You’d think that the wettest start to the year in over a century would hardly be the best time to sell a classic vehicle but it’s surprising how wrong you can be – there was a huge turnout at Brightwells for the 18th February auction with the 10-acre site overflowing with enthusiasts who had come to see the 170 cars and motorcycles on offer. By the time the dust had settled, 135 of the vehicles had been successfully sold for a total of just under £833,000 giving a very creditable 79% sale rate.
Top price among the traditional classics went to a 1972 Jaguar E-Type V12 Coupe which made £28,000 despite being something of a ‘barn find’ which had been off the road for 20 years or more. Not far behind was the American equivalent, a 1966 Ford Mustang Fastback with a 5.0 V8 under the bonnet which was in far better condition and made a whisker under £25,500.
An equally glamorous German rival was a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 420SL with a modest 87k miles on the clock. Looking great in white with a blue leather interior, it was snapped up for just under £22k.
Utterly different but just as much fun was a cheeky little 1971 Morris Mini Cooper S Mk3 in nicely restored condition which made £21,850. Another much later Mini also did well, an extremely rare 1990 Mini ERA Turbo, one of only 436 made and with only 36k miles on the clock, which fetched £20,850.
Pre-war cars are a staple of any Brightwells auction and all but three of the 10 on offer were successfully sold, top price going to an exceedingly rare and pretty 1937 AC 2-Litre 2-4-6 Coupe. One of only around a dozen made and perhaps three surviving, this well-historied and charmingly patinated machine had no trouble flying beyond its £18k reserve to finish on £25,200.
The most remarkable result was achieved by a nicely restored 1937 Morris 8 Series One Two-Seat Tourer. On offer from a deceased estate with no reserve, it was expected to make around £8k which is the usual going rate for these in today’s market, but some amazingly spirited bidding pushed it all the way to £15,680 thus setting what is almost certainly a new UK auction record for the model. Much has been said about the sad decline in pre-war car values of late, but this utterly charming Morros 8 proved that there is still huge affection for some of them!
Also comfortably exceeding expectations was a really super 1964 Rover P4 110 which doubled its estimate to finish on £10,200, an excellent result for one of these fine but somewhat pedestrian machines. A 1938 Citroen 7C Traction Avant also flew £5k beyond its reserve to finish on a whisker under £12,000. A really super 1969 Volkswagen Wesfalia Continental Bay Window Camper found a buyer at £15,400, this being the new market price for a model that would routinely made £20k+ a couple of years back.
Among the more modern classics on offer, a crash-damaged 2020 Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 with under 5k miles on the clock topped the results at £50,400, the damage being unrecorded and thus leaving ample scope for the straightforward repairs needed to turn this back into an £80k car. A 2007 Audi R8 with desirable 6-speed manual gearbox and 105k miles on the clock looked like a lot of car for £21,670.
A 1995 Mercedes-Benz SL320 with only 36k miles on the clock and a desirable Panoramic hard top made £17,470, reflecting just how popular these beautifully built R129 models have become of late. By way of comparison, a stunning 2002 Mercedes SL500 R230 with equally low mileage could only raise £12,320, illustrating how this far more complex successor model suffers in value compared to the relatively tough and simple R129 because of its potential to throw up costly repair bills – a fate shared by many big-engined cars of this era. Who would have thought that you can now easily pick up a Bentley Continental GT for £10k which is over £100k less than it would have cost new just 20 years ago!
A real rarity was a virtually brand new 2025 Moke Electric with just one owner and 29 miles under its dinky 10” wheels which looked great value at £14,000 when you consider that this was half the manufacturer’s list price for one bought from the showroom, reflecting the substantial depreciation that affects all electric cars in a market that still favours the internal combustion engine.
All but three of the 30 motorcycles on offer successfully changed hands, top honours going to a 1958 BSA Gold Star DB34 at £6,850 which seems to be the new going rate for these fine machines, about 50% less than they were fetching just a couple of years ago. The same could be said of the 1937 Norton 490cc Model 18 which went for £6,720, reflecting the fact that the people who love these big British singles are now just too old to kick them over, let alone ride them.
With Spring just around the corner, the season is about to enter full swing and there are plenty of people out there keen to buy a new toy for the summer. The next Brightwells auction will be on 1st April with a deadline for entries of 18th March so if you are thinking of selling, please get in touch by calling 01568 611122 or by emailing [email protected] for a free, no obligation valuation.
