2019 hits predicted
It’s good news for fans of modern classic offerings
‘Cars like the Z3 will be thought of as classics’
You achieved consistently high sale rates in 2018 – do you see that continuing this year?
The quick answer to this is ‘yes’, my reasoning being that people will look for other places to put their money in these unsettled times. Leaving it in the bank is not a good idea, so I feel that the classic car market will remain strong. There may be a little flattening of prices in certain models that saw a startling rise in values in the past year or so, but that’s to be expected.
Will you still keep sales to around 70 cars? You don’t feel tempted to offer more?
We currently have a format of limiting the entry to 70-80 vehicles. It might be worth pointing out that we do not accept every car that we are offered and in that way we are able to offer a cross-section of cars to the public and trade buyers alike. It’s an approach that seems to work.
Where will the market strength be in this year? Will it be in traditional classics like the MGB, Morris Minor and the like, or in more more modern cars?
Traditional classics like MGs, Morrises, Triumphs and the like will always be popular. You have to factor in the driveability of the car (and I am not including exotic cars like pre-war Bentleys, here) – is it comfortable on A-roads and at motorway speeds? And, as time moves on, what we today consider modern classics such as the BMW Z3 and others of the same type will, I think, become accepted as classics.
What about pre-war cars? Are they still popular?
We are very pleased to say that we have a few of these lovely cars in our January sale and we have noticed over the last year or so a strong public demand for good quality cars, such as the Morris 8 convertible. When it comes to pre-war cars we think that they need to be a little quirky – the 1930s equivalent of the Ford Mondeo will struggle to find a market.
Will you be offering projects again this year, especially after the strong money paid for your Jaguar Mk2 3.8 project?
We certainly will be offering projects and generally speaking they make up the first few lots. If offered at noreserve, they tend to set the wheels spinning.