October Auction Recap: Aussies Spent More on Number Plates Than Cars

As auction houses worldwide engage in battles to set new record prices, the only serious money being spent locally has gone on number plates.

Spectacular sales here were non-existent and even the number of regular auction events dwindled in a market which seems to have parked its big-buck offerings until better times emerge.

Melbourne-based Donington stuck with specialised clearance sales, while the normally prolific Lloyds’ event delivered a half-sized catalogue of cars with a famous numberplate as its headline lot.

Burns & Co missed the cut for October inclusion and ran its monthly Classic and Collectible Car Auction in early November, but we were happy to wait and include their notable results.

Online sales via Collecting Cars, Grays, Pickles and Trading Garage were patchy, with a few high points and plenty of low prices. Number plates comprised around half the lots sold by Collecting Cars, with a top offer of $905,000 for New South Wales plate '100'.

This striking orange BMW 3.0 CS went for a low figure at $57k (Image: Trading Garage)

There were some bargains over on the car side of the ledger including a pair of low-kilometre Maybachs at less than $100,000 each, along with a tidy VW Beetle at just $11,000. Big money was available elsewhere in the Collecting Cars listings, with sales at $365,000 for a near-new R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R and $190,000 for an equally good C2 Corvette Stingray.

Trading Garage seemed to be surviving on sales of late-model motorcycles but did excite the car buyers with a low-priced BMW 3.0 CS in striking orange at $57,000 and a Ferrari 360 that made $120,001.

The high point of the month came during Lloyds Classic & Barn Finds event where $1 million was bid on a plate that for decades has decorated cars owned by motor sporting titan Dick Johnson.

Queensland plate ‘Q17’ was guided by Lloyds at $1-2 million and initially struggled before finally reaching its lower estimate and being declared sold. At the same sale, a replica of Johnson’s Greens-Tuf XE Falcon and Steve Johnson’s Touring Car Masters version of the XD ‘Tru Blue’ both went unsold.

Steve Johnson's 'Tru-Blu' XD Falcon touring car went unsold through Lloyds, although his father's 'Q17' Queensland heritage plate fetched $1m (Image: Lloyds)

In other respects, the Lloyds sale failed to generate any great excitement, although a decent proportion of the catalogue did find buyers on the day and more were likely sold later by negotiation.

The pick of the Lloyds lots included a great-looking XB Falcon V8 Hardtop that made $92,000 and a similar Fairmont at $87,000. The two Tickford Falcons looked okay but were disappointingly bid to around $20,000 each.

Towards the end of the Lloyds’ event came a clutch of terrific Holdens comprising a near mint HX Statesman Caprice at an incredible $28,5000 followed by a V8-engined LJ Torana GTR at $110,000 and beautifully restored FJ Utility that reached a well-deserved $65,000.

US-built models are again drab, with interest centred on a modified and very scarce AMX coupe that reached $23,500 and didn’t sell. However, the equally scarce Jeep Mutt did sell at $30,000.

The big money items in October were number plates, with few cars even coming close to reaching the same hammer price (Image: Lloyds)

Hardly any of the skimpy Japanese offering found owners, leaving British and European models to bolster the day’s clearance rate. This they did with some success, including a tidy E-Type V12 sold by negotiation for $70,000. A TVR Chimaera at $30K and Porsche 928S at a bargain-basement $16,500.

Buy of the day though had to be the beaut-looking 1970s BMW 520i that made just $4300 and offered its buyer the perfect entry-level classic.

More cars of that kind were available at the Burns & Co sale, held in Melbourne on November 3. Burns fielded a packed catalogue of 64 lots including 57 cars headlined by a couple of investment quality Holdens and with plenty of good stock at under $20,000.

Highlights of the sale were a trio of US import Checker cabs that had been used locally as wedding cars and sold for a combined $105,500.

Other Americans to offer value included a decent Ford Thunderbird convertible that made $40,000 but took an eternity to sell, a 1963 Chrysler New Yorker Hardtop at $41,000, and perhaps the lowest priced C2 Corvette in our market – a jacked-up coupe that only got to $66,000 but still sold.

Two C2 Corvettes went under the hammer during October, but this mint Split Window model fetched the higher price at $190k (Image: Collecting Cars)

Back amongst the low-priced bargains we found a couple of scarce Japanese coupes that both made less than $5000 each. First up was a Mitsubishi Cordia Turbo at $4200, then towards the end of the sale a one-owner first-series Honda Prelude at a ridiculously cheap $2900.

As usual at a Burns & Co sale, quality Aussie stock was everywhere, beginning with a beautifully restored EH Holden utility at $50,250; VG, VH and CL Valiants all at $20,000 or less; and a lovely HR Premier wagon that made $39,000 which was about $10,000 below its real value.

A notable no-sale amongst the Valiants was a rare and great looking VJ Regal two-door hardtop which justifiably didn’t sell when bid to only $42,500.

One rarity that counts as being Australian despite German heritage was the Kalita beach buggy. Produced during the 1970s by J & S Fibreglass in Sydney, these are very rare yet even with full history it sold for only $13,500.

This Checker Taxi which sold through Burns & Co is an extremely rare V8 diesel model (Image: Burns & Co)

Finally, after five hours of slow going – but with the auctioneer’s perseverance justified by a 90 percent clearance rate – came the last three cars with a combined hammer value of $431,000.

First up was a genuine VL Plus Pack HDT Group A, showing 203,000 kilometres but well- presented and worth its $157,000. Next at $107,000 was an HK Monaro GTS which began life with a 186 engine but was running a 327.

Finally came the headline LH Torana L34, showing just 43,000 kilometres and which based on the car’s overall provenance was very likely genuine. It concluded the sale on a positive note, with a $167,000 winning bid.

Please note: All figures quoted are Hammer Prices and do not include any applicable Buyer Premium.