Silverstone Classic auction 2017 – Fast Fords and Hot Hatches.

Silverstone Classic auction 2017 – Fast Fords and Hot Hatches.
3rd August 2017 Team CSF

Silverstone Classic auction 2017 – Fast Fords and Hot Hatches.

With very few cars being offered over the £100,000 mark – and even fewer of those selling – Silverstone still achieved £5.5 million of sales across three days of sales which included both competition cars and road-going classics.

Silverstone Auctions know this territory well and appear to have an almost unlimited supply of low mileage modern classics to offer – and they seem to go down a treat with buyers as more and more of them abandon the established marques like Ferrari and Porsche to purchase less exotic but arguably more interesting mass-market hot hatches, saloons and coupes.

What is the motivation?

Try and imagine yourself as the buyer of a £63,000 Alpina B12. Given what else you could buy for the same price, presumably driving enjoyment isn’t the main motivating factor. How many Alpina collectors (as opposed to owners) are there out there?

There is little doubt in our minds that prices for modern classics are being being fuelled by the promise of financial reward. As the game of poker that was being played out on the top table of car collecting looks to be drawing to a close – in the short term at least –  the game of classic car Top Trumps continues in the affordable classics sector.

 

1990 Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evolution Works Group A Rally Car – Ex Juha Kankkunen

Sold for £225,000. Interesting competition cars continue to attract buyers. More and more enthusiasts now want cars they can access events in. This is an iconic car in an iconic livery driven by an iconic champions.

Alpina 850 B12

1993 Alpina E31 B12  – sold for £63,000

Originally ordered by the Sultan of Brunei, the order form seems to be as close as he got to it. Interestingly, Sir Anthony Bamford was the next purchaser along with its sister car. It has since done 177,000 km. Ten years ago a high mileage 850 Ci would have been about as desirable as a job in the White House press office – so £63,000 is a great result.

1989 Porsche 911(930) Turbo LE – sold for £165,000

Sensible 30,000 on the clock – but you could buy a good Ferarri 458 for that money. ” The last 50 Limited Edition vehicles are arguably the most collectable of the 21,589 cars built” of says it all – is this an “investment car”, pure & simple?

Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500

1987 Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 – sold for £114,750

11,000 miles and described as original.

2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG ‘F1’ – sold for £40,500

SL55s are creeping up in value. The F1 version is widely described as the most desirable, but in period represented a significant extra investment over the standard car for little extra benefit. The F1 version was no more powerful but was de-limited (in standard trim to 155 mph), had upgraded brakes and an LSD – two items a car of this nature really didn’t need. It also lost the fantastic standard Turbine alloys for an altogether less appealing option. The standard SL55 represents better value for money and finished in the most popular colours of Brilliant Silver or Black is more representative of what is surely a modern classic.

1988 Porsche 944 Turbo ‘S’ – Sold for £25,310

Sensible mileage (86,000), this car would have been £6-8,000 ten years ago. Good cars have become highly collectable, but how much more can they increase in price?

 

1988 Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9 – 5,726 miles

Sold for £38,480

1972 BMW 3.0 CSL  – sold for £78,750

Looked like good value when compared to the fast Fords!

1987 Ford Capri 280 Brooklands – sold for £55,125

Restored to a high level which would account for a large proportion of the price paid. If you wanted a like-new Capri, then why not?

Elise - Silverstone 2017

1997 Lotus Elise S1 – sold for £24,750

The Series 1 Elise has been collectable for a while and this looked like a good buy with only 1,633 miles.

 

1991 Vauxhall Lotus Carlton. 4,500 miles from new

Sold for £72,000. The King of Q cars – but would you take this or a delivery mileage 2017 BMW M5?