Following hot on the heels of the highly successful June sale which saw sales totalling £2m, the August sale was a more muted affair with a smaller and rather less interesting selection of everyday classics on offer. This was reflected in the results which saw 70 of the 110 lots on offer change hands for a total of £488,000 with a clearance rate of 64%.
Top seller of the day was a 1963 Jaguar E-Type Series One Roadster with a factory hard top which had been treated to a gradual process of upgrades over the years, including a 5-speed gearbox and Coopercraft brakes. An original UK market car in good overall condition, it fetched a very respectable £84,000 proving that there is no let-up in demand for this most iconic British sportscar.
A very nice 1976 Triumph Stag with hard top and manual overdrive flew well past its estimate to finish on £14,900, double the price achieved by a rather more average 1974 example with a rebuilt engine but various cosmetic deficiencies. In similar vein was a mechanically sound but cosmetically average 1962 Triumph TR4 which fetched a creditable £15,680. A tidy 1969 Daimler V8 250 with sporty wire wheels and Coombs spats looked like a decent buy at £10,250.
With fuel prices at a record high, older Rolls-Royce and Bentley models are very good value at the moment, although good ones are getting scarce as low prices have seen many fall into the wrong hands. There were no such problems with the two on offer, a really lovely 1990 Bentley Mulsanne S with only 42k miles on the clock looking like a great buy at £14,450. An equally tidy 1999 Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph with BMW V12 power and 90k miles also seemed like a lot of car for £20,720.
Older water-cooled Porsche 911s still lag behind the values of their iconic air-cooled ancestors but for sheer driving pleasure they are hard to beat at any price, such is the towering competence of this halo sportscar, retaining a devoted fab club an astonishing 58 years on from launch. The two on offer had no trouble finding buyers, an immaculate 2010 Carrera 2S 3.8 (997) with only 21k on the clock romping to £43,170 while a smart 2001 Carrera 2 Cabriolet 3.4 (996) with 33k miles raised £21,400.
With new car sales at record lows thanks to ongoing global supply chain issues, demand for classic cars from the more modern era remains high, as it does for the more traditional classics, but there are clear signs that the market is evolving. While the very best cars continue to fetch ever-higher prices, there has been a marked slow-down for anything less than perfect as the costs of parts and labour have soared in recent times. This could be good news for enthusiasts, especially if they are handy with their spanners, as cars that were beginning to seem unattainable may slip back within reach once more. With all the other things going on in the world right now, we are certainly in for some interesting times ahead…
The next Brightwells Classic Car auction will be on 14th September with a closing date for entries of 2nd September. We are also hosting a Classic Motorcycle auction on 15th September so if you are thinking of selling, please get in touch by calling 01568 611122 or by emailing classiccars@brightwells.com.
