Why Aston Martin’s barely used Vantage GTE stood out in a week of remarkable auction sales
Simon de Burton highlights standout auction results, from a scarcely driven Aston Martin Vantage GTE to rare collector cars and historic machines heading to upcoming sales.
RM Sotheby’s
2021 Aston Martin Vantage GTE
Sold by RM Sotheby’s, £190,850
Why buy one Aston Martin Vantage race car when you can have three? That’s what the owner of this V8-engined GTE car did, and then put the entire trio up for sale having barely driven any of them. This particular Aston was built from scratch onto a spare unraced chassis that was completed with rebuilt AMR parts to create the very last of the seven GTEs made. It’s 4.5-litre engine was rated at more than 500bhp but had clocked zero hours since it was finished. On the button and ready to go, it was eligible for some of the most prestigious events of this season’s historic racing programme.
Anglia Car Auctions
1926 Ford Model T
Sold by Anglia Car Auctions, £7668
A Model T still on the road at 100 years old. This looked almost as good as new, having been comprehensively restored in 2023. It left the production line on February 11, 1926.
Manor Park Classics
1970 Husqvarna 360 Sportsman
Sold by Manor Park Classics, £3540
This bike was mint – and sold less than a week after an identical model originally owned by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas author Hunter S Thompson fetched £27,500 with auctioneer Bring a Trailer.
Collecting Cars
2006 Ferrari F430 Challenge
Sold by Collecting Cars, £61,777
With good examples of the 360 Challenge now fetching £200,000-plus, its successor looks like excellent value. This was track-only but fitted with everything necessary for it to be road registered.
Collecting Cars
2024 BAC Mono Saudia Williams
Sold by Collecting Cars, £144,102
The BAC Mono is as close as it gets to a road-going grand prix car – and long-standing F1 fans will know this one’s paint job was based on the 1980 Williams FW07 which Alan Jones drove to title victory.
Anglia Car Auctions
1994 Range Rover LSE 4.2 V8
Sold by Anglia Car Auctions, £119,880
One of the most remarkable Land Rover discoveries of the century, this Range Rover had covered a mere 756 miles. Its original owner died shortly after purchase, leaving his widow to store it away.
The Market
1998 Mini Paul Smith
Sold by The Market, £14,000
Only 300 of the 1800 Paul Smith Minis remained in the UK, most going to Japan. This home market rarity reflected his love for colour in flashes of acid green in the boot, glovebox and engine bay.
Iconic Auctioneers
1987 Renault 5 Turbo ‘Superproduction’
Sold by Iconic Auctioneers, £331,875
Six ‘Superproduction’ factory-built Renault 5 Turbos were created to contest the 1987 French Supertourisme series – and this is the one driven by Érik Comas to clinch championship victory at Pau-Arnos.
Forthcoming sale highlights
● Manor Park Classics, Runcorn, April 10
Manor Park Classics is seriously upping its motorcycle game, as evinced by this sale spanning a century of two-wheeled history. Among the older offerings is a beautifully restored example of BSA’s L28 350cc, famed for its off-road successes. In contrast, there’s also a 2013 Ducati 1199 Panigale with tricolore paint job – both of which are estimated at around the £7000 mark.
● Mecum, Indianapolis, May 8-16
Yes, this is another of Mecum’s eight-day blockbusters at the Indiana State Fairgrounds (to which visitors may bring their own golf carts to ease travelling from A to B). Among thousands of lots will be vehicles of every type – including number one of 25 anniversary Gone Again replicas of the ‘Eleanor’ Mustang featured in the 2000 re-make of Gone in 60 Seconds.
● Bonhams, Reno, Nevada, June 13
Taking place at Reno’s National Automobile Museum, this auction will be diverse, to say the least. If green motoring’s your thing, bid for a Capitol steam prototype Chariot from 1902 – or, if you really love to burn fossil fuel, put your hand up for the Flying Caduceus from 1960. It was the first jet-powered car to top 300mph (its speedo went up to 700mph).
● RM Sotheby’s, Woodcote Park, Surrey, July 8
The RAC’s inaugural concours event held last year at its ‘country seat’ in Surrey has become an annual fixture. No such gathering is complete without a dedicated car auction, which is why RM Sotheby’s has been signed-up to do the honours, with a 1922 Bentley tourer and a 1930 Lagonda 3-Litre being among the lots for this first Woodcote sale.