If you were logged into the live auction feed from Burns & Co on the evening of November 11, you may have missed the drama unfolding not far away on the Trading Garage website.
There, multiple bidders battled for over an hour for the right to own two pairs of very significant collector number plates, pushing the plates’ combined value past $2.5 million.
Just days after the hammer had dropped on another set of desirable two-digit plates which realised more than a $1.2 million, that figure was blown into the weeds by VIC ‘44’ with a final selling price of $2.1 million before buyer premium.
Shortly afterwards came the runners’ up prize in the shape of VIC ‘133’. Even at a relatively low $560,500, this lot still comfortably exceeded the value of any car publicly sold during the preceding two weeks.
One such car with the potential to have taken the chocolates was a gorgeous 1967 Ferrari 330 GT, also offered via Trading Garage but which failed to reach its reserve price despite being bid beyond $750,000.
Of the cars that did sell, it was a 1967 Ford Mustang fastback kitted out as a very plausible tribute to Gone In 60 Seconds’ Eleanor that did best, selling via the Collecting Cars website for $295,000.
That figure was $50,000 above the top price achieved by an onsite auction – the $246,400 taken by Burns & Co for a spectacularly good HDT VL Commodore Group A Plus Pack with just 61,000km on its odometer and presented to show standard.
It was by far the best from a lineup of HDT/HSV related cars and memorabilia offered by Burns & Co at their November sale. Other lots included another VL Group A in average condition that made $130,000, two examples of HDT’s VC 5.0-litre, and a 2006 HSV GTO Coupe.
The latter car had previously been owned by legendary HDT and Holden Public Relations guru Tim ‘Plastic’ Pemberton, who passed away in 2022. With just 52,800 kilometres showing and loaded with documents detailing its history and ownership, it made $71,000 and almost doubled the price paid for the sale’s other GTO which could muster only $42,700.
The Ford side of Burns’ ledger was sparse indeed, with an ex-Police XY Falcon 351-cubic inch V8 passed in at $104,750 before an XW GT-HO Phase II proved the importance of authenticity.
Despite being a genuine Phase II and looking every bit the part to all but an expert eye, the car had been rebodied early in its life – a fact that had a major influence on its desirability and ultimate selling price of $127,000.
Burns and Collecting Cars also enjoyed good clearance rates amongst their lower valued lots, which hopefully will bring a raft of newcomers to the older car hobby.
Entry-level classics don’t come much more affordable than the lineup of 1940s-50s utilities offered by Burns on behalf of a long-term collector. These were all in decent condition, commencing with a Morris Oxford MO and Vanguard Phase One which both sold for less than $8000, and ending with a very scarce, locally-bodied Oxford Series 2 pickup at $10,600.
Earlier in a sale that stretched across three nights and fielded more than 100 lots, Burns had listed a Volvo that would eventually top $43,000 and have multiple bidders battling to own it. But why?
In addition to it being a 242GT in pristine condition, somebody had spent huge amounts of money converting the car to Holden V8 power, ensuring that it could keep pace with the more recent and expensive HDTs sold on the night at $56,000 and $68,000.
American classics contributed their bit, too, with a Chevrolet Apache pickup on a One Tonne Holden chassis reaching $60,500 and an early Chevy Camaro SS making $61,000 before both were overshadowed by an old red Ford.
This car looked much like other local Customline but close inspection showed it to be a US-specification two-door sedan. In addition to being scarce, this car had seen loads of money spent on its running gear to handle the output from a retro-fitted 460-cubic inch (7.5 litre) Lincoln V8. It sold below build cost for $70,000.
Other interesting lots sold during past weeks include an ex-Police VL Commodore Turbo ‘BT1’ which made a surprising $87,750 via Collecting Cars. The site was responsible as well for rehoming a pair of interesting European coupes; both sold considerably below their typical values.
They were a Volvo 1800S Coupe in left-hand drive that reached $39,000 and an excellent, genuine RHD example of the Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 V8 Coupe. The Benz cost its new owner $71,000 which seemed a comparative bargain given that a similar-looking RHD 280SE 3.5 sold in the UK last year for £74,250, or around A$150,000.
Likely to exceed that amount by a big margin when offered late in November by Donington Auctions is an excellent example of an Alfa Romeo 1900C, with bodywork by Touring Superleggera. Despite being a factory right-hand drive car, this Alfa had spent much of its life in France before arriving in Australia almost 25 years ago.
It joins an array of interesting sports and competition cars being assembled by Donington for a sale that opens on November 24 and ends two weeks later.
A few days later comes Lloyds Auctions’ Classic, Muscle and Barn Finds sales, set down for November 29. This auction was still taking entries at the time of writing but had already had seen a $147,000 bid on a genuine XY Falcon GT which seems set to exceed $200,000.
Other models of interest include an LJ Torana GTR and rare UK import Ford Escort XR3i Cabriolet which weeks before the auction closes had reached $16,000.
Please note: All figures quoted are Hammer Prices in Australian Dollars (unless otherwise noted) and do not include any applicable Buyer Premium.
