A 1959 Alvis TD21 Graber Saloon sold for £38,080 at H&H’s Pavilion Gardens sale on 26 February, closely followed by a 1949 Bentley MkVI with Mulliner coachwork that made £30,240 and a 1927 Sunbeam 16.9 Tourer at £29,120.
Also making a decent return of £26,320 was a 1935 Bentley 3.5 Litre Sports restoration project, which had passed through H&H’s Duxford sale last October. It required a great deal of restorative work, though it retained its original engine.
While British classics were clearly the flavour of the day, there was plenty more to interest the room including a rare 1980 Ford Fiesta ‘Fly’ Crayford convertible, believed to be one of only 28 built. It sold for £4704, reflecting both its rarity and smart condition.
Also raising eyebrows was a small-scale ERA child’s racer, which was built in the 1970s using a two-piece glassfibre body and was powered by a rear-mounted 206cc Briggs & Stratton engine. It made £2464.
There was a good selection on offer for the enthusiast looking for a bargain, with no fewer than 14 lots for less than £3000. A 1987 Jaguar XJ-S 5.3 HE sold for just £1695, and with 12 months MoT seemed a shrewd buy and one of the cheapest routes into V12 ownership.
Also well bought was a Steel Blue 1991 Lotus Excel that sold for £2016 on the day. Described as a solid and watertight car, it had 135,000 miles on the odometer and boasted a number of new parts including a replacement windscreen.
Perhaps the best bargain of the sale came in the form of a 1973 Jensen Interceptor III, which reached £10,920 before bidding ended. Despite having been with the same owner since 1997, the car only covered 120 miles during that period and had been refreshed for the sale.
The next H&H sale takes place on 24 April at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford.
