Barons pulls off a Christmas cracker of a sale
Despite the freezing weather and record snowfalls over the preceding few days, Barons managed to host a cracking Yuletide Sale at Sandown Park on December 7th.
It may have been icy outside, but things soon warmed up in the saleroom, as 44 cars found new owners just in time for Christmas. It was difficult to pick a star lot, as there were some beautiful machines on offer but the highest price was paid for the magnificent 1959 Aston Martin DB MKIII DHC. This elegant car has been in the ownership of one family since it was just three months old, and sold for £175,500.
Somewhat further down the price scale, but equally notable, was the ‘time warp’ 1970 MkI Ford Escort Delux, which has covered just 2,600 miles in 40 years. It definitely caught buyers’ imaginations, and, at £8,950, achieved well over double its estimate.
Another DB MKIII – this time a restoration project, offered as a rolling shell with a number of boxes containing the removed parts - made a very decent £70,000, and the 1935 SS1 Tourer achieved £78,250.
“Our Yuletide Sale is always popular, and I know that at least a couple of the lots are destined to be surprise Christmas presents for some very lucky enthusiasts. The result shows that not even the worst of the weather can keep buyers away if the cars on offer are attractive enough,” said Barons’ MD, Laurence Sayers-Gillan.
“Of course, there must be cars there to buy, and our decision to open the Surrey Hall a day early proved a good one. Just one entry was withdrawn, in spite of the snow and ice, and we thank those vendors who brought their cars on the Sunday, thus avoiding the rush on Monday morning. With 65% of the cars on offer sold, this was an excellent result and brings 2010 to very healthy close.”
To round the year off in style, Barons has receive its own Christmas present – it has been awarded the Octane Magazine ‘2010 Auction Car of the Year’ award for the ‘lost’, ex-David Brown Aston Martin DBMKIII DHC that it sold in September. After languishing under a tarpaulin, on an open trailer, for 32 years, this very special piece of Aston Martin history sold at Barons for £207,000.
Barons’ next sale is its Classic, Historic and Sports Car auction, at Sandown Park on February 8th 2011. For further information or to consign a car to this sale, visit barons-auctions.com.
