Auctioneer’s View
Rob George, ACA
Once again you managed a 250plus sale. What’s ACA’s secret?
If I tell you that and then you print it, then everyone will know! Seriously, though, I don’t know. We just try to provide a safe friendly environment for the buying and selling of classic vehicles, and it seems to work.
How do you manage to sell so many cars under the hammer, rather than doing after-sale deals?
I thought all auctioneers managed that! We had successfully auctioned 220 entries by end of sale on 16 June with around 170 of those hammered sold rather than provisional.
Will we ever see another 300-plus ACA sale?
I’ve just turned 50 – and feel it – so probably not. The problem is that I am a bit of a car tart. I just can’t say no!
Why did the sale’s Granada Ghia MkI break the £20,000 barrier?
That’s an easy one – the car was superb throughout and two people fell in love with it.
Do you have a policy of trying to see as many cars as possible?
I generally cover around 60,000 miles per year viewing potential entries. While it’s not financially viable to view all cars, especially lower value vehicles, we are lucky to have friends around the country who can assess cars on our behalf, which keeps costs down, allowing us to keep our commissions at reasonable levels.
Is it important for a sale to have good on-site facilities?
If you are holding high volume auctions such as ours, then yes, because our sales can last up to six hours. We are, at present, transforming one of our cafeterias into a traditional fish and chip shop in order to give customers more variety.
What’s your view about how much information about each car should go in the catalogue?
MoT, service history, ownership, mileage and specification are all key, along with any truly interesting facts. Seriously – who wants to walk around carrying an encyclopaedia full of waffle gleaned from Wikipedia for hours on end?
Would you consider having catalogues with smaller-sized pages?
Only if we have fewer cars. I’m getting old now, so I can’t see small print anymore…
Do you think more cars should be offered at auction without reserve?
That’s a difficult one to answer. Noreserve can work very well – check out the Triumph TR5 project and Morris J Type at our last auction for evidence of that. However, sometimes it is better to give a guide as to true value. Plus, if it fails to catch the right attention (such as the TR250 last month), then someone, somewhere ends up with an absolute bargain.
‘No-reserve can work very well’