BUMPER CROWD ATTENDS H&H’S INAUGURAL DONINGTON PARK AUCTION

BUMPER CROWD ATTENDS H&H’S INAUGURAL DONINGTON PARK AUCTION

With plenty of free parking and a generously sized exhibition centre - appropriately named The Engine Room - the famous East Midlands circuit was easily able to accommodate the masses that descended upon it for yesterday’s inaugural H&H Classics sale which at its peak numbered close to 1,000 people.

Bidding was also impressive with 91% of the motorcycles and 76% of the motorcars finding new homes with several provisional sales still pending.

Feedback from both new and existing clients was overwhelmingly positive and H&H will be returning to Donington Park on May 18^th, July 28^th and November 16^th this year. As a Generalist Auction it was aimed at the more accessible / affordable end of the market and so open to a broad spectrum of entries including future classics.

Proof that interesting motorcars need not be expensive, Lot 1 – a c.1939 Morgan 4-4 restoration project – attracted a huge amount of interest. Offered for sale at no reserve, it drew a flurry of bids and eventually made £6,048. Most probably unique in having being owned by three Members of Parliament who all hailed from the same family, the 1959 Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire was driven to the auction direct from the House of Commons and comfortably surpassed its guide price by fetching £10,640.

In need of refurbishment, the c.1933 BSA Three-Wheeler Twin intrigued many but is now bound for Europe at £7,280. Strong interest was shown in the 1959 Triumph TR3A, 1965 Triumph TR4A IRS and 1980 Land Rover Series III that commanded £22,400, £20,720 and £11,312 respectively. A pair of left-hand drive Alfa Romeos offered for sale at no reserve were eagerly contested too with the 1991 Spider 2.0 S4 Automatic making £7,504 and the 1984 GTV 2.0 drawing £6,944.

The majority of the motorcycles on offer hailed from a Spanish collection with a trials bias. Thus, strong performers included a 1974 Ossa Mick Andrews Replica 250 (£2,240), 1975 Bultaco Lobito Mk8 (£1,859) and 1970s Montesa Enduro H 125 (£1,736). Though, a 1968 BSA D14/4 Bantam that had been family owned for 40 years had more than its fair share of admirers and took £1,512.

H&H’s next auction will be a Specialist Sale held at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford on April 20^th and is currently headlined by one of the very first competition Jaguar E-types – chassis 0007 – and a special order 1954 Lagonda 3 Litre Drophead Coupe that was supplied new to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.