journey to check out the metal and documents and bid ‘live’ or by telephone. Record numbers attended Friday afternoon viewing this time and another very large crowd lined the drive-through for a marathon sale day, despite a rain-dampened start to what was Grand National Day. One party had even flown in by state of the art helicopter with carbon-fibre finish, while judging from the registration plates on cars lining every available kerb, some Eurozone mainlanders had travelled a very long way to play in Norfolk.
Three quarters of the classics for sale, some of them increasingly near-contemporary were hammered away to new keepers, led by a wing of Mercedes-Benz SLs. A stunningly mint 1969 280SL Pagoda-top auto in right-hand drive that clearly had been maintained and detailed regardless of cost by John Haynes fetched £102,900 and a 1960 190SL manual left hooker that had only clocked up 8500 miles since the fullest restoration cost the buyer £92,400. A 1988 500SL lefty with hardtop, again maintained in the Haynes workshops since immigration in 2009, attracted a more than estimated £32,550.
In tune with the recent market sentiment for Fast Fords from the rally dominating 1960s through to the boy racer 1990s, a 1971 Ford Capri 3000E by Broadspeed even with Webasto roof hole that had been diligently restored over a ten year period was successfully cashed in for £50,400 with premium, £20,400 above forecast. A 1990 Escort XR3 EFi original, one of the last XR3i MkIVs with 8705 mileage, found £21,000, £6000 more than the guide price.
Another extraordinary result for an extraordinary example was the £25,200 paid for a 1991 Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9 that shined underneath as much as it did on top, but which reportedly had cost nearly £20,000 to perfect. A claimed to be one lady owner and only 19,830 miles from new in 1985 Toyota Hilux pick-up also collected a more than forecast £14,700. Whilst a fresh looking 1970 Austin-Healey Sprite MkIV from a long-term Heritage re-shell with albeit minor imperfections in close-up still raised £11,550.
About the only pre-WW2 cars to raise an eyebrow was a Chandler’s owned and restored 1937 Austin Seven Nippy sold for a within optimistic estimate band £20,475. A 1966 Morris Mini Cooper 1275S Mk1, originally exported to New Zealand and therefore in right-hand drive, for which UK registration had been applied, had very many rusty patches. Auctioned ‘Without Reserve’, and requiring likely to be extensive back to shell surgery, the Mk1 S still cost a winning bidder here £22,050.
The £10,500 valuation by the new owner of a 1992 VW Polo G40, driven 41,119 displayed mileage by two keepers with £2250-3000 guide price, was market noteworthy. The £19,530 result for an £11,000-13,000 2000 Subaru Impreza P1 with 44,000 mileage was suitably appreciating. A further sign of modern times and what new money is buying now was provided by an only recently imported 2001 Nissan Skyline GTR R34 2.6 AWD V-Spec II with Japanese service history and HKS coil-overs, which made a forecast £32,550, and another Nissan Skyline, an earlier R33 GTR 2.6 Twin Turbo V-Spec N1 from 1996, one of just seventy-one produced, found £12,075.
After a massive 278 collector vehicles had been driven through the auction hall (or, if of the dormant resto project variety, sold where they were parked), 209 or 75% of them changed hands during another marathon afternoon in East Anglia. Even on a Grand National distracting Saturday afternoon, the ACA punters had bet a total of £1.83m with 5% premium, the lowest rate charged on the traditional UK auction circuit, spending an average of £8770 per car, with the prospect of further provisional bids being converted post-sale.
On the preceding Wednesday, Barons also shifted 35 of the 46 cars in their latest Sandown Park catalogue, where the sale rate was an almost identical 76% and a 10% premium-inclusive £398,235 was spent, an average of £11,378 per car.
Top Car was a Diablo succeeding Lamborghini Murcielago lefty of 2004 vintage sold for £79,200. Classic Alfa prices paid were a more than top estimate £35,750 for a 1959 2000 Touring Spider, also in left-hand drive, as was a Belgian registered 1971 Montreal that had not been run for over thirty years and which raised £27,500.
Sportscars seeking some action in spring included a 1963 Triumph TR4 Surrey-Top that had only moved 255 miles since 1991, but which nonetheless picked up a dusty £26,950. A once Californian exported 1973 MGB - converted from left to right-hand drive in the US where 3000 man-hours were clocked on refurbishment, including a conversion to telescopic shockers at the back - realised a more than expected £20,350. Afterwards, £19,200 bought a South African supplied 1963 Triumph TR3A on Webers and alloys, though without bumpers.
The dusty 1972 Jensen Interceptor III ‘Garage Find’ had been nowhere for nine years, hence the below estimate £6750 valuation, and a thought actually to be a 1964, though 1966 registered 1964 Volvo P1800S project without documents was uplifted for £1870. While statistically the most unusual lot to cross the block was a 1967 Toyota Corona 1600S Coupe claimed to be in working order without corrosion exchanged for £6875.
Three quarters of cars for sale in these two auctions did so and, while the values of most commodities decline by the bad news obsessed bulletin, some of the prices being paid, particularly for quite recent stuff, continue to genuinely surprise.