There was an exceptionally large turn out for the September Classic Car and Motorcycle Auction at Brightwells, with many hundreds of people coming to the viewing days to pore over the wide variety of vehicles up for grabs, some real rarities among them as usual.
By the time the dust had settled, 135 of the 173 lots on offer had been sold for a total of £838,000 giving a clearance rate of 78% which is a very respectable result in the current climate. There is still clearly great demand for classics of all eras despite a general softening of the market over the last year or so.
Six of the nine pre-war cars on offer were sold, top price going to an extremely rare 1924 Amilcar CGS which had been restored in Switzerland about 20 years ago and then raced fairly extensively thereafter. In good running order but showing a few signs of deterioration from being stored in less than ideal conditions, it was hotly contested by bidders in France, Belgium and Switzerland before falling to an English buyer for £39,200. This was about 40% less than the owner had paid for it four years previously which illustrates the drop in value of pre-war cars of late but is still a significant sum nonetheless.
All but one of the six Rileys were successfully sold, top price going to a rare 1937 Riley Lynx Sprite, one of only around 175 made which fetched £22,400 and is now off to a new home in the Czech Republic. A really nice 1936 Riley 12/4 Merlin made £9,000 while a very original 1928 Riley Nine Monaco fabric-bodied saloon looking cracking value at £5,800, these prices being about 25% less than they would have been a few years back.
A most encouraging result was the price achieved by a really excellent 1964 Jaguar MkII 3.8 manual overdrive. Looking stunning in Opalescent Light Blue and with a few discreet upgrades including Coopercraft brakes, all-synchro gearbox and power steering, it deserved every penny of the £37k required to secure it. This shows that there is still strong money out there for the very best cars in tip-top order.
Equally good was a 1954 Sunbeam Alpine MkI with a later MkIII engine and floor-change gearbox fitted. Looking fabulous in Sapphire Blue with a cream hide interior and whitewall tyres, it comfortably beat its £25k reserve to finish on £33,600. Given that the last four of these MkI Alpines sold by Brightwells all made £43k - £55k it has to be considered a great buy at that level.
The Triumph Renown is one of the most curious cars made in the late 1940s, a modest saloon with upmarket pretensions and 1930s Razor Edge styling. These usually struggle to fetch much over £8k but the 1950 example on offer was in such wonderful condition that it had no trouble finding a buyer at £11,000, almost certainly a UK auction record for the model.
Alvis prices have undergone a real dip of late but both the ones on offer were successfully sold, a really super 1952 Alvis TA21 DHC upgraded to TC21/100 spec fetching £19,600 which was about £5k less than forecast, while a scruffy but usable 1966 Alvis TF21 fetched a reasonable £14,300.
Morgans always do well at Brightwells and the solitary 1988 Morgan Plus 8 on offer made a respectable £17k. A really super 1965 Vauxhall Viva HA Deluxe with only 39k miles on the clock also did well at £4,930 which was £500 more than the last equally good HA had made at Brightwells back in 2020.
Among the more modern cars on offer, a smart 2007 Bentley Continental GTC with a lovely red leather interior and 86k miles on the clock looked excellent value at £16,100, especially when you consider that it would have cost its first owner an eye-watering £135k. The same could be said of an equally smart 2007 Mercedes-Benz CL600 with a mighty twin-turbo V12 under the bonnet and 109k miles on the clock, the sale price of £6,600 being about £100k less than it would have cost new.
The next Brightwells Classic Vehicle auction will be on 29th October with a closing date for entries of 14th October so if you are thinking of selling, please get in touch for a free valuation by calling 01568 611122 or by emailing classiccars@brightwells.com.
