Brightwells had assembled the usual vast assortment of interesting classics for their fourth sale of the year on 4th September and yet again a healthy 73% of entries were successfully sold, with 133 of the 182 cars offered finding new homes for a total of £1.9m.
Top price honours went to a 1960 Aston Martin DB4, a stalled project in a dismantled state with plenty of work still to do which had attracted a huge amount of interest from all over the world. Quickly flying past its £100k - £120k estimate, it was hotly contested by numerous phone and internet bidders before finally going to an English buyer in the room for £210,500. Hardly surprising really when you consider that it will be worth over twice that amount if restored to concours condition.
Next best was an extremely smart 1974 Jaguar E-Type V12 Roadster with various upgrades including a Tremec 5-speed gearbox and walnut dash and door trims which fetched a healthy £84,500. Another E-Type also did well, a 1970 Series Two 2+2 with good paint and a rebuilt engine but a rather indifferent interior which amply rewarded the vendor’s no reserve tactic by romping to a £34,160 finish. Given that E-Types generally have dropped around 25% in value since the highs of 2016, these were encouraging results which should give heart to anyone contemplating selling their own example.
A very interesting pair of Jensens were also successfully hammered away, a nicely restored 1971 FF, one of only 320 made with the Ferguson four-wheel-drive system finding a new home at £70,000, while an extremely rare 1968 Interceptor Mk1, one of only 23 made with a manual gearbox and in pleasantly patinated and original condition fetched £33,600. Sticking with the V8 GT theme, a nicely restored 1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1 from long-term ownership and believed to be the first RHD example produced raised an impressive £57,120 – thus making it one of only six Tigers ever to crack the £50k barrier at auction in the UK, every single one of them sold by Brightwells!
Even more remarkable was the astonishing £49,280 raised by a 1966 Mini Cooper 1275 S, this being a new UK auction record for a standard Cooper S with no competition history, the high price being explained by the dazzling condition of the car following a total nut-and-bolt restoration by the once mighty (but now sadly fallen) JD Classics of Essex.
Both the Bristols on offer found new homes, a rather eccentrically painted black-over-white 1949 400 raising £28,000 while an even more eccentrically styled 1979 412, one of only 80 made and in need of recommissioning found a buyer at £14,000. Equally rare and eccentric was a nicely restored 1969 Marcos GT 3.0 with attention-grabbing ‘E-Type from the dark side’ looks which was much commented-upon during the viewing and looked like a lot of fun for £28,000 provided the new owner is supple enough to get in and out – if there is any other production car with a lower, cosier driving position, we would love to see it!
Also much admired during the viewing was a gorgeous 1964 Volvo P1800S, fresh from a £30k restoration which was worth every penny of the £25,200 it took to secure it. A smart 1969 Citroen DS20 with Decapotable looks courtesy of a roof-chop by Oxford French Car Company seemed good value at £39,400 compared to the £150k+ that a genuine Chapron-built Decapotable would cost and will have no trouble impressing the neighbours when it arrives at its new home in New Zealand! A 1967 Triumph TR250 fetched an impressive £33,600 but again this could be construed as good value when you consider that an identical-looking TR5 would have cost at least £10k more. Also noteworthy was the £23,520 raised by a 1958 MGA 1500 Coupe, a stonking price by any measure but easily explained by the wonderful condition of the car following a £22k restoration in 2004 with only 5,000 miles covered since.
Pre-war classics always do well at Brightwells and all but three of the 18 on offer found new homes, top price going to a stunning 1932 Sunbeam 20 Drophead Coupe at £63,840, while a nicely presented 1934 Singer Le Mans made £24,640, an exceptionally rare and well-restored 1930 Austin 16/6 Magnet Coupe fetched £20,160 and a magnificently original 1938 MG VA Saloon deserved every penny of the £17,920 required to secure it. A 1948 Lea-Francis 14hp Sports with period Alpine Rally history also did well at £32,480 and is now on its way to a new home in The Netherlands.
Best performer among the selection of Modern Classics on offer was a lovely 1996 Ferrari F355 Spider which more than made up for its 88,000 miles by virtue of a recent £33k restoration which saw it successfully hammered away for £50,400. An equally dramatic 2012 Maserati GranTurismo S with only 20,300 miles under its massive 20” alloy wheels fetched £32,480 while a 74,000-mile 2001 Porsche 911 Turbo made £30,240 and a 2008 Aston Martin Vantage Volante with similar mileage fetched £28,000.
To view the results of the September sale in full, click HERE. Brightwells’ next Leominster Classic & Vintage sale will be a two-day sale with cars on 27th November 2019 and motorcycles on 28th November 2019. Entries are now being invited with free valuations available by emailing classiccars@brightwells.com. The closing date is Friday 1st November so please do not leave it until the last minute or your entry may have to be deferred until our next sale in March 2020.
ENDS
All the prices given above include the 12% buyer’s premium.