Richard Hudson-Evans
After a rash of low sale rates, where around half the cars auctioned have failed to sell, all stakeholders in the classics market will have been greatly relieved by SWVA’s sale of a chart topping 96% of the cars driven past their rostrum just outside Poole, where by Friday lunch time only three lots were unsold. Top priced seller was a previously repainted 1972 Aston Martin DBS 6 auto that became an Australian resident from 1986 until repatriation in 2013, and which sold for £64,800 during a £620k morning.
The previous evening in The Wing at Silverstone, commission, telephone and on-line bidders were seen off by a £200,000 bid from a punter in the back row, who paid £225,000 with premium for an ex-works Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 2 Group A with some period Kankkunen history. While a potential historic race 1961 Mk2 3.8 Jag Saloon was acquired for £45,000 by an on-line player in the Netherlands and a £37,125 1966 Mini Cooper to 1275S-spec with HTP passport headed for Australia.
A sensitively refreshed 1987 Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 ‘Original’ quickly raced past £100k and also sold to an on-line bidder from Australia for £114,750 during the Saturday Silverstone Auctions sale at the Classic. Whilst the almost double lower estimate £137,250 paid for a better than new in 1973 and totally mint BMW 3.0 CSL Lightweight in rhd and the £72,000 valuation, £12,000 above guide, by the new owner of a 1991 Vauxhall Lotus Carlton were also extraordinary votes of confidence in the futures of these fossil-fuelled commodities.
A Restore-A-Ford refinished, though not restored 1987 Ford Capri 280 Brooklands with 14,608 mileage was also applauded by attendees for making £55,125, over £10,000 more than had been forecast, and during the Sunday sale, a Swiss dealer displayed 2010 Ford Focus RS500 with only 260k on the odo made £54,000. A market confidence boosting 73% of classics sold during the Sunday session, while the sales total from the three Silverstone Auctions during Classic weekend amounted to £5.5m, a bullish average of more than £61k spent per auction car.
One can but hope that Brexit Secretary of State David Davis, who appeared to enjoy his Sunday at the Classic, will enthuse some of his Greener cabinet colleagues into supporting rather than destroying the old car economy and ensure that vital fuel availability will be preserved at the roadside.
