What makes Lloyds Auctions tick

By: Guy Allen, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 15.03.2017

Meet the crew who run the firm’s classic car auctions

You may have noticed that a mob called Lloyds Auctioneers, based in Queensland’s Gold Coast, has been making a big impact on the classic car scene recently. We decided to pop in today, have a look around and meet a few folk.

The company is a general auction house, which clears some 30,000 items a week through something like a million bids – that includes pretty much everything you can think of, including major store clearances.

Some 100 folk work there and the firm has been going for over 15 years. The classic car idea came about because a fair number of the crew are car nuts and it seemed like a natural extension of what the company was already up to.

However it wasn’t exactly an overnight project – some two years of planning was put in before the monthly classic car auctions began.

The style of auction is a combination of online in advance of the main day – more of an eBay model – combined with the traditional auction-day phone and live bids.

All the main events have been webcast and two faces you’ll come across a lot are Bill Freeman, the auctioneer, and Roy Gorring, the firm’s curator cum authentication expert and car hunter. Roy was engaged after he sold his own collection through the firm.

"I started life working on cars working as an engine reconditioner and now I’m 62," he explains. "So my career guidance counselor was right, and my father…and everyone else!

"I had the Queensland Auto Museum, which started as a hobby, then a collection that got out of control – 140 cars.

"I had the 140 cars absolutely running my life and I decided to move on to other things, so I decided to auction the cars, the property, and everything else."

As for Bill, he’s an auctioneer through-and-through, which means he’s part businessman, traffic-controller and entertainer.

"I’ve been an auctioneer for a long time," he says, "And always been passionate about cars.

"My favourites would to be Holden Toranas and the A9X hatchback would have to be my ultimate car.

"I’m a 65 model myself, and my elder brothers always had cars that I was driven around in, such as Sandman panelvans and Torana XU-1s. I’m fond of them because I grew up with them."

Lloyds next auction is a northern NSW collection including two Brabham race machines, some very special speedway cars and a big collection of memorabilia, parts and vehicles. That’s this Saturday, March 18.

The next monthly auction, which looks like featuring over 80 cars, is the following Saturday. See their site.

Roy Gorring used to own Queensland's biggest car museum.

Bill Freeman is a Torana tragic.

Roy Gorring used to own Queensland's biggest car museum.

Bill Freeman is a Torana tragic.

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