With people often questioning the price of UK barn finds, we thought this news release from Silverstone Auctions might be of interest, as it opened our eyes to how high bidding on some retro cars can go nowadays. Time to get restoring….
A 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, once owned by Sir Elton John, was hammered away by Silverstone Auctions for £551,250 including premium in a £5.5 million sale at the Wing Building, Silverstone, during the Silverstone Classic Motor Racing Festival on 27th, 29th and 30th July.
The bright red Ferrari wasn’t the only car to draw enthusiastic applause from the crowd, with a 1987 Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 drawing gasps of awe as it raced past the £100,000 mark during a fierce bidding war, eventually selling for £114,750 including buyer’s premium to an online bidder from Australia.
Despite an estimate of £70,000 – £85,000 before the sale, bidding for a rare 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL actually started at £95,000 and after a rapid-fire battle between room, phone and online bidders it eventually sold in the room for a final price of £137,250 including premium, almost doubling its lower estimate.
A total of £5.5 million in sales across the three days of auctions was achieved, and 71% of the cars on offer in the two days of classic and sports car auctions went to new owners.
“It was an incredibly successful weekend, and we’re thrilled with the results,” remarks Nick Whale, managing director of Silverstone Auctions. “I’d like to thank our vendors and bidders for taking part in a fantastic sale, and I have to say our team did a fabulous job bringing such a quality selection of vehicles to auction on our biggest weekend of the year at the Silverstone Classic.”
Modern classics performed exceptionally well throughout the two day road car auction, helped by a number of remarkable low-mileage examples. A 1991 Vauxhall Lotus Carlton with only 4,500 miles on the clock beat its lower estimate by £12,000 to sell for £72,000 including premium, while a 2010 Ford Focus RS500 that had spent its entire life on show, covering only 206km from new, went for £54,000.
Fast Fords were popular across both days of the road car sale with an iconic 1987 Ford Capri 280 Brooklands powering past its lower estimate by more than £20,000 on day one to sell for £55,125 including premium. A 1973 Ford Escort Mk1 Mexico drew enthusiastic bidding to push its price to £34,313 on the second day of the road car sale.
Still in the modern classics category, the Lancia Delta Integrale appears to be the car of the moment this year with two Evolution II examples soaring past their pre-sale estimates. A 1994 version, previously owned by Jamiroquai front man Jay Kay, sold to an Australian buyer for £42,118, and a bright yellow 1993 example went to a phone bidder for £33,750. These sales came in the wake of the headline-grabbing £225,000 achieved by four-times World Rally Champion Juha Kankkunen’s Group A works Lancia Delta Integrale during the Race Car Sale held on Thursday, 27th July.
Of the more specialised cars on offer, a 1989 Safir GT40 Mark V Continuation drew serious attention from bidders who pushed the final price £41,500 past its lower estimate to sell for £211,500 including premium, and an extremely rare Intermeccanica Torino Italia built in 1967 sold for £69,750.
Preparations are already under way for the next Silverstone Auctions event, the Salon Privé Sale which takes place at Blenheim Palace on Saturday, 2nd September 2017.
To view the full list of results from Silverstone Auctions’ Sale at the Silverstone Classic please visit https://www.silverstoneauctions.com/the-silverstone-classic-sale-2017/view_lots/pn/all
