The marketplace
Despite the cancellation of the NEC Classic Motor Show, Silverstone Auctions claimed a big success for its online event that drew more than £8million in sales on 13-14 November.
Top lot went to a BMW M1, with Procar bodywork as requested by first owner ‘Frank Farian’ of Boney M, that claimed the Owners’ Choice Award at Salon Privé in 2020. The supercar fell just short of its pre-sale guide of £385-435,000, finishing at £382,500.
But the biggest surprise was the 10,000-mile Porsche 928 that doubled its £60,000 lower estimate on the way to £129,375. No 928 has ever sold for more at auction.
A mysterious ‘Alfa Romeo 1900 Speciale’, built at some point in the 1960s and with little else known, sold for £166,500, having been expected to achieve £60-70,000. Thought to have been constructed by Ercole Zuccoli’s ATL, the car features Superleggerastyle bodywork and a 6C twin-cam engine.
Many cars crept outside their expectations, including a ’64 Fiat-abarth 595 that sold for £30,375 (£19-23,000), a whole host of Porsche 911s new and old, and a matching-numbers, left-hand-drive ’56 Jaguar XK140 3.4 SE roadster that hit £83,813 against a £60-70,000 estimate. As featured in our news pages last month, a 1995 Rover Mini Cooper ‘Monte-carlo’ edition raised £37,125 for the Sporting Bears Motor Club charity, well above its £12-15,000 estimate. The online sale achieved a sellthrough rate of 78%, with a pair of Mercedes-benz R107 SLS and two Ford Escort Mexicos among the handful not to find new homes. The automobilia sale fared better still at 80%, led by the numberplate ‘O 10’ that sold for £128,800. In the no-reserve Stirling Moss Collection (below), among the prints and memorabilia was one of the race helmets he used from 1958 and the last he kept. It was one of the most lucrative lots, selling for £37,950, behind the solid gold watch he wore for 38 years (£67,850). The trophy for his victory in the 1951 Daily Express Tourist Trophy was claimed for £12,075.