IT’S A BK WHOPPER!

They phoned, they e-mailed, faxed and texted… for weeks, they arrived in Hepworth, Suffolk in droves.

The quality of the BK Museums restorations inspired some dramatic bidding and some very exciting prices throughout the collection. A fine twin axle flat bed trailer sold at £2,900 and Ferguson implements were well represented with a 2 furrow plough at £650 and a four row beet thinner at £1,200, whilst a trailed muck spreader made £1,500 and a 3ton tipping trailer took a huge £3,100. The Tractor section saw keen bidding resulting in a 1963 Fordson Super Dexta achieving £5,700 and two auction record prices followed with a 1957 Ferguson FE35 taking a storming £6,500 quickly followed by its twin at £6,200. The star of the Tractor section was the 1938 Ferguson Brown, in superb restored condition it sold for a highly creditable £13,000.

In the display building the fantastically eclectic mix of lots saw a late model Wurlitzer juke-box waltz out of the door at £1,600 followed by a Wayne forecourt fuel pump at a 4 star £1,400, a pictorial enamel sign from Phipps Brewery of Northampton sold well at £650 but was topped by the immaculate Ransomes pressed tin plough advertising sign which made £800 and the fine and working Coca-Cola bottle dispensing machine took a huge £1,700 to secure.

Undoubtedly it was the car collection that attracted the crowds attention and the buyers had to go the extra hard yards to secure the beautifully restored examples. The jewel in the crown was the 1966 Mercedes Benz 230SL ‘Pagoda’, this was contested hotly in the room and then on the telephone to an eventual estimate busting £41,000. Possibly the most discussed car was a 1966 Ford Zodiac Mk3, a fine restoration which doubled expectations at an amazing £10,400, not so much of a surprise was the 1958 Austin Metropolitan, it really was a gem and the eventual £12,200, a high price for the model, seemed entirely reasonable. The same can be said for the 1964 Volvo PV544 at £9,000 but the £8,100 for the 1964 Ford Thames van had everybody’s jaws dropping. Practically a clean sweep throughout, the market place can take heart that quality always sells, even in these straightened financial times.