A 1929 Bentley that was first registered to Bentley Boy Captain Woolf Barnato changed hands for £528,000 at H&H’s Duxford sale on 21 September.
The result for the 4½-litre Tourer helped push sale takings to £2.64m, with 38 of the 83 lots on offer finding new owners.
One of only two naturally aspirated 4½-litres owned by the three-times Le Mans winner, the Bentley’s result at the Imperial War Museum sale in Cambridgeshire exceeded the sale house’s £400-500,000 prediction.
Also busting its top estimate was a 1970 Aston Martin DB6 Mark 2 Vantage that had been expected to sell for £120-140,000, but changed hands for a massive £209,000. The Aston was one of two DB6s – both Vantages from the same year - on offer, the other making £143,000.
There was strong interest in earlier Astons, too, with a 1953 DB2 making £118,000 – despite its £85-100,000 prediction - and a 1937 2 Litre 15/98 Tourer selling for just-above-estimate £66,000.
H&H wasn’t as lucky with its other star lot, however: the 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Cabriolet.The jewel in the crown of the four-car Valencia collection, the Mercedes was bid up to £575,000, somewhat short of the circa £800,000 figure H&H had in mind.
A 1964 Aston Martin DB5 that was first owned by Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney also failed to shift after a final bid £50,000 short of the car's £350-400,000 estimate.
H&H did get several other desirable British-built lots away. The ex-Hubert Patthey Ecurie des Trois Chevron 1956 Bristol-engined Ace sold for a mid-estimate (£140-160,000) £155,400 and a 1936 Bentley 4 ¼-litre Tourer, entered by rally driver Eric Jackson, made £93,500.
Other standouts included a 1973 Ferrari Daytona that sold for a market-correct £159,500 and a 1986 Ferrari Testarossa that crossed the block at £42,350.
See H&H Duxford sale for more.
