Pristine 911 tops Historics’ latest sale

By Lizzie Pope

| 15 Jul 2019

Classic & Sports Car – This incredible 911 topped Historics’ latest sale

It might have 104,223 miles on the clock, but this Guards Red 1981 Porsche 911 commanded the highest price at last weekend’s Historics auction at Brooklands Motor Museum.

The gavel finally fell at £91,840, bang in the middle of its £86-98,000 pre-sale estimate, and it seems like the new owner of this 930 turbo has a rather special addition to his or her stable. Indeed, as well as starring in magazines, it is an award-winner.

However, given the number of cars with six-figure estimates that didn’t sell, including a 1961 Aston Martin DB4 Series III Superleggera at £370-390,000 and a 1959 Facel Vega Excellence EX1 at £110-130,000, it was something of a surprise that the Porsche ultimately topped the sale.

This 1981 930 turbo has been restored by Porsche Leeds

This car owes its condition to an in-house competition established by Porsche, who asked its UK main dealers to each source and restore one of its classics over a limited timeframe.

Porsche Leeds selected this 930 turbo and then embarked on a meticulous restoration, while trying to retain as many original parts as possible – if items could not be reconditioned or restored, they were swapped for official Porsche parts.

The Leeds dealership’s efforts were rewarded when the team won the Porsche Mechanical Restoration award and Porsche Cars GB Employee's Choice for the work completed on this car.

This 911 sold for £91,840 on Saturday 13 July

This was back in 2014. Now as good as new – if not better – and having covered just 1000 post-restoration miles, it was sold on Saturday (13 July) with a wealth of paperwork documenting this work, plus its original stamped service booklet and a Heritage Certificate.

And rather like this 911, the lot to achieve the auction’s second-highest value didn’t top its upper pre-sale guide price, but did creep over the lower end of its estimate.

This was a 3980-mile 2000 AC Cobra 212 S/C Roadster, one of two right-hand drive 212 S/Cs which went for £84,560 against its £80-100,000 guide.

Clockwise from top left: AC Cobra; Bocar XP-5; ’68 Pagoda; 220S Cabriolet

Other lots to achieve high sums included a rare 1959 American racing car. Despite failing to reach the lower end of its £80-110,000 estimate, the Bocar XP-5 found a new home for £79,240.

Mercedes-Benz models fared well, too, at Historics’ Brooklands sale.

With an odometer reading of just 2119 miles, perhaps it’s of little surprise that lot 187, a glamorous, pampered 1957 Mercedes-Benz 220S Cabriolet, smashed its £56-65,000 estimate to reach £73,580 when the gavel fell.

Likewise, a 1968 280SL Pagoda imported from America and with a sub-15,000 mileage crept over its upper estimate of £55,000 to sell for £56,000.

(l-r) Ford Model T fire truck and Zagato Zele

Away from the auction’s bigger-money lots were a few that caught our eye.

In Zagato’s centenary year, it was interesting to see the 1974 Zagato Zele consigned to Saturday’s sale. A small electric car, it’d had one owner from new and covered a mere 154 miles – and it sold for £10,080 (estimate: £9-12,000).

And you’d be hard-pushed to miss the 1925 Ford Model T Fire Truck in New York Fire Department livery offered with no reserve that fetched £10,080.

Or how about the Aston Martin DB5 bar? Yes, you read that right. A full-size, fibreglass recreation of a DB5’s front, it has seats for two, working head- and side-lights, and storage for six champagne flutes, four bottles and an ice bucket; it found a new home for £5600, exceeding its £3-4000 estimate.

Check out the full results from Historics’ Brooklands Motor Museum sale on 13 July here.

Zagato at 100: 22 striking designs you’ll love or hate

Buyer’s guide: Porsche 911 (964)

Is this the rarest Aston that will be sold this year?