[ CHASING CARS ] Quentin Willson’s hot tips
Aston Martin DB6 price reset continues and restorations don’t add up
Have Aston DB6 values plateaued yet? Over the last few years auction hammer prices have tumbled, depressed by a flow of indifferent DB6s coming out of a large, dispersed UAE collection, most with lost histories and needing work after decades in storage. Last year one of those cars, an older restoration 1970 auto on static display for 14 years, made £132,500 – a low point for a together, but needing major recommissioning, DB6. Or so we thought.
But this April, Bonhams sold a similar, but much better, 1970 MkII automatic in Silver Birch with blue leather, factory converted to Vantage spec in period for just £155,250. ARP 363J had a long and detailed history back to 1975, only four previous owners, and bills for an older chassis/sill restoration and engine and gearbox rebuilds. A regularly used, patinated DB6, needing light fettling.
‘So, what we can glean from the sort of price swings we normally see in the stock market?’
Then, later in April, Mathewsons sold a 1969 MkII manual, unrestored but beautifully mint and original with ‘extensive history’ and a sheaf of previous MoTs for £200,000. SVJ 342H had never been taken apart, just conscientiously maintained and cherished and looked absolutely stunning. And just to remind us how DB6 values have softened, back in the palmy days of 2015, Bonhams sold a similar MkII 1970 Silver Birch auto that wasn’t nearly as nice or with such a comprehensive history as the Mathewsons’ stunner, for £281,500. Ouch.
So, what we can glean from the sort of price swings we normally see in the stock market? Project DB6s needing £150k restos just don’t make sense anymore. At auction, faded but running older restoration autos need to be around £120k-£140k. Nice and well-maintained manuals requiring gentle freshening should be about £160k. And mint manual examples in really superlative condition with history need to be £200k-£240k. Add another £30k if it’s a proper factory Vantage, deduct £10k for automatics and then understand that dealer prices – there are lots of DB6s with the trade – will be higher. Oh, and Volante convertibles are still strong money. Fingers crossed these prices don’t fall further.
A tough choice – Mercedes-Benz SL55 or SL63 AMG?
Here’s a dilemma. Do you buy a really nice, early 2000s, low mileage Mercedes R230 SL55 AMG for around £20k or an equally fine 2013 R231 SL63 for a couple of grand more? In April, H&H sold a lovely Obsidian Black 2003 SL55 with 36,000 miles and one owner for £19,969. But on the Collecting Cars website, a Tenorite Grey, three-owner, 52,000 mile, 2013 SL63 with ten stamps made £22,968.
A generation apart, both have glorious rumbling AMG V8s, and one is a neo-classic, the other a modern supercar. I’m lucky to have owned both models and remember them as similarly urgent. The 63 is refined, poised, full of standard kit and never stops accelerating. The 55 on the other hand is raw, fierce and noisy so feels much faster – although it’s not. I’ve visited France in both, and in the 63 I felt as fresh as a daisy, but in the 55 I needed earplugs and a lie down. And that’s the difference. Technological refinement versus loud, old-school brawn. As the price graphs of these two SLs cross, modern buyers will have to face this tantalising choice.
Being brutally practical, it would have to be the later SL because it would likely be more reliable than the R230 that came with plenty of glitches – not least its tricksy folding roof. By the time Mercedes fielded the SL63 (and 65) most of the electrical issues were sorted. But it wouldn’t attract as much attention or make as much noise as the gloriously full-throated SL55. One thing’s definite though – that we have the opportunity to choose between such magnificent Mercs for £20k should make us all burst out cheering.
Golf MkI convertibles of all types taken more seriously
First and second-gen VW Golf GTIs are hot. These days £25k isn’t unusual for well restored or original specimens – especially Campaign MkIs and mint 16-valve MkIIs. Now it looks like values of the convertibles are climbing too. In April, a last-of-the-line special edition 1992 Rivage sold on Collecting Cars for £22,001 – one of the highest auction bids ever for a MkI Golf GTI soft-top.
And it was lovely. With 27,000 miles, two owners – the last for 32 years – and one of only 470 UK-sold Rivages, in rare Classic Green with beige leather and a power roof. Given its spec, colour combo and time warp nick, I’d say this was on the cheap side as finding another Rivage in such preservation class condition for that money would take some doing. J375 PDD was original and unmodified, wearing its first paint and sporting its factory Rivage stickers on both rear wings, there were only minor paint chips and a couple of finger-tip parking dents to sort.
For market context, there’s another – 1991 – Rivage for sale with a dealer in Hampshire for a fiver under £40,000 with 16,000 miles, so we know the trade has spotted the latent potential. We should expect more price rises. Consider any sensible mileage, proper MkI Golf cabriolet as a very safe bet. These are handsome, reliable, easy to own, drive, maintain and insure, modern classics that are looking increasingly charismatic. Start looking now because the few cheap decent cars still out there will get snapped up. We arrogant blokes used to haughtily dismiss them as girlie Golf glamwagens. How wrong we were.
ASK QUENTIN
Not sure whether now’s the right time to buy, sell or hang onto that classic?
Sell my spicy DB6 now or later?
I have a beautiful 1969 Aston Martin DB6 Vantage in Silver Birch with only two previous owners, the second for 31 years, and I’ve owned and pampered it for 18 years. It had a 4.2-litre RS Williams engine upgrade completed in 2021, under 6000 miles ago. Having just turned 80, I need to change to a more sedate ‘old boys automatic cruiser’. Since I had it valued in 2023 at £375,00-£400,000, prices seem to have dropped substantially – the Classic Cars Price Guide from June 2025 shows £355,000 for a top notch one but auction results I’ve seen are much lower. Should I bite the bullet now or hang on for a couple of years?
Neil Kiley
DB6 values have fallen substantially since 2015 – like the rest of the market – but they were hyped to such a level that in some cases the decline in value has been as much as £100k. But yours sounds lovely, and as a factory manual Vantage with only two owners and an RSW upgrade, it’s definitely special. For context, a mint unrestored but perfect, non-Vantage manual MkII DB6 was recently sold for £200k at auction. So, I’d see yours at between £230k and £250k at auction, perhaps £275k in a private sale. I can’t see prices coming back to previous levels, so I’d sell now. Since you bought it 18 years ago, I hope you’ll still see a decent profit, not to mention the joy of owning such a fabulous Aston for so long.
Quentin Willson
Future values for 928 and 840?
Any thoughts on whether a Porsche 928 or BMW 840 would be a better bet to invest in as a modern classic that’s likely to appreciate?
Neil Tyler
Neither the 928 or 840 are likely to rise in price significantly, unless they’re ultra-low mileage and time-warp perfect. Prices of both are pretty flat right now. I’d suggest a BMW 850 with the V12, and for investment, the CSi manual. I’ve just tipped the six-speed version as a rising star Smart Buy – Classic Cars, June 2025 – because it was made in very limited numbers and uses a similar engine to the McLaren F1. Prices are climbing fast but there are still a few being advertised at between £45k and £55k. Others are up at £100k. You’d better be quick. If you do bag one, tell us all about it. And good luck!
Quentin Willson
Got a question about buying or selling a classic? Email classic.cars@bauermedia.co.uk with Ask Quentin in the subject line.
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