The first Silverstone Auctions sale of 2023, held last weekend at Reis Race Retro in Warwickshire, was packed with fans, buyers, and enthusiasts, some very special cars, and six world record hammer prices.
A trio of fast Fords made the running at the Silverstone Auctions sale on Saturday. A Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 sold for £596,250, one of six new world records set at the sale, as a result of a bidding war between an online bidder in Dubai and one in the UK.
The previous world record figure paid for a Ford Sierra Cosworth at auction was £132,750 last year. The winning bid for this car – registration ‘E378 TKN’ – is 30 times its 1987 original showroom price of £19,950, and over 4 times the previous record. The auction house described it as ‘perhaps the finest example of the rare Sierra Cosworth RS500 to survive today’.
Other world records set included a Ford Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth 4×4 which made £109,125, smashing its £50,000 estimate and a Ford GT beat its estimate to sell for £265,500.
The Emma Peel Avengers Lotus Elan from the 100% sold Piddington Collection made £164,250, setting another new world record.
After filming Series 5 and 6 of the Avengers, the Television Company gave this super little S3 Drophead to Diana Rigg who played Emma Peel in 51 episodes of the long-running British TV series.
More world records were set with the HRH Duke Edinburgh Land Rover 110 which received much pre-sale publicity around the world. It sold for £123,750.
Previously used by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and like all the Duke’s Land Rovers, it was built to his individual specification and this example is no exception. The sale price exceeded the estimated £50,000 – £70,000.
Lot 456 the ‘Jochen Rindt’ Lotus ElanS4 FHC sold for £65,250, Lot 438, a 2000 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R V-Spec Tommykaira R-S sold for an undisclosed sum and sixth world record set was Lot 504 a 1990 Ford Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth 4×4 which sold for £109,225.
This Lotus Elan S4 Coupé is particularly special as it was presented to Jochen Rindt by Colin Chapman at Hockenheim in August 1970 after his win in the Lotus 72 at that year’s German Grand Prix. It was to be his final win prior to his untimely death at Monza a few weeks later.
Rob Hubbard, Silverstone Auctions Sales Director, commented: “I was delighted with the auction results today. The team presented a superb catalogue of collectors’ cars, which with global advertising, achieved some fantastic results and three new world records. With 49% of the bidders in the room, 21% on the phone, 30% online there was a fantastic atmosphere in the room and some fierce bidding. Bidders joined us remotely from 12 countries including Singapore, Dubai, and Switzerland. Our successes with ‘Performance Fords’ and cars with Royal provenance firmly cement our ownership of these market sectors and show that there is no better way to sell your car than at a physical auction with the UK Market Leading auction house.”
Find more info:Silverstone Auctions.
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