Sometimes history explains everything; other times presupposed rationality counts for nothing

1979 MG Midget 1500 £28,750 Bonhams, June 30.

How often do you get the chance to buy an unregistered Midget with just 35 miles on it? Actually, the last delivery-mileage one came up exactly three years ago at Anglia Car Auctions – with the end of MG looming, it seems quite a few were salted away. ACA’S red car fetched £11,025, hence Bonhams’ £10-15k estimate. The thirst for museum-quality cars has either moved a lot in five years, or more likely this was a one-off.

1967 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 £336,618 Artcurial, July 2.

What puts this big result in stark perspective is the restored ex-john Lennon 330 GT that Bonhams sold in 2013 for only a little more – £359,900. At the time it was reckoned that £200,000 of that was down to the Beatles factor more than doubling the car’s value. It seems that time and market forces have almost bridged the gap. Indeed it was a fine example, but what does it make the Lennon car worth now?

1974 Triumph Stag £22,074 Historics, July 8.

Stags rarely vault the £20k barrier, especially at auction, so there has to be a reason why this one so comprehensively beat its £13-18k estimate. Magenta is rarely the first-choice colour for Stag fans, and it’s an auto. On the other hand, this was a very well-presented original car and the 47,500 miles is genuine. It’d had just three owners too, and came with a good matching hardtop. There also has to be a return on that number plate.

1979 MGB Roadster £30,506 Artcurial, July 2. Perhaps everything looks more expensive in Monaco, where Artcurial achieved this miracle price. But £30k is extreme for any MGB, even a freshly restored 60k-miler – plus this was a rubber bumper car, fitted with a Sixties grille and Seventies chrome bumpers, but retaining its giant Us-market side-marker lights. Given its £10-16k estimate and lack of reserve, what would your best guess have been? Thought so.

1930 Bugatti Type 46 Sportsman’s Saloon £281,500 Bonhams, June 30. More evidence of how history sells a car. Type 46 Bugattis rarely grace the open market, but the £160-200k estimate looked fair for this chunky Weymann-bodied coupé. Perhaps it underestimated the value of this particular car’s superbly documented adventurous past. It’s worthy of a book – indeed one was written in the late Forties about the 18,000-mile trip made in it around Europe. You can’t fake that.