Thousands of horsepower come under the hammer at Kempton Park Racecourse

Some notable results were achieved at H&H’s first ever auction at Kempton Park Racecourse yesterday (October 18). The sale totalled in excess of £0.5million.

Since achieving a world record price for one of the 1934 Lagonda M45 team cars last year, H&H has become something of a specialist in this traditional English marque, and a stunning LG45 Drophead Coupe was the star of this auction. It readily sold within estimate at just over £70,000.

The supremely elegant Gill-bodied 1932 Rolls-Royce 20/25HP Allweather Convertible that had been the subject of extensive restoration was also bang on the money at just under £52,000.

Classic V12 Ferraris are on the up and the superb 1969 365 GT 2+2, once the property of Lord Brocket, was particularly special in having covered just 15,000 miles from new. Not surprisingly it achieved an excellent price of £44,000.

There is always a home for a good XK Jaguar and the deep blue 1955 XK140 SE Roadster was close to perfect in every way and drew strong bidding from the room and the telephone before being knocked down for nearly £41,000.

Among the competition cars for sale was a very rare 1948 Connaught L2 Sports Racer that was purchased by a Hong Kong-based collector for £32,000. The pretty 1959 Stanguellini Formula Junior single-seater, resplendent in Italian racing red, sold for way over its top estimate at in excess of £23,000, while the 1959 Triumph TR3A featured on the sale’s catalogue cover returned almost £20,000 – the same figure achieved by the 1964 Gordon Keeble GK1.

Perhaps it’s just as well that cars cannot talk, but even without that facility the 1994 Audi RS2 in the sale was known to have enjoyed a colourful past. Stolen before it was even registered, it became the getaway vehicle for a gang of high-tech thieves. Subsequently restored by the supplying dealer, it was now offered almost as new with just 5,624 miles on the clock. It was knocked down for just over £14,000.

Pricey paperwork
Automotive literature once again stole the show at the earlier automobilia sale. For example, a selection of Motor Sport Racing Car Reviews fetched almost £250 against an estimate of £30-50 and a charming BSA Scout showroom poster made £112 - over double its lower estimate. Child cars always stir the passion and the breathtaking ½ scale, Honda-powered replica of a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL found a new home for a shade under £1,700.

The next H&H car and automobilia sale, the last of the year will be at Buxton on November 21/22. This will be preceded by the company’s last motorcycle, bicycle and motobilia sale of 2006, which will take place at the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull on November 4.