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The gorgeous,
matching numbers,
Fiesta Red 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Convertible entered for last
week’s (June 9)
H&H sale at Buxton, way surpassed even its top estimate to
return a whisker
under £300,000. One of just seventy made, the suave
four-seater soft-top was
originally the property of Sefton Myers, the property developer and
theatrical
agent who fostered the careers of Sir Tim Rice and Baron Andrew
Lloyd-Webber.
Restored some thirty years ago, it was one of five splendid cars from
the
Midlands-based MJF Collection, all of which were hotly contested.
Bearing in mind
H&H’s recent run
of success with AC Aces, it was perhaps no great surprise to see the
wonderfully patinated, 100D2-engined, metallic red, 1959 Ace Bristol
fetch
£170,500. Pleasingly sharp, MJF’s 1989 Ferrari 328
GTS had covered a mere
12,800 miles and had little trouble finding a new home for
£37,400. The red
1977 Triumph Stag had been part of the collection from new and, though
it had
covered 120,500 miles (proof that well sorted examples can be
reliable!), it
was nicely presented and made £8,580. The last member of the
MJF quintet was a
bronze 1980 MG B LE Roadster. With just 2,500 miles to its name, it
sold for
£7,700.
Other notable
car results
Another
delightful lot was the 1958
Aston Martin DB Mark III – the model driven by Bond in the
novel, Goldfinger. A
former entry in the Louis Vuitton Concours, the dark green example
offered was
knocked down for £93,500. The seductive dark blue 1959 Jaguar
XK150 S 3.4-litre
Roadster was on the money at £56,100, while the stunning
metallic blue 1962
E-Type that had been converted from fixed-head coupe to roadster guise
and
subsequently featured in a variety of magazines returned
£43,450. The prize for
the biggest surprise of the sale must surely go to the Sky Blue 1966
Lotus Elan
S2 Convertible that had lain untouched in a garage for the last 10
years. A
non-running project in need of restoration, it carried an estimate of
£1,000-2,000 yet finally sold for £16,060.
The motorcycles
and automobilia also
fared well
The undoubted
star of the motorcycle
lots was the 1951 Vincent Black Shadow which, though not perfect, was a
fine
example of this highly sought-after British classic and fetched
£46,750. The
delightful maroon 1921 Indian Powerplus Combination made
£18,700, while the
rare 1939 Excelsior Manxman realised way over estimate at
£17,600.
H&H had
once again assembled a
fine selection of automobilia, the vast majority of which sold, in many
cases
for excellent prices: a sensational example of the rare, double-sided
Aeroshell
enamel sign made £2,350 and a most attractive pre-war
Wakefield Castrol enamel
sign/thermometer returned £1,495, as did an impressive
Hispano-Suiza Flying
Stork mascot.
The June 9 sale
was also notable for
the return of an online bidding facility (i-bidder) which added a
welcome extra
dimension to proceedings not to mention a flurry of bids and purchases
from
some far flung time zones.
Further details
on this and other
H&H sales can be found at www.handh.co.uk.
The company’s next auction of collectors’ cars,
motorcycles, bicycles and
automobilia will take place at the Pavilion Gardens, Buxton on July
21.
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