Cossie and Landie lead first Bonhams MPH auction

By Lizzie Pope

| 27 Sep 2019

Classic & Sports Car – Cossie and Landie lead first Bonhams MPH auction

A 1993 Ford Escort RS Cosworth and a military Land Rover Defender from the same year were the top lots at the inaugural Bonhams MPH sale, held yesterday at Bicester Heritage’s Hangar 113.

Bonhams launched its dedicated modern classics division a few months ago and is set to hold four auctions a year; the next is on 26 November.

When revealing the new venture, Bonhams MPH’s Rob Hubbard said that a price limit of £50,000 is ideal, but “not set in stone” – and, appropriately, the hammer fell at £49,500 on both of yesterday’s lead lots.

The 38,207-mile, 26-year-old Cossie sold well against its £40-50,000 estimate. It wears a twin-headlight conversion, but otherwise is just as it left the factory.

It’s been with its current owner since 1997 and in long-term storage since 2008. But the good news is that the Ford has recently been recommissioned and serviced, ready for the winning bidder to enjoy it.

However, the 1993 Land Rover Defender 110 V8 SOV Truck Utility SAS that also achieved £49,500 fell considerably short of its £80-100,000 estimate.

Powered by a 3.5-litre Rover V8 and one of 39 made to military specification, K13 SOV is the prototype built for the American Special Forces and is one of three originally produced.

Very original and sold with paperwork documenting its active service, quite what its new owner will do with it we don’t know – but in case you’re wondering, its 50 calibre-machine gun and two GPMG machine guns are all replicas.

In fact, yesterday’s next three biggest sellers were all also Land Rovers or Fords.

Bidding reached £48,375 for a 1985 Land Rover Defender 110 V8 SOV Truck Utility SAS (£80-100,000), a 1968 Land Rover Series 2a 109 Pink Panther found a new home for £47,250 (£65-75,000) and, in marked contrast to the rest of the day’s top lots, a 1936 Ford Model 68 Cabriolet also fetched £47,250, surpassing its £30-40,000 guide price.

You can see the full results here.

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The C&SC classic car auction results database