As the nation winds down for Christmas, the final sale of the year was a fairly modest affair by Brightwells standards with a good selection of everyday classics but no headline-grabbing rarities in the catalogue, unlike previous sales which have all had a good smattering of exceptionally rare cars on offer.
Nevertheless, by the time the dust had settled, 100 of the 138 Lots presented had successfully changed hands for a total of just under £570k giving a clearance rate of 72%.
Top price of the day went to a sharp and shiny 1965 Mercedes-Benz 230SL Pagoda which had been restored in the 1990s and fitted with a 250SL engine. Looking very pretty in white with a light tan interior, it had no trouble finding a buyer at £58,350, the Pagoda being one of the few 1960’s cars which have held their value during the recent market correction.
Pre-war cars are always well represented at Brightwells and all but three of the 15 on offer were sold, top price going to a beautifully restored 1935 Ford Model AA 1.5-ton drop-side truck which fetched a well-deserved £18,500. Not far behind was a 1938 MG TA from a deceased estate and in need of recommissioning which fetched a whisker under £16k and is now on its way to a new home in Malta.
A beautifully restored 1927 Chevrolet Capitol Tourer made £13,650 while an unusually smart 1919 Ford Model T Tourer found a buyer at £8,150. A pair of wonderfully original Austin 12/4 Saloons made around £7,500 apiece and a super little 1936 Riley Falcon made £8,350 which seems to be about the going rate for all but the most prestigious pre-war saloons these days.
Pre-war in looks, if not in fact, was a rather wonderful 1954 Leyland Comet lorry which looked like a big chunk of metal for £8,400. The same could be said of an imposing 1951 Daimler DB18 Consort which had been sympathetically restored over a 25-year period and rewarded the owner with a modest £4,100 sale price, this being a model that never seems to fetch quite as much as it deserves
Much admired during the viewing was a beautifully preserved 1967 Plymouth Barracuda with a genuine 35k miles on the clock. Wonderfully correct and original, it looked like a great buy at £20,280 with unusually elegant styling for a Yank and not too big for British roads.
Among the more modern classics on offer, a 2006 Porsche 911 Turbo Tiptronic S with under 72k miles on the clock looked like another good buy at £40,320, the 997 Generation 911 being widely tipped as a ‘blue chip’ classic of the future. A really clean 2013 Bentley Continental 4.0 V8 GT with 47k miles on the clock also looked like a lot of car for £27,450, this being almost exactly £100k less that it would have cost its first owner 12 short years ago.
A final mention should go to the super-rare 1996 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit IV, one of only 145 made and in astonishingly good condition for a 30-year-old. With a mere 60k miles on the clock and serviced every 2,600 miles throughout its life, it shot way beyond the £10k reserve to finish on a well-deserved £16,580.
The next Brightwells Classic Vehicle auction will be on 18th February 2026 with a closing date for entries of 4th February so if you are thinking of selling, please get in touch by calling 01568 611122 or by emailing [email protected].
We extend our thanks to the many thousands of you who have attended our auctions this year, buyers and sellers alike, and we look forward to welcoming you at the sales we will be hosting every six weeks next year. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas in the meantime and a happy and prosperous New Year.