Quentin Willson says it’s a buyer’s market out there, so get yourself a classic now
With classics recently going under the hammer for unfeasibly low prices, anyone considering ownership should see this as an opportune time
September saw some thumping auction bargains. Brightwells sold a smart ’79 Bristol 412 S2, with two magazine features in its large history file, for £14,000. I know the angular 412 isn’t the apple of everybody’s eye but this is no money for a decent, well-cared-for V8 Bristol. You would’ve expected an ultra rare manual Jensen Interceptor, one of only 23 ever built and just eight known still to survive, to have set the auction hall on fire. But this older-restoration, nicely presented ’68 with a huge history file, 63,000 miles and fresh MOT, made only £33,000. I thought it would make £50k. And a timewarp-lovely ’75 MGB V8 in Citron Yellow, with three owners and warranted 49k, should have made more than £13,440. Even though rust was erupting through the door skins, this was a low point for chrome-bumper MGB V8 values.
Bonhams at Beaulieu saw a ’77 VW Beetle 1200 (see below) with a guaranteed 3600 miles, a showroom exhibit all its life in like-new condition, make only £10,350. Rebuilding one would easily cost three times that and you wouldn’t have that delectable mileage. I also reckoned £14,950 for the 24th MG TC off the line was cheap.
At the Goodwood Revival, Bonhams knocked down a fully restored 1944 Ford Jeep, complete with shovels, accessories and wartime numbers for £14,275 – try buying and rebuilding one from scratch for that price. And the very elegant darkblue 1962 MPW Bentley Flying Spur with a titled owner and extensive history going right back to 1976 was a steal at £80,500. These are usually advertised at twice that. Many still are.
Historics at Brooklands sold another MGB V8, a ’74 in Harvest Gold, totally restored with an impressively detailed history file and a single owner from new, for £15,120. Not so long ago that would have been 20 grand all day long.
A restored 1970 left-hand-drive Fiat Dino 2400 coupé with 25,000 miles felt light at £44k and so did the 18th 4.2 E-type FHC built at £67,200. A very straight and shiny ’64 in Opalescent Green with four owners and charmingly original, this was yet another example of just how much Series I E-type prices have softened.
There are more signs of Rolls-royce and Bentley prices softening. Barons fielded a Crewe bargain – a fine condition ’62 Bentley S2 V8 in Sage over Smoke Green, 89k miles, an older bodywork restoration, retrimmed with £13k-worth of mechanical/ chroming bills for just £22k. Such freshened S2s like this used to make £35k.
An average auction sale rate of around 60 per cent in a month when the country and government were tearing themselves in two isn’t actually that bad. Realistic seller reserves have helped and there are still plenty of buyers ready to snap up proper cars for the right money. Could we have reached a market low point and will things pick up in the new year?
I’m not sure. But whatever ends up happening in 2020 these prices felt like we were back in 2010, and many cars must have been sold for less than their owners had invested. If you’re planning to buy, the final month of 2019 might be a clever time to take the plunge.
Surely things can’t get any cheaper?