[Market indicators]

Another Porsche winner and several notable over-book sales – including a Vanden Plas 1300

1994 Porsche 911 Turbo S 3.6 £769,283 RM Sotheby’s, February 8.

Many dismissed the huge prices paid for lowmile modern classic Porsches at RM’S London sale last year as a flash in the pan. But they were back on form in Paris with several over-estimate results like this 964 Turbo S. To be fair, it did tick all the boxes. One of just 17 385bhp ‘S’ models with upright headlamps, it had clocked up two owners and 23,000km (14,286 miles) from new. The money’s still there for the special stuff.

1962 Facel Vega Facellia F2B £73,562 Bonhams, February 9.

It’s always worth reporting on these because they so rarely come to market – it’s a chance to see what they are really worth. Bonhams was caught out by this, vastly underestimating it at £25,600-£34,000. This was a nice if unexceptional car, still looking well on a Nineties restoration and retaining its (rebuilt) original twin-cam engine – not always the case. So if you want a rare Facel roadster, this is the new price.

1989 BMW Z1 £32,850 Silverstone, February 25.

Pretty, innovative and quick enough for most, it’s a surprise that the limited run (just 8000) Z1 hasn’t yet ramped up in price. But this result suggests change is coming. A lovely example that had racked up £25,000 in restoration costs, it was balanced out by fairly high mileage and a secondhand engine fitted when the original failed at 90,000 miles. That it still sold for £5000 over ‘book’ suggests buyers are getting keen.

1974 Vanden Plas Princess 1300 £10,080 H&H Classic Auctions, February 23.

Goodness knows how H&H came up with a £3k-£4k estimate for this. Recently unearthed and put back on the road after 35 years in dry storage, it was showing 5643 on the clock, and the real figure won’t be much higher because it had a speedo change at a year old and doesn’t ever seem to have been used much. We reckoned it would fetch something like twice that estimate, so we were wrong too.

1979 Citroën CX 2400 Prestige £21,395 Artcurial, February 10.

We may have a global market for classics now, but there are still regional variations. Just as Monsieur might titter at us paying £10k-plus for a porridgey old Austin we can marvel at the price paid for this 60,000km CX. It was the Prestige range-topper, and this looked like decent DS money. It may turn out to be a strong investment in Paris, but don’t expect similar money for a UK CX anytime soon.