The Big Story
Jensen and MGB GT V8 return strong results, but the upper end of the market isn’t performing quite so well
May’s auctions assessed
Sale rates for higher-priced cars declined in May, while UK averages of £10,27114,430 paid per car refl ect current market reality for more affordable classics.
Both the past month’s top sellers at auction were driven past the RM Sotheby’s rostrum at Villa Erba in Italy, where ¤19.7m (£16.75m) was invested in old cars. A £452,625 below low estimate £3.16m was accepted for a 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider and £2.87m – only just above guide – was forthcoming for a 1957 Porsche 550A Spider. But 23 cars did not sell and nine of the 57 per cent that did went for well below their lower estimates.
It was a similar story at Bonhams’ sale for Astons during the Aston Martin Owner’s Club concours weekend on the Wormsley Estate, where a 1964 DB5 achieved £860,600 with premium, – £180,000 more than forecast – and a 1963 DB4 Series V Convertible made £810,200, £60,000 over guide. However, 20 Astons were unsold during a 39 per cent-sold £3m Sunday afternoon.
There were buyers for both realistically estimated Jaguar XJ220s in the Silverstone Auctions sale at the equally stately Heythrop Park the previous weekend, with £337,750 for a 1995 RHD car and £303,750 for a 1997 LHD car. But while £2.04m was spent on 32 cars, this was 46 per cent of the total and 38 did not sell.
Although a way over estimate £69,750 was needed to buy an 8725-mile 1962 Jaguar Mk2 3.8
manual, £65,250 bought a 9003-mile 1975 Jensen Interceptor III from long-term ownership and £69,750 a part-restored
1964 E-type S1 3.8 roadster.
Interesting projects fared well at Historics in MercedesBenz World, where a 1972 Ferrari Dino 246GT shell with 99 per cent of the boxed-up parts needed to complete was taken on for £209,000 – £44,000 over estimate. A Lotus Elite Climax in bits with non-original shell and engine, the identity of which had practiced for – but not raced at – the 1969 Le Mans 24 Hours, raised £55,000.
Beside the remains of the old Brooklands circuit, 119 (or 74 per cent) of the 196 cars displayed sold for £4.37m, £608,300 of it accounted for by a restored 1968 Aston Martin DB6 Volante. The £33,600 result of a restored 1973 MG B GTV8 was a milestone valuation for the model.
At Brightwells HQ in Leominster, 131 (or 77 per cent) of the 170 classics offered sold for £1.35m. A 1962 AC engine Greyhound Coupé sold for £82,500, a 1954 Swallow Doretti made £60,500 and a restored and upgraded 1966 Sunbeam Tiger MkI hit £55,000, but 23 per cent of cars sold below their estimates and 39 failed to sell at all.
Later in the month, Classic Car Auctions sold 103 (or 75 per cent) of 138 cars at the Warwickshire Event Centre for £1.46m, including a one owner from new 1974 Jensen Interceptor III project that raised £ £ 39,405.