Results include £90,000 for an XK140 & £16,000 for a Herald Saloon
Braving decidedly wintry weather, a record number of bidders flocked to last Saturday’s (March 11) Hampson Auction sale of classic and prestige cars at Mavericks, Holywell in North Wales, where a sale rate of 75 percent was achieved, along with a number of notable individual results.
XK140 hits the sweet spot
The star of the show was a lovely 1956 home market Jaguar XK140 SE Roadster that had remained within the same family for the last 33 years and was eventually knocked down for £90,000. More affordable but equally memorable was the £16,031 paid for a 1967 Triumph Herald 12/50 – the subject of a £60,000 restoration, it looked just as it would have done leaving the production line 56 years ago. Also refurbished to concours standard was a 1954 Morris Minor Tourer that had previously starred in Classics Monthly magazine and found a new home for £15,750, while a completely unmolested two-owner Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6 fetched £16,875.
Sports cars aplenty
There were sports cars aplenty and a fair bid of £90,000 was momentarily considered enough to snare a pristine Jaguar Series 3 Roadster that had driven just 12,000 miles in its 50-year life, but was ultimately deemed insufficient by the vendor. Not so the £21,938 that captured a show-winning 1974 V8 MGB GT, following a hard-fought battle in the hall and on the internet.
Rarity wins the day
Rarity counts for much in the classic car world, and was certainly a consideration in the £14,062 paid for what is thought to be one of only three remaining semi-automatic BMW Isettas, as well as the £8,212 handed over for a lefthand drive 1974 Mini 1275 GT, of which only two other such examples are believed to exist.
Fast Fords galore
Hampson’s sales are renowned for their selection of fast Fords, and there were several from which to choose, with £21,375 being the figure paid for both a 1973 MKI Escort rebuilt to rally specification just 300 miles ago, and a stunning black 1983 Escort RS1600i entered from a private collection.
Bargain BMW
The bargains of the day were arguably the virtually as-new 2000 BMW 323 Ci SE that had driven no further than 2,911 miles to date and was finally bought for £10,688, and the six-owner, 66,875-mile 1997 Mercedes-Benz C200 that realised £2,500 – about the same outlay as a set of tyres for a McLaren!
