From barn-find ACs to a TV star Montego, we look back at the cars that got the classic world talking when they went under the auctioneer’s hammer – often for record-breaking prices
A year packed with classic sales might have resulted in lower average prices than were seen during the pandemic – but plenty of impressive cars still changed hands for some truly eye-opening results.
Last month aCCW investigation into more than 4000 classics going under the hammer with 12 of the nation’s biggest auctioneers revealed that average prices had dropped from £36,407 in 2022 to £24,678 so far this year – a 32 per cent decline – with former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson describing the market as ‘a buyer’s Disneyland’ and classics representing better value that any point during the last decade. However the UK’s classic market itself remains as popular as ever, with more than two thirds of the cars being entered into auctions finding new homes.
And these market-wide stats don’t reflect the fact that buyers are still prepared to shell out very healthy sums for the best cars with low mileages, long histories and well-known former owners, with plenty still going for far beyond their pre-sale estimates.
We asked Classic Car Weekly’s markets editor Richard Barnett to cast his expert eye over some of the year’s biggest deals…
1966 Lotus Elan S3 DHC
The market’s never fallen out of love with the Elan but, truth be told, it’s never been the most attainable of 1960s British sports cars. The still-strong following keeps values planted relatively high, but Silverstone Auctions (now Iconic Auctioneers) offered several high-profile Elans from the Piddington Collection back in February, including this 1966 model that featured in the fifth series of the cult television show The Avengers (the first to be filmed in colour) with Diana Rigg driving it. The pre-airflow model boasted knock-on wheels, chrome sill trims and was painted Jaguar Opalescent Blue. Diana Rigg gave it away, it passed to the USA and came home in 2013, receiving a body-off restoration. Its condition was good enough to garner strong bidding but that back story…
SOLD £164,250
1948 Land Rover
Remember the Land Rover price explosion a few years ago, when Defender production ended and values of seemingly any Landie rocketed? There has since been a slip-back in Land Rover values generally but there are some caveats, because the oldest models, and especially those in very good order, bringing steadfastly strong prices. That was the case with this 1948 model back in autumn; Now 1948 models do come to market, but this one was the second production model and had been specialist-restored to a very high standard. It had its original engine and running gear, plus rear power take-off. Lat
