Classic Cars August 2022

Designing cars with singularity of purpose for enthusiasts to desire is relatively easy, according to the designers themselves, because there are fewer compromises to take care of. Creating something that has to meet all of the demands of the family and business user, while somehow being a source of joy as well, now that’s tricky. The five saloons we’ve chosen for this month’s big test sum up six decades of thinking on how to achieve the seemingly impossible. From the MG Magnette to the Lexus IS300, these cars will Hoover up family, friends, luggage or whatever else you need to move from A to B, and deliver them as unruffled – or ruffled – as your right foot and the curves in the road choose to make them. And they’ll…

The 1997 Ferrari 456GT is parked in a quiet corner but Classic Cars reader Kev Ponsford won’t be deterred. He cuts past the 360 Modena, weaves around the 308GTB and doesn’t even glance at the Dino 246GT as he strides towards his dream grand tourer. ‘Now this is a car that epitomises the classic Ferrari,’ he announces. ‘It’s an analogue car that arrived just before the digital age – afull-blooded V12 and one of the very last models with pop-up headlights. I just wish it wasn’t tucked away.’ He needn’t worry. The Nineties super-GT will be nosing out of the Rardley Motors car park in just a few minutes. And Kev will be in the driving seat. Today he’ll discover how his Maranello model of choice matches up to real…

Darts appear to have softened from the mid-£30,000s for reasonable examples a couple of years ago to the mid-£20,000s now. Fully restored cars, done well and not overly modernised, can still pull around £35k and real stunners should still be good for nearly £45,000. But who knew that a very lovely two-owner warranted-38,000-mile car would only make £25,875? At H&H’s April sale, the 1961 B Spec was totally original including paintwork and was even still wearing its original peaked digit Ace number plates, reading 399 VTE. The history file included letters between owners and correspondence with the Daimler factory going back to 1964. Dry stored since 1997 it was a remarkable, well maintained and carefully used survivor right down to its original factory-fitted carpet set. ‘That this pair fetched so…

Once again this year it took a large offering of no reserve lots to produce a respectable sale result. It’s probably the new normal. What was interesting here was the good number of lots that beat their estimates. H istoricAuctioneers packed 195 cars into its Ascot sale on 21 May and sold almost three quarters of them. In such an odd and fluctuating market it’s probably unreasonable to expect anything more than that. As Quentin has touched on recently, there are bargains to be picked up – but for every one of those, there’s a big result that makes you double-take. A 1966 E-type 2+2 was an example of a car that had that effect at Historics. These extraseaters always play third fiddle to the coupés and roadsters in value.…

Performance MkI Escorts John Mayhead, Editor of the UK Hagerty Price Guide says, ‘Hagerty’s values of high-performance Ford Escort MkIs have been rising steadily over the past five years. The RS1600, with a strong racing pedigree and just under 1200 built for homologation purposes, is the one collectors want. One recent sale of a well-presented AVO Custom ‘Show Unit’ car seemed a good buy at £66,000. Interestingly, all three models are attracting younger buyers – of those Hagerty insures worldwide, around two thirds of owners were aged 57 or younger.’…

F1 CARS HIT THE MARKET May’s Monaco auctions brought out a flurry of F1 cars with Bonhams selling an ex-Zanardi 1999 Williams FW21 for €362,250. Meanwhile, RM Sotheby’s sold two Mansell cars, a 1989 Ferrari 640 (€3.605m) and the five-time winning 1991 Williams FW14 (€4.055m). ‘This shows the difference a great driver makes to value,’ said auction commentator Richard Hudson-Evans. A Schumacher/Patrese Benetton-Ford B193B will also headline Bonhams’ Goodwood Festival of Speed sale. PRE-WAR AT GOODWOOD Talking of the Festival, the Bentley and Rolls-Royce oriented collection of late Le Mans racer Peter Blond forms the centrepiece of the Bonhams auction at Goodwood. The catalogue lists other cars of the era including two SS100 Jaguars, a 1931 Invicta S-Type ‘Low Chassis’ and a 1937 Frazer Nash-BMW 328 Roadster. ‘Prices of pre-war…