It was not a car that topped the Charterhouse prices at Shepton Mallet Sunday 10 February, but a one Dorset family owned from new in 1923 Matchless H2 motorcycle and sidecar with 1960 tax disc displayed from when last on the road. Verging on the derelict, though with major components present, the ancient combination project was taken on for a double estimate 13,200 including premium. This classic bike milestone result however heralded what turned out to be quite a week for the Dorset auction firm, who proceeded to sell a chipped Italian plate found hanging in a wire frame on a forgotten wall behind a door in a Somerset cottage for an abdicating Pope’s ransom.
For it was indeed most fortunate for vendor and auction house that principal gavel wielder Richard Bromell sought the identifying and dating expertise of the Ashmolean Museum, who concluded that the 41.5cm diameter plate thought to be c19th century copy was, in fact, a maiolica istoriato charger crafted in Urbino c1540 depicting ‘The Feast of Herod’ after Sebald Beham. And last Thursday, London dealers S J Phillips were sufficiently impressed by the revelation to outbid some clearly very serious contestants from home and away at Bromell’s Sherborne saleroom and part with 567,640 with premium and VAT!
The moral of this very happy tale of a plate with a chipped edge and a rusty old motorcycle ‘discovered’ in the West Country is that there really can be a few quid in old stuff on a wall, gathering dust in an attic, mouldering down the cellar or gathering value enhancing straw in a barn. So do please “keep ‘em peeled”, as my old colleague Shaw Taylor, accompanied by an ITV wink, used to say on Police Five. At the end of every rainbow, a pile of old junk may turn into a pot of gold.
Back to earth again in soggy Shepton Mallet on a Sunday afternoon, the oldest car in the agricultural showground shed was a possibly Earls Court Motor Show 1937 Daimler DB17 in previously and nicely restored condition sold for 7480. There were buyers for all three postwar Fords, too, led by a much shinier and better specified than new in 1991 Sierra Sapphire Cossie 4-Door with full complement of Rouse go-faster goodies which rushed to a mid-estimate 10,450 performance. A vinyl-trimmed roof did not prevent a 1975 and still Mk1 Escort Mexico from pulling 10,010, whilst the most viewed motor on the lot was a nicely presented 1970 Cortina MkII 1600E that had clearly benefited from spending 30 years away from the salt in Cyprus and which duly delivered a more than forecast 7700 valuation with premium.
The highest priced BMC item surprisingly with a Mini Show going on next door was not one of the pack of Minis (many of which were too non-standard and/or too expensive for most in the market for one), but a 1958 Morris Minor Traveller with a believed to be genuine 43,000 total mileage sold for 8140. In fact, the only Mini that sold this time was a 1971 BL-badged with a believed to have been 51,000 miles of depreciation in 42 years which achieved the required 3300. A 1964 Morris Oxford with Farina-penned shell with only one registered keeper in the book since new meanwhile picked up 2750 from a bidder who will be the second owner, if he registers the fact.
In Glastonbury Festival country, a now classic bay window VW Westfalia Camper of 1973 vintage with rear hinged pop-up roof picked up 8580. By close of play, and after 8 of the 9 mainly complete motorcycles had been hammered away to new sheds for 27,055, 27 or 66% of the 44 cars and a caravan offered had sold for 103,596, again including premium.
After a full day to view potential purchases 9.30am to 5.30pm this Friday 22, the next clutch of classics crosses the block of fortune from 2pm Saturday at the Silverstone Auctions sale during the Race Retro historic motor sport exhibition at Stoneleigh Park, formerly the Royal Show showground, Warwickshire. But although specialist competition machinery led by a 570,000+ 1969 Lola T70 Mk III B Coupe headline at the sale, 55 of the classics, 2 bikes and a Routemaster double-decker bus in the 84 vehicle catalogue are road-going, rather than specifically constructed or prepped for racing or rallying, and therefore, statistically, easier to shift.
Whilst in a bid to be more accessible to private punters, the following day 24 February at Sandown Park, Barons hold their first 2013 fixture on a Sunday rather than a Tuesday at the Surrey racecourse. And on behalf of form followers, I shall endeavour to check out the runners and riders in parade rings, monitor the going on auction days, noting both winners and losers, assessing prices and conditions. Hang on very tightly though, for we could be at full gallop one minute or out of the saddle the next. Even the best behaved horses will be spooked by envy-peddling politicians in opposition plotting the annual taxation of goodies the living already own, like paintings and, maybe, classic cars. Horseburgers are far too good for them!
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