TOP 10 BARGAINS
Despite post-lockdown jitters keeping many people indoors, Cannock Motor Auctions’ third sale didn’t go badly at all. Around 45 of the 70 cars that went through the ring sold, so a decent 64%. That said, two weeks before, 80% sold as traders rushed to plug gaps in their stock. Here are the top 10 motors that caught our eye.
2008 Ford Ka 1.3 Style, 74,000 miles, £180 2005 Fiat Panda 1.1 Active 5dr, 85,000 miles, £255 2006 Jaguar X-type S 2.0d, 97,000 miles, £350 2005 Renault Clio
1.4 Dynamique S 3dr, 78,000 miles, £400 2005 Ford Mondeo ST 2.2 TDCI, 206,000 miles, £650 2002 Mini Cooper S 3dr, 69,000 miles, £675 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD Limited Auto, 136,000 miles, £900 2006 Mercedes-benz C220 CDI Elegance Auto, 110,000 miles, £900 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara 1.6 Auto, 95,000 miles, £900 2008 BMW 320d SE, 200,000 miles, £1200
nother new 3 Series drives off the assembly line at Regensburg, north-east of Munich. It carries M division’s latest 3.0-litre straight six, but given the narrow hips and Touring body, it’s clearly no M3. Neither is this shade of green one you’ll find in BMW’S brochures. Nor, for that matter, is the car going by train to the port of Bremerhaven, where most of the 1100 cars that leave Regensburg daily head for export.
Instead, it’s loaded onto a carrier trailer and taken 120 miles south down Autobahns 93 and 9, and west along Autobahns 99 and 96, destined for
ABuchloe. Here, already benefiting from the fettled M motor and other driveline upgrades, more good things happen. It gains soft leather, the aero needed to travel seriously fast and some stripes that add another 5mph to the claimed 186mph top speed. The VIN is then neatly crossed out and a new sequence of numbers and letters etched into the engine bay. After this, the finished car is test driven on local roads, valeted and finally parked up next to a similarly hued B5 Biturbo in the glassy reception area of Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen Gmbh & Co KG, its drilled brake discs and blue calipers visible through forged 20in wheels.