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Collecting Cars sets a new record with this ‘as rallied’ Subaru icon

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COLLECTING CARS HAS officially stepped up another gear this month with two big results. The most recent is the £610,000 sale of a highly original ex-Richard Burns Subaru Impreza S6 rally car. Reportedly bought off the finish line of the 2000 Network Q Rally of Great Britain, it’s unrestored, meaning it retains all of the lumps, bumps and scars earned during the rally more than 21 years ago.

This follows the online platform’s impressive result from its sale of the Leonard Collection just a few weeks earlier. With a total of 38 vehicles offered – mainly Porsches – and a sales total of £7.69million, it represented the largest single-owner collection sold on the platform. Highlights included a 2006 Porsche Carrera GT that made a hefty £771,000, a 713-mile 997 GT3 RS 4.0 at £436,000, and a recently refreshed, former Jay Kay-owned, Aubergine 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 that made £430,000.

We also witnessed a feeling of ‘returning to business as usual’ in the US, thanks to the largely successful Amelia Island auctions. The RM Sotheby’s event was in fine fettle, reporting a $42,174,340 total and a 95% sale rate over the two days – the highest figures since 2017. Top-seller was an exquisite Amelia and Pebble class-winning 1929 Duesenberg Model J ‘Disappearing Top’ Torpedo Convertible Coupe by Murphy. One of two examples built, it sold well above top estimate at $5,725,000. Also achieving a significant result was the 1971 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider (below), which was actually the ’72 New York motor show car and sold for $2,452,500.

Bonhams managed a decent $20.6m result, selling 82% of lots, and leading with a 1934 Mercedes-Benz 500/540K Spezial Roadster at $4.9million. This was the key part of the Fafard Collection, which was made up of pre-war and brass-era cars. These older classics were certainly prominent, with the Clem and Mary Lange Collection – containing 13 more brass-era cars – attracting sales of $8m alone.

H&H reported sales of £2.8m at its Imperial War Museum sale at Duxford. With 99 of the 124 cars offered sold, a ’52 Bentley MkVI 4.5 Litre Drophead Coupé led the way at £100k. It was the auction house’s first physical sale since restrictions began, and buyers were glad to be back ‘in the room’.