H&H enjoys another £1m plus Buxton sale

The sun shone and the bidders flocked to yesterday’s H&H sale at Buxton, Derbyshire, at which 80% of the lots sold and many of the cars made way over their estimate.

Among them was the star car, a time warp, ‘barn find’ 1939 Lagonda V12 Drophead Coupe that had not turned a wheel for some 40 years, until dragged from its hiding place for entry in the auction. H&H’s much-vaunted marketing machine had worked its magic and the car was hard fought over until the hammer finally fell at just under £82,000 – over double the lower estimate!

The stunning silver Bentley 4.25-litre Vanden Plas-style Tourer eventually sold for a shade under £95,000 – a figure equivalent to the car’s top estimate. A magnificent 1998 Aston Martin V8 Vantage finished in midnight blue – once the property of the former Burton Group Chairman, Sir Ralph Halpern – found a new home for £66,650 – again, far more than had been estimated.

Two superb Jaguar E-Types had been entered for the auction, both of which made excellent money – as predicted. The black 1965 4.2-litre Fixed Head Coupe realised £38,700, while the very rare 1961 Flat Floor 3.8-litre Roadster netted in excess of £50,500. The pretty 1933 Lagonda 3.5-litre Pillarless Saloon finished in grey over silver was bang on the money at £32,250.

The 1968 works-prepared Hillman Hunter Rally Car entered by JCB fetched nearly £27,500 – almost twice its lower estimate. This was especially good news for the NSPCC, to whom the proceeds are being donated.

The nicely presented blue 1982 Rolls-Royce Corniche Coupe – once the property of Kenny Baker, best known as the man inside the popular Star Wars character, R2 D2 – fetched a touch more than expected at just over £14,500.

Said H&H’s Simon Hope, "None of our competitors can generally match the 80% sale rate that we regularly achieve, and managed again this week. Moreover, few ever achieve it with sales of such magnitude – in this case, one of almost 100 cars: among which was something for everyone."