The latest H&H Classics Kelham Hall auction results include a remarkably original Aston Martin DB5 selling for £365,625.
The 1963 car was one of five lots to break the six-figure mark during a busy sale which saw 176 classic, collector and performance cars offered alongside 72 lots of automobilia.
In total, 112 cars found new homes and the auction generated more than £3.9 million in sales.
But it was the early DB5 that led the way.
The 1963 Aston Martin DB5 Sports Saloon was the 20th DB5 built.
It was also one of only three examples factory-finished in Ice Blue Metallic, giving an already desirable car an unusually distinctive specification.
H&H described it as a particularly original example.
It sold for £365,625, more than £15,000 above the lower estimate.
For a model which hardly struggles for attention in the first place, the combination of very early production, unusual factory colour and originality made this one particularly interesting.
Another of the biggest results came from something considerably more unusual.
A 1948 Delahaye 135 MS Three-Position Drophead Coupé by Pennock sold for £286,250.
The car had previously belonged to Prince Birabongse Bhanudej of Siam, better known in motorsport circles simply as Prince Bira.
He was one of the most colourful figures in pre- and post-war motor racing and competed at Grand Prix level during an era when private entrants could still take on the established works teams.
That provenance added another layer of interest to an already striking coachbuilt Delahaye.
The final figure was more than £26,000 above its lower estimate.
The DB5 wasn’t the only Aston Martin to produce a major result.
A 1962 DB4 Series IV Vantage sold for £315,000.
This particular car was uniquely supplied in Roman Purple, making it rather different from the more familiar shades normally associated with early Aston Martins.
It finished £15,000 above its lower estimate.
A 1959 Jaguar XK150 S 3.8-litre Drophead Coupé also reached six figures.
One of only 69 right-hand-drive examples produced, it sold for £145,000, again £15,000 above its lower estimate.
The fifth six-figure car was considerably older.
A 1925 Bentley 3-Litre ‘Simplex’ Drophead Coupé with rare H.J. Mulliner coachwork sold for £102,375.
That was more than £22,000 above its lower estimate.
There was also a notable result for a 1973 Bentley Corniche Convertible.
One of just 77 examples made, it reached £52,875, almost £23,000 above the lower estimate.
For us, the Bentley 3-Litre is one of the more interesting cars in the whole sale.
The DB5 may have brought the biggest money, but a century-old Bentley with unusual period coachwork has a character all of its own.
The Ronald White Collection brought some rather more accessible machinery into the sale.
A 1967 Mini Cooper S 1275 Mk. II Rally Car sold for £33,750.
The car had been extensively restored as a recreation of LRX 829E, the 1967 Tulip and Geneva Rally car associated with Rauno Aaltonen, Julien Venaeve and Henry Liddon.
It finished more than £13,700 above its lower estimate.
That is exactly the sort of result which catches our attention.
It may not have been one of the sale’s six-figure headline cars, but a competition-style Mini Cooper S with that sort of visual presence was always likely to attract plenty of interest.
Another Ronald White Collection car was a 1963 MGB Roadster prepared to rally specification.
It had been converted by marque specialists Brown & Gammons in 1990 and eventually sold for £24,750.
That was £9,750 above its lower estimate.
Compared with the DB5 and Delahaye, it’s a completely different end of the classic-car market.
But that contrast is one of the things we like about larger classic auctions.
On the same day you can watch bidding on a £300,000 Aston Martin and then become equally interested in an MGB or Mini that costs a fraction of the price.
H&H Classics offered 176 motorcars at Kelham Hall, with 112 finding buyers.
There were also 72 automobilia lots.
Total sales exceeded £3.9 million.
H&H sales manager James McWilliam said the auction attracted strong attendance at the Nottinghamshire venue alongside plenty of telephone and online bidding.
The company now moves on to its next motorcar auction at the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton on Wednesday 14 October.
We’ve picked out some of the cars that caught our attention, but there were plenty more crossing the block.
The complete Kelham Hall auction results can be viewed on the H&H Classics website:
For us, the DB5 may have topped the sale financially, but there is plenty to argue about further down the results.
Would you take the Ice Blue DB5, the Prince Bira Delahaye, the pre-war Bentley or the rally-prepared Mini?
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