The penultimate month of the year is just about the busiest of the 2021 sales calendar, with classic cars of all ages and values competing for punters’ cash.
November’s classic car auction calendar kicks off on the 5th when Bonhams’ Golden Age of Motoring Sale is joined by Barons’ online outing.
The Bonhams’ outing, held in London’s plush Bond Street, targets pre-1939 cars and builds on its Veteran sale of years past. Oldest lot on offer is a c.1900 Bruneau Quadricycle (est: £40,000-50,000), the youngest a 1938 Bentley 4¼-litre James Young-bodied sedanca coupe (est: £110,000-160,000). Likely to attract plenty of interest is a 1908 Rainier model D seven-passenger touring car, an American-built luxury veteran whose generous dimension put the Bentley well and truly in the shade.
Barons’ November sale is an online-only affair with viewing available at its Southampton premises. A one-owner, well-specified 1993 Mercedes-Benz 320TE with very good history has a £5000-7000 estimate and a 1950 Ford Pilot (est: £13,000-17,000) offers flathead V8 goodness.
Back in London the following day (6 November) RMSothebys has assembled a suitably prestigious auction whose lots include a 1987 Porsche 959 Komfort (est: £800,000-£1m) and a Koenig-modified 1990 Mercedes-Benz 560SEC (est: £125,000-150,000). There’s a pair of Aston Martin V8 Zagatos in fixed-head and convertible form, and those who like a car with long-term ownership might find the 1928 Mercedes-Benz 630K that’s been in single family ownership since the early 1930s fitting the bill. It comes with a £650,000-800,000 estimate.
On 6 and 7 November, Anglia Car Auctions‘ monumental sale tops all others size-wise. In pre-Covid days the King’s Lynn auctioneer could offer up to 300 cars in one day but it’s now, with its online-only sale, spreading the offering over the weekend.
There’s much to tempt, including a 1956 Bristol 405 that’s offered without reserve and a one-owner, 1976 Jaguar XJ-S that has covered 29,030 miles from new and is estimated at £16,000-20,000. There’s a 1972 Range Rover (est: £8000-12,000) and if an early Toyota RAV is your thing a 1995 2.0GX estimated at £3000-5000 might be just the ticket. It would be wrong too to miss the 1988 Bentley Eight (est: £3000-4000) that is MoT-tested until next April.
Silverstone Auctions holds its biggest sale of the calendar at the NEC Classic Motor Show on 12-14 November, including a new dedicated motorcycle sale. With an impressive mix of lots, its a star studded event with cars including the Mini Mike from the TV show The Prisoner, Ant Anstead’s Comet and five cars from our own Mike Brewer’s personal collection.
H&H is at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford on 17 November, the flight-focussed backdrop an eminently suitable backdrop for the cars offered. The sale has (at time of writing) lined up a one family-owned 1970 Austin 6cwt (a re-badged Morris Minor) van estimated at £11,000-13,000, a 1925 Bentley 3-litre dual-cowl phaeton that carries a £180,000-220,000 estimate and a 1964 Aston Martin DB4 (est: £280,000-320,000). And despite its £34,000-38,000 estimate, a 1993 Bentley Continental R could be great value if bought within estimate – especially so considering when new it was just about the most expensive car on the market.
Just a few days later (20 November) Manor Park’s sale brings the classic action caravan back to the north west. The Warrington-based auctioneer has already made a big impact in 2021, proving popular with buyers and sellers and this sale continues that thread. A Jaguar C-type replica (aluminium-bodied and to the original model’s dimensions) is no-reserve, while an out-of-storage Vauxhall Lotus Carlton that runs, drives but needs re-commissioning is estimated at £30,000-35,000. Slower, certainly but ticking many of the right boxes is a 1960 Austin Mini Seven (est: £8000-12,000): One-owner, 50,000 miles and believed to have been off the road since 1996, it looks great value when compared with a 1959 example.
The same day sees Britain’s most northerly classic sale taking place. Perth-based Morris Leslie has again assembled a decent array of cars, from pre-war to modern classic. Two Bentley Continental GTs spearhead the modern classics segment, a 2005 GT estimated at £18,000-20,000 and a 2007 GTC at £30,000-32,000. Some later Mercedes-Benz models offer a chance to get behind the wheel of the three-pointed star, a 2002 CL500 estimated at £2000-2500. Slowing things down but upping the door count a 1960 Rover 100 is estimated at £3000-4000.
H&H’s ABC online-only sale returns on 24 November. Cars consigned at time of writing include a 35,000 miles 1988 Ford Escort 1.3 Popular five-door (est: £5000-6000) and a past-restoration 1965 MGB Roadster. This UK-market model is estimated at £12,000-14,000.
Also holding sales are East Anglian Motor Auctions on 13 November and Hampson Auctions on 23 November.
Find more info:
Bonhams
Barons
RMSothebys
Anglia Car Auctions
Silverstone Auctions
H&H
Manor Park
Morris Leslie
