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Rally-bred Escort sees fierce bidding at Shannons auction
The headline car at last night’s Shannons Melbourne Winter Classic auction scored plenty of interest, hitting the upper end of its estimate at $118,000. The well-presented MkI RS1600 in left-hand-drive is a rare find anywhere in the world – particularly here.
The combination of good presentation and the rising popularity of rally-based Escorts across Europe and the UK lead to some fierce bidding, in an auction that proved the market is still reasonably strong.
Other good results included:
$36k for a 1960 Borgward Isabella, well above the $16-20k estimate;
$28k for a 1965 MkII Jaguar with a Chevrolet engine conversion;
$26k for a tidy 1973 Leyland P76 V8;
$114k for a hotly-contested 1958 Thunderbird;
$125k for a 1965 230SL Mercedes-Benz;
$18k for a 1979 Holden Commodore VB SL/E with 4.2 engine;
$24.5k for a 1967 Holden Premier HR with a number of period upgrades;
$83k for a sympathetically upgraded 1957 Jaguar XK150 coupe;
And $37k for a 1961 VW Karmann Ghia.
The ongoing popularity of Ford’s XY series GT Falcons was underlined by the sale of a 1970 example in need of a lot of work for $52k, well above the $25-35k estimate.
The was something of a gap between seller and buyer expectations in some cases, with a few cars being passed in despite getting strong bids. Some examples include:
$190k for a 1960 Porsche 356B Cabriolet;
$85k for a circa 1959 split-window VW Kombi in very good but non-original form;
And $270k for a 1998 Porsche 993 twin-turbo coupe.
Bargain hunters had some good opportunities. For example:
$12.5k for a 1962 Studebaker Hawk in solid condition;
$12k for a 1978 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow;
And, the real performance bargain, $7k for a 1995 supercharged Jaguar XJR 4.0.
Bidding on numberplates was strong. Vic plate 21 hit an eye-watering $530k! Shannons auction manager Christophe Boribon pointed out on the night that this was the first time the company had offered a low double digit plate since 1998, and this particular example had been in the ownership of the same family for around 50 years.
For us, one of the solid buys of the night was $70k for a very well presented 1973 Holden LJ Torana XU-1, with a good history. Given its race pedigree, it was safe buying.
The company’s Sydney Winter Classic auction is up next, on August 29.
Photography: Guy Allen