[ CHASING CARS ] Nigel Boothman’s market analysis
NEC Restoration show sale reveals where the current heat in the market lies
Hot hatches such as this Escort RS Turbo have charged ahead in recent sales
Exciting results for one sector of the classic car market brought welcome relief this spring. The major classic shows at the Birmingham NEC have been the site of startling prices achieved for fast Fords in recent years, but at March’s Practical Classics Restoration Show sale by Iconic, the fever spread to other hot hatch boy-racer bait.
Ford still led the way, an immaculate 1989 Escort RS Turbo with 5600 miles breaking the £50,000 mark to sell for £50,625. Equally impressive in their own way were results for a perfectly restored 1990 VW Golf GTI 16v (£37,687), a 1988 Fiat Uno Turbo i.e. (£30,375), a 1994 Renault Clio Williams (£25,312) and a 1985 Fiat Strada Abarth 130TC (£20,250). This new jump seems to be more than an excitable day of bidding in a busy, car-show environment – Mathewsons’ £20,100 for a 16,700-mile Ford Fiesta MkII XR2, taken online, was typical of smaller sales.
What’s striking about this boom is how picky buyers seem to be. While 100-point restorations or micro-mileage survivors can set new records, decent cars with average mileages and several owners are often ignored. Also less favoured are barn finds, though the £6525 paid at the NEC for a 1991 Golf GTI 8v off the road since 2009 with 130,000 miles, points to an increasingly keen interest in classic hot hatches at all price points.
Market indicators
Ascending French fastbacks and Ford supercars, a cheap Porsche, and super expensive Sixties sports cars
1978 Citroën CX 2400 GTi, €33,796 (£28,496)
Aguttes, Paris spring sale, 16 March
If there was any doubt that the CX is following in the footsteps of the DS, it was dispelled by Aguttes’ Vente du Printemps in Paris that saw this sleek orange missile hit almost double our guide price for a concours example, while a long-wheelbase Prestige model with the same engine made a healthy £19,890. There are fewer CXs to choose from than the DS, and ideas of picking up cheap survivors in France have evaporated.
2005 Ford GT, $605,000 (£461k)
Mecum, Glendale, USA, 22 March
First-generation 2004-2006 Ford GTs should be seeing values drop ever since the second-gen cars arrived in 2016, but oddly they’re not – they’re even being pulled up a bit as the older, more credible blood-and-thunder V8 machine. Re-importing these cars to US still dodges the 25 percent tariff when a Euro-built exotic of the same age would not, so while the market can be US-led, it is truly international.
1982 Porsche 911SC Sport, £37,125
Iconic, NEC Restoration Show, 23 March
A low blip in a successful sale or a sign that the big money in Porsche circles goes on either newer, more potent models or the older alltime classics? Actually, just a tiny crisis in the paperwork. It came up as a Cat D insurance loss, having never shown up before on previous HPI checks. If you could overlook this possibly irrelevant mystery, it seemed a good car – kidney bowls sorted, great spec – well bought.
1969 Alfa 1750GTV, CHF67,200 (£59,649)
Oldtimer Galerie, Toffen, 22 March
Sixty grand for a 1750GTV? To some people, it’s the best of all Giulia Sprint GTs if we’re not including the race-bred GTA, but that’s still almost 50 percent over top whack for a concours car in the UK. Yes, the Swiss pay well for what they want, but the market is Europe-wide, and this might suggest that accessible exotica – if that’s not a contradiction – has never been more attractive.
1963 Triumph TR4, £54,992
Brightwells, Herefordshire, 2 April
This TR4 was sold with the transferrable number plate ‘TR 4’. The car was good, with an excellent history, regular use and care, worth £20,000 on its own. How much the plate added was anyone’s guess – £50,000? In the event, a lesser but still a healthy £35k. Would car and plate have returned more profit if separated? Maybe, but they’ve been together a long time and may now stay that way.
Dino 206GT records smashed on Bring a Trailer
On 27 March the online auction site Bring a Trailer took a winning bid for a 1968 Ferrari Dino 206GT in the fabulous period colour of Nocciola, or hazelnut, of $1,001,000, (£774,400). This is thought to be a new record for the model. Two months earlier, it took exactly $1m (£773,640) for another immaculate 206GT, in metallic blue.
While the big-money results were once startling, like an amazing $803,000 (£621k) taken by Gooding & Co back in 2015, they have plateaued around £450k-£600k in recent years. As the Dino 246 has since caught up, the 206GT is reasserting itself. Only 152 206GTs were made, versus more than 3500 246s. This, plus the subtly different shape, the aluminium bodywork, a shorter wheelbase and almost 200kg less mass contributes to desirability.
There were still three bidders involved at the $900,000 mark and five at $850,000, so this result wasn’t simply a freak contest between two determined parties. The Canadian vendor, Silver Arrow Cars of Victoria, BC, had such confidence in this perfectly restored car that it was offered with no reserve. Where next for these little gems?
Treat on a budget – 1967 Saab 96 V4, £3600
These early 96 V4s shared their looks with the last of the long-nose two-strokes until rectangular headlamps and a larger windscreen appeared during 1969. There’s kudos in the two-stroke lookalike status and especially when teamed with a modest Sixties colour scheme such as the storm-cloud grey paint and pretty cream-and cloth interior on this particular car.
Apparently owned and loved by an enthusiast who had used it regularly for 15 years, the car had some subtly sporting upgrades of the kind Saab 96 fans appreciate fitted by its owner – lead-free cylinder heads, Weber 28/36 carburettor and sports exhaust. There are also adjustable dampers, an electric fan, electronic ignition, a tachometer, and oil pressure gauges. It must feel as fit as a flea.
It was driven 100 miles to Mathewsons’ 12 March sale, but why no higher price? There was some bodywork to sort, but nothing that would stop you enjoying the car for the summer before tackling that next winter. Practical, characterful and highly enjoyable.
PRICE GUIDE MOVERS
On the up
There’s still plenty of life at the affordable end of the classic market
On the Slide
Biggest drops for Fifties and Sixties machines, steady falls for inter-war cars
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