ACA and H&H: The Sweet Taste of a Deal
26 April 2025 5 min read 10 images
Photo credit: ACA, H&H
What could be better than those auctions we like so much? The ones where the little devil in us tends to get the upper hand? We are in England, needless to say, at ACA and H&H.
In fact the £6,339 average price for one of the 258 cars sold by ACA (there were 301 bids, so 85.71% found a new home) is half that of a new small hatchback - and maybe not even half!
To conclude ACA's other numbers: the estimated value was £1,665,250 and the adjudication was almost identical, £1,635,643, with almost a third of the cars offered without reserve, 98 or 32.56%.
Just three days later on 5-6 April, the 9th at Duxford was H&H which also had a more structured offer. The 140 cars on the day made a total of £3,881,000 (about £27,000 each) but when the dust settled and the thrill was over there were far fewer changes of hands: 76 (about 54.29%). The adjudication was also about half £1,569,892 and the average price thus settled at £20,656, but it must be known that there were very few cars without reserve, just 17. And this affects.
Clearly the top lot of the week could only come from H&H, because at the top it placed a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 190SL Roadster. Presented just the year before, this is one of the rare examples that can also be entered in the famous Mille Miglia and the excellent colour combination, silver with blue interior (but it was originally white with black interior), left-hand drive and good overall condition made it a very interesting lot. It sold for half the estimate of £70,000-90,000, with a final price of £81,000.
ACA needed much less to take home the most expensive car in the enchantment, the 1959 Jaguar XK150 FHC, one of the last examples with the 3.4 engine. Restored in the late 1980s, it had been used for tours in Europe and the US and had been idle for a couple of years. The scope for major work was there because the estimate was £35,000-40,000 but one enthusiast did not hesitate to pay £42,660 for it.
Perhaps more curious, certainly more performance-oriented was the second lot in the auction, a rare Noble M12 GTO-3R. Here it was the technical specifications that counted and so the 3R was the most powerful version of the M12 and thanks to its 3-litre Ford Duratec was able to develop 352 hp and propel this sports car to almost 300 km/h. It is therefore no coincidence that the previous owner took this example to the 2005 Gumball 3000. The current owner took it in 2010 and used it for about 3000 miles, then, probably due to lack of use, decided to sell it. Again the final bid exceeded the maximum estimate, albeit by a small margin: at £36,000-42,000 it closed at £42,120.
The 1995 Aston Martin DB7 from H&H didn't cost much less. OK, as you may have guessed it's no ordinary Aston Martin DB7 because they're usually found for much less but this example was worth every extra pound. Firstly because it belonged to the King of Pop, Sir Elton John. Plus it was in fantastic condition, just 14,500 miles and always pampered. Finally, because finding a first series DB7 with a manual gearbox is a real unicorn. Two others were up for auction, a 1999 Vantage sold for £7,312 while a 1996 Coupe in perfect condition fetched £9,562. But this example was different and the market recognised this because, despite the estimate being three times as high (£23,000-27,000) it fetched £39,375, the second most expensive Aston Martin DB7 since it went out of production. Elton effect, to be believed.
It was ACA that set the new record for a Ford Fiesta XR2. Lacking the final “i”, this carburettor version could only be a first series and this 1983 example must have been a hoot to drive. What's more, only 17,500 miles with predictably perfect condition. Plus it had the owner's manual, still sealed service booklet, various brochures, all revisions, basically you couldn't ask for more. Estimated at £14,000-16,000 it went for £13,284, a record.
Also from ACA, one of my choices of the weekend, a 1982 Morgan 4/4 Two Seater, a quintessential example of English aplomb: it's not fast, it's not luxurious, it's not exotic ... it's classic. Earning it, everyone recognises her elegant eccentricity without ever slipping into exhibitionism. The estimate was £7,000-9,000, the adjudication £10,908 with the wish that the many wooden elements that are part of these romantic models had not caught too much moisture...
Looking for something more historical, my choice would probably have fallen on H&H's Lancia Belna Saloon. Year 1935 it was in two shades of blue, the upper part darker and the lower part lighter. The model, however, is very interesting because it tells so many things: for one thing the “real” name of this one was not Belna but Augusta. To be topical... Lancia had started production in France and avoided names associated with ancient Rome, which were too closely linked to Italian nationalism for the French. Second curiosity: what are known as “platforms” already existed in the 1930s. In fact, when the Lancia Lambda retired at the end of the 1920s, it was replaced by no less than three models: the Augusta, the more important Artena and, at the top of the range, the Astura. Basically the Artena, the one in the middle, had the bodywork of the big Astura and the engine of the small Augusta, in practice from two models they created three. Back to us: how much did the Augusta nicknamed Belna cost? Not much, £8,560, far less than the estimated £11,000-13,000.
But the diamond in the rough, the one that nobody seemed to notice was a 2001 Mini Cooper offered by ACA. The year should jump out at you because the “new” Mini was unveiled in July 2001 and in the same month this example was registered. It was the 37th Mini Cooper produced and when new it was a demonstration car for a BMW dealer. Then it became a regular car, with six other owners, over 92,500 miles and for the past six years it had been sitting idle and in need of a major overhaul. Offered without reserve it was sold for £1,760. Considering that next year will be 25 years since the introduction of the new class, being able to show off a Mini Cooper from the first month, probably a pre-production, is not for everyone. The budget alone was really for everyone!
SUPERMIND TRIVIA