Just when you think you've seen it all with fast Ford values, an auction takes place and an Escort RS Turbo sells for £60,188. Sixty grand! Yes, it's a one-owner car with just five thousand miles but that still looks like a hell of a lot. Time will tell whether that's a smart investment.
And there we were last week all excited
about the Capris
going to Silverstone Auctions' Classic motor show sale. As it happened there were no great surprises there; the restored RS3100 sold for £48,375 (the estimate was £45-£50K), the RS2600 estimated at £26-£30,000 made £25,875 and the hammer price for the 1978 3.0 S was £23,625. A lot for a Capri, but certainly no more than was expected.
One final car to mention in the fast Ford round up: the 13,000-mile Sierra RS500. The estimate was £70-£80,000... it sold for £90,000. Wow.
Elsewhere, the stunning Renault 5 Turbo 2 Chris picked out went unsold but the earlier Turbo 1 reached £61,875, at the lower end of its £60-£70,000 estimate. Interestingly Henry Cooper's Ferrari, a 365 GT4, made a seemingly modest £30,938. For some context on that figure, what appears a very similar car with more miles is available on PH for £54,995. Intriguing...
Who could have predicted where these were going?
Speaking of Ferrari, the appetite for the mid-engined 12-cylinder cars shows little sign of abating. A UK 512TR estimated at £110-£130,000 eventually sold for £185,625, believed to be a UK auction record.
As for the British cars at this auction, there was a stunning result for a 1999 Bentley Continental Sedanca. It entered the sale with an estimate of £45-£55,000 but sold for £108,000! An XJ220 formerly in the ownership of the Sultan of Brunei made £315,000 and the fantastic Aston V8 Volante seen here surpassed its lower estimate by £50K with a final sale price of £151,875.
A successful sale for Silverstone Auctions then, with an 80 per cent sale rate and a £4.4m total. The first 2016 auction is Race Retro on February 27/28...
See the full list of results here.