At £130,000 – 150,000, H&H’s most expensive entry for their next sale is a rare 1953 Bentley 'R' Type Drophead Coupé. However amongst the 90-car entry there are many other more affordable classic and more modern cars such as this 1983 Ferrari 400i for only £10,000 – 12,000.
The Bentley is one of only twenty-five to have been bodied by Park Ward with two-door drophead coupe coachwork in this style. Very 1950s, the two-tone machine has been awarded ‘First in Class’ prizes at both the 2003 RREC and Bentley Drivers Club national concours; the latter rating chassis number B339 SP as quite simply "The Best in the World". The car has been the subject of a very extensive restoration by Taylors of Birdham, and accompanying bills run to some £130,000, so any prospective buyer will be benefiting as always from someone else paying for the restoration work. Another Bentley of note (and of this era) is the delightful 1950 MK VI Woody Shooting Brake at £70,000 – 80,000, while more modern examples include a 1984 Mulsanne Turbo, £8000 – 9000, and a 1996 Continental 'R' Coupé at £55,000 – 65,000.
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AC’s recent history has, to say the least, been chequered. However no-one will dispute the fact that they made the original 1960s’ Cobras and that later, MK IV and subsequent cars are still ‘genuine’ Cobras, are beautifully built in aluminium not GRP, and offer similar staggering performance to the original with a little modern updating. The 1998 AC Cobra Superblower entered, at £44,000 – 48,000, is one such example.
 1950 MK VI Woody Shooting Brake |
 1933 Lagonda 16/80 Four Seat Tourer |
 1998 AC Cobra Superblower |
The Ferrari 400i is one of two such cars entered, the other being a 1980 Gold/Brown interior model with only 51,000 recorded miles on the odometer. The 1983 car has a slightly higher mileage, but is in a better colour combination (Silver/Black interior), younger and also cheaper - £10,000 – 12,000. H&H know their job better than I do, let’s see what sells for what on the day.
Of the pre-war cars the 1933 Lagonda 16/80 Four Seat Tourer at £34,000 – 38,000 -despite being converted from a saloon – is an attractive car, and with similar Bentleys now fetching very big money represents 1930s classic British motoring par excellence. There’s also a 1925 Rolls-Royce 20 Hp Doctors Coupé for £25,000 – 28,000, and a 1928 Lagonda 2 Litre Speed Model for £17,000 – 20,000 – the latter very much a ‘restoration project’, but with original Brooklands racing history. Competition cars are always close to H&H’s heart and a couple of saloons may interest potential historic rally drivers. The 1967 Austin Mini Cooper 'S' MKII is a historic rally car with a high specification for £6,500 – 7,500, while the 1966 Volvo 122S, at £8,000 – 9,000, appears to be a useful (if not concours) entry-level car into the sport.
On Tuesday 7th December, H&H will be auctioning over 600 items of Automobilia at the same venue.
H&H’s first sale of 2005 will be at the International Historic Motorsport Show at Stoneleigh. An early entry is the famous 1961 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 FHC ‘CUT 7’, the first of Dick Protheroe’s competition E-Types with this registration, the second of course being the ‘low-drag’ car. It’s estimated at £275,000 – 325,000 and as every historic racing enthusiast knows, it’s a very, very fast car…
Please click HERE to see a full lotlist for the 8th December Sale.
All the motor car lots in this sale can also be viewed in colour, with full catalogue descriptions on the Classic Driver Car Database. Please click HERE to see the latest motor cars.
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H&H Classic Auctions
Whitegate Farm, Hatton Lane, Hatton, Cheshire WA4 4BZ UK www.classic-auctions.com Tel: 0044 (0) 1925 730630 Fax: 0044 (0) 1925 730830 Email: [email protected] |
Text - Steve Wakefield
Photos - H&H