Low mileages, high prices

Following in the wheel tracks of the unrepeatable 900-mile 1980 Escort RS2000 Custom MkII sold by Silverstone Auctions for a world record £97,875 at the NEC Classic Motor Show, the lowmileage gold rush continued in Duxford’s Imperial War Museum hangar. Here, a truly timewarp Hillman Imp Californian that has covered just 82 miles since it was sold new in 1968 realised a model record £20,900 under the H&H gavel.

An ex-Patrick Collection 1978 Triumph Stag with hardtop and 10,800 total mileage had come to market again from the same Irish source to sell for £20,588, more than double its lower estimate. A 2001 Rover-era Mini Classic Sport driven just 1250 miles by one owner made its £15,250, and £8213 was handed over for a mainly dry-stored 1964 Triumph Herald from the same collection that had done just 16,200 miles in 53 years. A more than top estimate £35,438, meanwhile, was required to secure a two-keeper 1990 Ford Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth four-door 4x4 with 15,843 miles on the clock.

The front-of-house-parked ‘One Armed Bandit Murder’ 1966 Jaguar E-type 4.2 roadster S1 that was once impounded by Durham Constabulary duly delivered a £151,875 headline result, but the auction milestone here was the £135,000 (with premium) paid for a 1943 International Harvester M5 Half-Track Troop Carrier that had seen WW2 service with the Poles during the Allied liberation of the European mainland. The winning bid of £120,000 for the giant war toy, which had been in receipt of a 2500-hour restoration, was made by the simple click of a mouse on H&H’s new online bidding platform, through which over 25 per cent of the 88 collector vehicles sold (for more than £2.2m) were bought remotely.

Times, it would appear, may be a-changing.

‘A timewarp 82-mile Hillman Imp made a record £20,900 under the gavelÕ