H&H achieves £286,000 for Lotus 72 at Kempton Park sale

Having previously established records for the Lotus 25 and 49, on July 25, H&H set a new one for the 72. Widely regarded as one of the prettiest Grand Prix cars of all time, the 72 was the model that carried Austrian Jochen Rindt to his posthumous victory in the 1970 World Drivers’ Championship. The example on offer was the sister Works car of John Miles, that was later raced by Graham Hill before passing through the hands of such other Grand Prix greats as Jo Siffert and Emerson Fittipaldi. Now ripe for restoration, the single-seater was sold for £286,000 to a European collector who fully intends to return it to the track.

The sale was memorable for its selection of highly desirable competition cars, and the breathtaking 1939 Lagonda V12 Le Mans Recreation built by marque specialists LMB Racing had been extensively campaigned throughout Europe and sold on the money for £154,000. The stunningly original ‘Verde Chiaro’ 1976 Lancia Stratos, previously the property of rally stalwart Don Pither, found a new home for £97,900.

The ex-Victor Gauntlett 1948 Bentley MK VI Special boasts a supercharged 4.9-litre engine and is known to be extremely rapid. After much frantic bidding, this totally unique sports two-seater returned £79,200 - way above even its top estimate. The very pretty, one-off Tojeiro-Butterworth AJB Sports-Racer commissioned by Major Ronald Palmer in 1954 also surpassed expectations by fetching £42,350 (despite strong British interest the Tojeiro was finally acquired by a Californian telephone bidder), while the tidy 1934 red MG PA Single-Seat Racer was knocked down for £31,900.

Notable results among the various vintage road cars on offer included that for the 1921 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost that had been acquired for but never starred in the film Lawrence of Arabia - it made £78,100 - while the extraordinary 1926 Hispano Suiza H6B Landaulet known in Hispano circles as ‘Peter’s Folly’ was purchased for £67,650.

The low mileage yellow 1972 Jaguar E-Type V12 Roadster made a very healthy £32,450, while the superb 1960 Austin-Healey 3000 MK1 that had been the subject of a 7,000 hour restoration programme fetched £29,700 – an excellent price for any road-going Healey. The rare (only 193 were produced) and nicely presented 1959 Jensen 541R took longer to sell than any other lot – so strong was the interest and so determined the bidding. The hammer finally fell at £26,125.

Historic motorsport images fly in automobilia sale

Some excellent prices were also obtained in the earlier automobilia sale. The original oil-on-canvas portrait of Ayrton Senna by Craig Warwick fetched £5,625. Period motorsport photos proved as popular as ever, with the collection of Jim Clark images making well above estimate at £900 and an album of motor racing photos and programmes returning £731 against an estimate of £100-150. Following the feature on die-cast models in the last issue of H&H’s newsletter Classic Times, most of the models on offer made top estimate or above.

The next H&H sale will take place at The Imperial War Museum Duxford on October 9/10 and already includes an ultra-rare 1938 Autovia Sports Saloon that has been in its current ownership since 1963 (total Autovia production has been estimated at just 35 cars). Further information on all H&H sales is available at classic-auctions.com.