With Britain sweltering in the hottest summer ever recorded and much of the country on holiday, you might think August would not be the best time to host a classic car auction in rural Herefordshire. As things turned out, more people showed up for the viewing days and there were more registered bidders than for any sale of the year so far. By the time the sun had finally set, 152 of the 232 lots on offer had been successfully sold for a total of just over 950k giving a respectable 66% sale rate.
The Big Cat that performed well was a cosmetically sharp 1968 Jaguar E-Type S1.5 FHC in need of mechanical recommissioning which romped way past its £25k reserve to finish on £35,400. Not far behind was an impressively tidy 1962 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk2 in the favoured ice blue over white colour scheme which fetched £33,600.
Much admired during the viewing was a beautifully restored 1959 Borgward Isabella Coupe with all the build quality of a Mercedes but rather more playful styling. An extremely rare sight on these shores, it thoroughly deserved every penny of the £25,870 required to secure it.
Fast Fords of the 1980s and 1990s have become very newsworthy in recent years, with some astonishing six-figure prices raised by mint, low-mileage models like the Sierra RS500 Cosworth. Although these seem to have topped-out now, they are still well beyond the reach of most mere mortals but some of their magic has rubbed off onto lesser models and pushed them up in price.
It was thus no surprise that an extremely tidy and original 1985 Ford Escort MkIII RS Turbo with just under 80k miles on the clock found a ready buyer at £29,120. Not quite as sharp but still impressive was a 1980 Ford Escort MkII RS2000 which fetched £19,710 and would no doubt have made a bit more had it not been an Australian market car with various non-standard features.
Sticking with the Blue Oval theme was a wonderfully preserved 1966 Ford Cortina Super MkI four-door saloon which made up for what it lacked in sportiness with bucket-loads of period charm. With just two owners from new and finished in nostalgic Lagoon Blue paintwork, it had no trouble finding a buyer at £11,200.
As has been widely reported, values of most ‘bread and butter’ classics have softened of late but the very best examples can still do remarkably well. With many ‘driver quality’ Triumph TRs now down at the £10k level, it was encouraging to see a beautifully presented 1958 TR3A making £18,480. A fully restored 1972 MGB Roadster also flew way beyond its £11k reserve to fetch a mighty £18,230, as did a super 1964 Morris Minor Pickup which was hotly contested to a £14,000 result.
A fine-looking 1957 Sunbeam MkIII Saloon looked a lot of fun at £11,760, this being one of the most refined and comfortable cars of its era with no difficulty in keeping up with modern traffic. The same could be said of a handsome 1960 Alvis TD21 Automatic which fetched £14,225 and would no doubt have fetched rather more had the driver’s door not drooped slightly, a potentially expensive fix on a coachbuilt car of this quality.
A nicely mellowed ‘driver quality’ 1960 Daimler Dart SP250 made a respectable £13,665, while a 1942 Willys Jeep with a pleasingly ‘barn find’ patina sailed well beyond its £14k reserve to finish on £19,150.
Pre-war cars were well represented as usual, with 10 of the 16 on offer finding new homes, top honours going to a handsome 1933 Riley Nine Lynx Tourer at £20,060. A cute little 1927 Austin Seven Chummy fetched £9,520 while an exceedingly rare 1926 Hotchkiss AM2 Special looked like an interesting buy at £8,120.
Among the more modern cars on offer, a spectacular 2002 DAX Tojeiro 427 Cobra Le Mans Replica with only 22k miles on the clock and a gurgling 6.2 V8 under the bonnet was hammered away for £34,000. A somewhat scruffy 2000 Lotus Exige S1 that had been off the road and left outside for a few years fetched a healthy £25,290 by virtue of the modest 28k miles on the clock. A beautifully presented 2000 Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph V12 with 105k miles and 11 service stamps looked like a lot of car for £15,680, as did a 2002 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage V12 with 74k miles and 15 service stamps at £14,570, the £790 road tax and hefty running costs making this type of car something of a bargain these days.
Although there is clearly an ever-growing divide in value between the best and the rest, the market remains reassuringly lively across all sectors, with plenty of buyers out there keen to buy classics at a wide range of budgets. The next Brightwells auction will be on 16th September with a deadline for entries of 2nd September so, if you are thinking of selling, please do get in touch by calling 01568 611122 or by emailing [email protected] for a free, no obligation valuation from one of our team of experts.