European sale highlights

CLASSIC CAR AUCTIONS, LEAMINGTON SPA, UK. 5 DEC

While there are any number of classic Ford Mustangs available for sale, honest, original and well-cared-for examples are few and far between – but anyone wanting such a car could have done a lot worse than to take a punt at the 1967 notchback offered at this CCA sale. Owned by the vendor since 1978, regularly used and sympathetically restored over the years, it was well worth its £11,440 sale price.

SILVERSTONE AUCTIONS, BIRMINGHAM, UK. 15 NOV

Anyone who remembers how the streets of 1980s Britain were once thick with Ford Escort XR3s and derivatives such as the RS1600i and the RS Turbo would, no doubt, be flabbergasted to hear that a lowmileage example of the latter – showing 5568 miles on its odometer – fetched no less than £60,000. Admittedly such torque-steering hooligans can be fun to drive. But will the buyer drive it anyway?

BONHAMS, LONDON, UK. 6 DECEMBER

The last time I saw the 1938 Frazer Nash-BMW 328 Roadster originally owned by bandleader Billy Cotton was at a Sotheby’s sale in 1993, where it fetched (if memory serves) around £100,000. With BRDC founder member and Cotton’s one-time mechanic Wilkie Wilkinson in attendance, the car was bought by Lancashire enthusiast Gordon Willey, from whose collection it was offered here – and made £617,500.