Iconic: Surviving the Hurricane
02 March 2024 3 min read 9 images
Photo credit: Iconic Auctioneers
The big news of the weekend was the cancellation of The ICE concours in St. Moritz due to heavy snowfall and the Race Retro show in Stoneleigh Park as a result of heavy rainfall. In order to save the day, Iconic moved everything 250 kilometers away, to the Silverstone circuit, thereby losing the attraction of a major event with curious spectators and potential bidders. And for sure, many participants.
As a result, the numbers look ruthless: The forecast of 116 cars and £7,148,000 before the auction turned into 58 cars (50 per cent) and £3,638,414, about half of last year's turnovers. The average price also suffered: £ 62,732. Fortunately, determined bidders were there and in fact almost all the top lots were sold.
At the top of the sale were a couple of interesting rally cars: The most expensive was a 2007 Ford Focus M-Sport that competed in the WRC. From the Stobart VK team, Carlo Cassina, paired with Valentino Rossi in the Welsh Rallye with the famous race number 46, achieved an excellent 12th place overall. Restored in 2022, estimated at a cool £340,000 to £380,000, with Valentino Rossi's name on it, it reached £343,125.
In second place was another old WRC legend, a 2003 Skoda Fabia. Of the 24 ex-officials produced, this one debuted at Rally Australia with Didier Auriol and finished the season with Jan Kapecky at the 2003 Rally Spain. In 2020 it was brought back to RMC Motorsport who restored it to its former glory by configuring it with asphalt specifications as in the 2003 Rally D'Italia. With a bigger palmares than the Focus, however, it was penalized by being a little older and valued at £240,000 and £280,000. The price tag was convincing: £258,750.
For exactly the same amount of money, you could buy a 1987 BMW M3 customized by Redux with an engine boosted to 300 hp, carbon fibre bodywork and personalized interior as well as wheels. The price was high but it sold for £258,750 exceeding the most optimistic expectations of £200,000-250,000.
Even better for the M3 Redux's granddaughter, the much better-known M3 CSL. These three magic letters were introduced with the E46 series on offer but the model in the auction was even more magical. In the hands of just one person it had covered merely 947 miles and was in incredible condition. In addition, it had never suffered deterioration due to long periods of inactivity because it was used at a regular basis. The estimate of £120,000-140,000 was more than justified and therefore the £136,125 paid (the second most expensive M3 CSL ever sold) does come as a surprise at all.
Another car that did very well was the Peugeot 205 1.9 GTI with only 6333 miles. It was up for auction at £40,000-50,000 and sold for £42,500.
The Talbot-Sunbeam Lotus from 1982 set a world record. It was owned by footballer Victor Kebble (ex-West Ham), who, however, only kept it until mid-1983. With 58,000 miles it wasn't exactly the freshest model on the market so the £35,000-40,000 could even be considered slightly over the top but instead it finished at £56,250, breaking a new record.
The next auction highlight we could call the curious case of the two Defenders. On the one hand, there is the old Defender, a 2015 110 Series Heritage Edition. On the other hand, a new Defender 110 5.0 V8 from 2021. The old, greenish Defender was owned by Rowan Atkinson, better known as Mr Bean, the English comedian and passionate collector. The black Defender 110 5.0 V8, on the other hand, was a limited James Bond edition, produced to celebrate No Time to Die in which the new Defender starred. The estimates were very different: £65,000-80,000 for the 2015 one and £160,000-175,000 for the 2021 one. So how did it turn out? The James Bond one remained unsold while the Mr. Bean one exceeded the maximum estimate at £83,250.
The bargain of the day was undoubtedly the 1963 Morris Mini MkI. Admittedly, it was not one of the peppered John Cooper versions but rather a modest 848cc. Sure, it needed some work but one must consider that it had been restored in the 1990s. The estimate of £7,000-10,000 was already generous but £4,500 is definitely low, too low!
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