TIMEWARP MGB SMASHES SALE EXPECTATIONS
Low-mileage Abingdon offerings star at weekend online-only sale
An MGB with fewer than 6000 miles on the clock sold for £15,000 – smashing its upper estimate – at a classic auction last weekend.
Anglia Car Auctions hammered away the 1980 GT, which has covered 5,794 miles in the hands of its single owner, for £3k over its £10-12k estimate at its onlineonly sale last Saturday (20 June).
The King’s Lynn-based auctioneer said that the Brooklands Green example was the last MGB delivered by Abingd onto Hertfordshirebased British Leyland dealer Ware Garages, whose chairman decided to keep it at his home in a heated garage until his death in 2009. In that time it was only taken out and driven occasionally, with previous work including a conversion to unleaded petrol in 1990.
Guy Snelling, ACA consultant, said: ‘The car was impeccable in its history and condition, having been owned by the same dealer principal from new.
‘It was strong money for a rubber-bumper GT, but you can’t put a price on that sort of history.’ Another GT, a chrome-bumper 1973 example, also sold above its £12k upper estimate later that day, selling for a hammer price of £14,100. Other strong results included a 1985 Opel Manta, which sailed past its £8500 upper estimate the following day, selling for £14,500.
CCW markets editor Richard Barnett said that he reckoned the auction’s mixture of traditional ‘ live’ elements – including starting up and driving classics past the rostrum – mixed with a slick online presentation helped to give bidders confidence, which was one of the reasons for some of the strong prices seen at last weekend’s sale.
He said: ‘At the end of the year we’ll look back and say ACA’s June sale was the one that marked a major step-up in how to conduct an online sale. Running it live with an auctioneer, but also employing decent shots of the cars was the way to get punters geed up, and the results showed with some strong prices throughout, including these great results for the two low mileage MGBs.’
❚ angliacarauctions.co.uk