Dorset Vintage and Classic Auctions Spring Sale

The Spring Sale of Dorset Vintage and Classic Auctions was hailed as a resounding success, with some 800 people attending the sale held at The Gartell Light Railway, Yenston, near Templecombe, in Somerset on the 26th March. Brian Chant, proprietor of the Stalbridge based auction house, reported that seventy five percent of the historic vehicles, which ranged from early vintage to modern classics, sold successfully.

Notable results included the beautifully restored 1923 Maxwell 23hp five seat Tourer which was sold on the telephone to a buyer in London for £14,850. By contrast, a 1961 Mercedes 190SL complete with rare hardtop and right hand drive was sold to a buyer in the marquee for £30,800, and an Alvis TD21 Series 1 Auto of 1962 vintage made £10,450. American classic automobile enthusiasts witnessed an outstanding 1940 Buick Series 40 Special Business Coupe achieve £10,120.

Interestingly, a rusty 1973 barn-find Iso Lele GT, minus it's Ford V8 engine and automatic gearbox, sold for £1,980 to a brave Essex Iso fan who intends to restore the classic to it's former retro glory.

One of the several pleasing stories to emerge from the auction sale was that of the 1931 Bean 14hp Lorry which achieved £5,940. The new custodian is a brewery in Dudley, not three miles from where the Bean was 'born'. Inspired by the fact that a similar Bean was originally in the brewery fleet, their intention is to repaint the lorry in the brewery livery and use it to promote the business as well as loaning it to the Black Country Museum.

Other sales included a 1931 Morris Cowley Coupe, a Jaguar Mk II 3.8, several MGB's and Morris Minors, a 1946 Wolseley 14/60 from the Channel Islands, a rare Wolseley Eight and other commercials, motorcycles and five hundred lots of automobilia and memorabilia.

The next Dorset Vintage and Classic Auctions sale is to be held on the 25th June; entries are now being invited.