Classic Car Auction Results analysis:

Available lots: 178

Lots sold: 104

Sell-through rate: 58.4%

Total sales amount: £2,098,521

Average vehicle value: £20,178

Individual results can be viewed by clicking here.

Click on each lot listing to view past auction results for each car.

 

Historics returned once again to the excellent Brooklands Motor Museum for their July 2018 sale, where 178 cars went under the hammer in an unseasonably warm British summer. It was no fault of Historics, but they really couldn’t have picked a worse time, with the sale coinciding with the England v. Sweden World Cup football game. With the auction dates locked in more than six months in advance, we bet they wished they could change the draw! Nonetheless, many of the sold cars made their middle to upper estimate, but a few bargains did take our notice.

 

1984 Lotus Esprit Series 3 – sold for £9,056

Sub-£10,000 for a clean early Esprit seems like a great deal to us. This one went up with no reserve, making it likely the most affordable way into the purest example of Guigiaro’s breathtaking design. And before anyone asks; no, this one will not drive underwater.

 

2004 Porsche 911 GT3 – sold for £44,240

Despite being a UK-delivered car in desireable Clubsport specification, this GT3 is not one for the collectors or speculators but it is the most affordable way into one of the sublime vehicles produced by Porsche’s renowned GT division. The 996 GT3 is undoubtedly set for future collectability – not only is it the first of a stunning line of GT3 badged cars, but it’s Mezger-designed, dry-sumped engine is the most closely related to a proper racing engine as any of the line.

This example has an incredible 206,000 miles on the clock, has had a recent re-spray in its original Cobalt Blue, and wears a GT3 RS front bar. That’s the bad; the good is that it has had a recent engine rebuild to Clubsport specification at an eye-watering £28,000, and has a Motorsport Cup friction plate LSD fitted, too. It has been driven long and hard on road and track, but anyone who has been around well-prepared track Porsches knows that carefully maintained but heavily used cars are often the best ones to own, anyway. Very well bought.

 

1997 Renault Sport Spider – sold for £23,520

We can’t quite figure out why the Renault Sport Spider remains such a bargain buy. Any other low volume specialist sports car from a major manufacturer has increased on obscurity value alone, yet the Spider, with its arching doors and Lotus-esque obsession with weight saving, remains in the low twenties. This one is a rare right-hand drive example, making it even more desireable in our eyes. We’ve just made a mental note to check these prices again in a couple of years time.

 

1991 Aston Martin Virage Coupé – sold for £20,376

Purcahsing a Virage such as this at auction would be the ultitmate leap of faith, but at just over £20,000, it could be the bargain of the sale. It only shows 61,000 miles on its odometer but it hasn’t been driven in some time and requires some ‘minor recomissionsing’. Just how minor that work is remains to be discovered by the (un)lucky new owner, but if the bullet was dodged, they may have done very well indeed.