Unrepeatability, seasonality and redressed survivor balances make their forces felt

1972 BMW 3.0 CSL – £136,640 Historics at Brooklands, November 25

In private collections since a £28k partial restoration, then carefully improved by a retired BMW director, this CSL has long been in the hands of enthusiasts. And it has the extra attraction of being one of 500 UK market cars. The £95k-125k estimate was market correct presale, but this car – nicely presented but with an unexceptional 77,000 miles – has raised the bar for CSLS once again. Time to revisit the guide.

1969 Alfa Giulia 1600 Super – £31,646 Artcurial, November 5

There’s long been the rare phenomenon with the Alfa 105 range being one of few models where the coupé (GTV) is worth more than the open (Spider) version. Now we have a further anomaly with the saloons shaping up to overtake them both. It’s down to numbers, of course – saloons got used up on daily duties, so there are now fewer. This was a lovely survivor, a well-restored Super with the preferred 1600 engine. A safe buy.

1968 Hillman Imp Californian – £20,700 H&H, November 15

What looks like a vast sum for any Imp actually seems to have become the default value for most unused, unregistered small British cars that have surfaced in recent years. With just 82 miles on the clock, this was close to a once-in-alifetime chance to buy a ‘brand new’ classic Imp. Original down to its unused spare, only surface rust on engine components spoil the show, but do you restore or leave as is?

1981 Delorean DMC-12 – £26,000 Historics at Brooklands, November 25 Market values are no longer one-way traffic. With enthusiasts rather than investors doing most of the buying, we’re back to the vagaries of fashion – what’s hot and what’s not. This was a top quality DMC-12; two owners and sub-10k miles. It was never worth the £40k-45k estimate, but the £26k accepted to get a deal done speaks volumes. Looks like the Delorean’s flux capacitor needs recharging. 1989 Ford Escort XR3I Cabriolet – £16,313 Silverstone Auctions, November 11 We encountered this Cabrio when it appeared as an Ads on Test in our July 2017 issue. The 11,000-mile car was then priced at £21k. We summed it up as ‘expensive… but find another’. Six months on it was sent to auction for the market to decide how much it was actually worth. Now, at just over £16k, it doesn’t look a bad buy, especially as a 1989 XR3I Cabrio made £22.5k in this sale.