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£1.9m Lamborghini Miura SV tops Silverstone prices during record Silverstone Classic replacement sale where 161 cars sell for £15.9m On-Line

The undisputed supercar lot of Silverstone’s behind closed doors on-line only flagship fixture Friday 31 July and Saturday 1 August was a 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV, even rarer in right-hand drive, for which £1,800,000-2,400,000 was sought.
At least five internet bidders were queuing to play for the Miura keys, but were unable to enter what quickly became a rapid-fire, all-telephone contestant battle from a starting bid of £1,450,000 to hammer fall at an audibly applauded £1,700,000, the Spinto Veloce costing the winner £1,912,500 with premium.
There were plenty of potential takers for an only 18,247 mile and right-hand drive 1973 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS Targa-Top with matching numbers that was auctioned ‘Without Reserve’ and eventually made a more than top estimate £337,500 to more on-line heard applause.
Other noteworthy sellers from the SA-30 Collection included a 1998 restored 1958 AC Ace Bristol Sports, sold for £220,500, and a £208,125 Porsche 911 Type 664 Carrera RS had been driven just 16,792k since 1994. A 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing with 13,346 mileage made £139,500, and a 10,804 mile SLS Roadster of the same vintage £101,250.
An exported 1961 Jaguar E Type S1 ‘Flat Floor’ Roadster for restoration was taken on for £112,500, and a S1 FHC of the same age, in the same state, for £90,000. A ‘For Love of Cars’ TV-restored 1964 Austin Mini Cooper Downton Mk1 from the same source fetched £34,875, and a 1960 Austin Mini Seven Mk1 from one family ownership of 55 years £12,600.
A whole Panzer Division of Porsches (actually 35 low mileage minters) had come to market from the Stuttgart Collection, ranging from a 16,117 miles since 1995 911 993 RS sold for £315,000 to the first UK registered in 1967 911S 2-Litre SWB, that had done only 17 miles since restoration and which made £171,000. A still air-cooled 911 993 Turbo in right-hand drive had only done 745 miles since new in 1996, hence the £168,750 auction price paid,
The 2009-built 550 Chamonix Spider, really well replicated by Special Edition Inc in the US and previously owned by the late Herbie Blash from F1 Admin and the Brabham GP Team for many seasons before that, raised a well over estimate £52,875.
A stunning UK supplied 1988 924 S with subtle upgrades including a 944 2.5 motor during Porsche Centre Tonbridge restoration also fetched a more than forecast £29,025.
The highest priced lot from the 18 car cull of the Anthony Hamilton Collection in a Silverstone sale physically conducted in Warwickshire, whilst son Lewis again dominated a British GP in private at the Northamptonshire circuit, was an only 43 miles from new in 2006 Ford GT sold for an only just below forecast £241,875. An 11,000m 2006 Mercedes SLR McLaren Coupe did make £182,250, within the estimate.
Australian restored to better than new, Walsall-made 1954 Swallow Doretti Roadsters with TR2 mechanicals both sold for £74,250 and £69,750. 38,250 was accepted for Hamilton’s Wood & Pickett ‘Margrave’ Mini 1275S with Harold Radford hatchback conversion, and £23,625 secured the ex-Lord Mountbatten of Burma, half-timbered 1965 Morris Mini De Luxe Traveller.
There were buyers with £148,500 and £135,000 for both 1955 and 1970 Henri Chapron Decapotable Citroens that were surplus to requirements at a major Midlands-based Collection.
A once Royal family endorsed Alvis RE21 3-Litre Park Ward Convertible from 1965 raised a better than expected £51,750, and a 1953 T21 2-Seater Tourer from the same Coventry manufacturer £46,125. A dusty 1948 Alvis Coupe by Duncan for recommissioning, if not a full restoration, was taken on for £27,000. A previously restored and shiney 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Cabrio did not sell however after nowhere near the £315,000-350,000 suggested was bid.
Whilst the at least £300,000 or more suggested for actor Steve Coogan’s XK Engineering restored 1961 Jaguar E Type was not achieved in the 'live' show, the really early 'Flat Floor' Roadster with external bonnet locks speedily sold afterwards for £270,000. Both 1992 Jaguar XK220s in the sale were rehomed, too, £210,000 buying a 22,699k example from the Warwickshire Collection and a just 4014k from new car from the SA-30 Collection selling for £292,500.
Although 54 cars auctioned were unsold by the end of the weekend, consigning six headline collections for this sale, and dispersing one high value cache ‘Without Reserve’, hugely boosted pre-sale interest in the 170 cars that did sell.
The socially-distanced facility for prospective buyers being able to physically inspect all cars entered by appointment, at two viewing locations, over two working weeks, translated into multiple bids being placed for many lots via a bank of telephones and two bidding platforms
Indeed, absentee bids for this virtual auction experience were placed from Hong Kong and Hitchin, from California to Richmond, from Singapore, Essex and even Taku in the Sudan!
For after 70 or 65% out of 108 Friday cars offered had sold for a very bullish £4,716,782 (an average of £67,383 including premium), another 100 or 86% of 116 cars during the 6½-hour Saturday session then sold for an additional £11,183,761 (an even more bank-busting average of £111,838 per car bought).
Even before any more aftersales had been concluded, 170 of the 224 cars in the on-line only catalogue had changed hands during this 76% sold weekend for a 2020 UK and on-line auction record £15,900,543 with premium (an overall average of £93,533 per car).
By the time the 1904 issued registration ‘09’, which had been optimistically estimated at £130,000-150,000, had realised a stratospheric £216,000 however, and the former French Riviera resident 1995 Sunseeker Tomahawk 41 13M Speedboat enjoyed by the late 007 Sir Roger Moore had cruised to a £82,123 result, plus some stocking fillers had sold, the house record sale total had exceeded £16.4m, more than any other collector auction in Europe since the Retromobile week sales in pre-covid February.
Considering the perilous state of the mismanaged UK economy, which is sinking further and faster than ever before, and the very real prospect of enforced lockdowns for the classic car owning majority as a second wave gathers strength, the extraordinary stats from this two day epic really were most encouraging to those who have booked their seats in the lifeboat. RH-E

Remember, for the most accurate reality scroll on what is really being paid for classics as the on-line only sales ‘might’ be opening up again, click-on to ‘Latest Prices’ on the home page menu-bar above.
Here you will see, in budget-friendly price order, just how much successful bidders have been spending both recently and during previous months to buy a full range of collector motor cars, an abbreviated indicator for which also gives you some idea of their likely condition
And for faster insider gen on the guidelines-affected auctions scene, best advice is click onto ‘More News’ below (or select ‘News’ on the menu-bar options) and scroll-down to scan recent e-transmissions. Whilst regular overviews of the auction market appear entirely free of charge to you or advertisers (because there are none!) in the ‘Market Commentary’ department. Thanks for your support.

 

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