Vintage Champagne

With over 3,000 lots on offer and the largest crowd ever seen at our vintage collective sales, we were in for a busy day and with the quality on show there was a chance of a few surprises, we weren’t disappointed!

Sale 1

The usual eclectic mix of literature, models and spares was headed up by a fine collection of original steam literature and catalogues the majority of which sold between £100 and £200 with an early Marshall catalogue topping out at £280.
Notable in the model section were the 1.5” scale Allchin Royal Chester at £2,800, a model fairground scenic organ for £1,500 whilst a 1.5” scale Clayton articulated steam wagon looked good value at £1,100. The raised eyebrows were reserved for a tin plate David Brown Trackmaster clockwork model by Shackleton, only 50 of these models were ever made and, complete with box, this example was always going to attract significant interest, lacking its chimney and with a non original key the hammer finally fell at £2,800, a figure that may well buy you the real thing!

Sale 2

The marquee was adequately supplied with over 700 lots of automobilia, enamel signs, petroliana, vehicle spares and steam spares and a fantastic array of Classic and Vintage motorcycles. Proceedings were started with the automotive literature and of note were two photograph albums of 1960’s F1 racing action and sold at £550 and £460 respectively. Always offering something for all tastes a Victorian bath cart in nice untouched condition took £400 and was immediately followed by a 1972 1/3 scale F1 style racing car for restoration at £650.

The motorcycle action started at 2:30 by which time the marquee was packed to bursting with eager buyers. First up was a 1935 250cc Excelsior Manxman selling in the room for £10,500 this was closely followed with £5,200 for a rare but unfinished restoration 1932 OK Supreme Lighthouse. Next up came the absolutely stunning 1948 HRD Vincent Rapide Series B and, with a number of telephone bidders fighting it out with bidders in the room, was always going to do well, but the eventual hammer price of £41,500 exceeded all expectations and, we believe, is a European auction record for a Rapide. The next lot, a 1952 Vincent Comet went to the same buyer in the room fittingly, as the two machines came from the same deceased estate, this time £15,500 was paid another stunning price for this model and testament to the blue chip investment potential of the Vincent marque. A 1939 350cc Norton Manx GP, totally unused since its restoration found a European buyer at £16,000 and the two 1930’s Harley Davidsons, both Art Deco style beauties made an identical £11,100 each to different buyers. Of the 54 machines offered, 40 found new homes giving a very healthy sale rate of 75%, the quality of the machines entered into this sale was reflected in the number of buyers and the level of bidding with many folk looking for tangible assets in these straightened financial times.

Sale 3

With around 130 stationary engines on offer there was a fine array of makes and models. Top honours went to an Amanco 2 Hired Man at £420, Champion oil engine made £900 and a 1910-15 Stover 2.5hp hit £950. A Gardner V Series made £1,600 and a Ruston & Hornsby 8AP made £1,350. The top price for this section went to a super 1910 National Gas 26HP o/c engine at £1,700.

Sale 4

With over 600 lots of spares there was plenty on offer for the enthusiast and there were some very determined bidders. Highlights include the much talked about County suspension seat in immaculate condition and knocked down at a surprising £850. A Massey Ferguson 135 pick up hitch made £420, pair E27N mudguards made £300, a Roadless front weight knocked down at £460 and linkage, top link for a Fordson Major made £520 and to finish things off a Massey Ferguson 135 skid unit made £1,150

Sale 4a

A good entry of ploughs and implements were on show and prices of note where for a Bamford 5f plough with parts book and hit £600, a Norfolk gallows plough fetched £550 and a wooden beamed Cooke horse drawn plough made £600. Ferguson implements were on fire again with a Hydrovane 60cfm compressor with hose and guns at £980, Swede thinner at £1,250 and a Ferguson muck spreader hit £1,500 and a beet thinner recorded £1,000, but possibly then real talking point was a Ferguson 3ton tipping trailer with the early type drawbar arrangement made a massive £4,000.

Sale 5

There were 10 classic commercials on offer and first up was the 1964 Atkinson L17 Mk1 Castrol tanker fully restored and made a reasonable £15,000, the 1943 Scammell Pioneer hit £10,000, a 1953 Foden OG made £7,200. The one they all secretly wanted was the super 1946 Chevrolet 3.6ltr half ton pick up with ‘waterfall’ grill and made a strong £7,500.

With 3 superb steam engines on show it was sure to bring out the crowds and it was no surprise to see a massive crowd rammed in amongst the wisps of smoke from the chimney of Bromyard Queen Nance. Up first was a delightful 1907 Foster ‘Wellington’ and easily busted its reserve and flew to a strong £103,000. Next up was the well known 1935 Sentinel S4 steam wagon and soared to an impressive £154,000. Although the 1909 Fowler A8 ‘Bromyard Queen Nance’ did not sell under the hammer it was soon sold post sale for an undisclosed amount completing a satisfying clean sweep and showing there is certainly a lot of confidence in the market despite the recent economic uncertainty.

The tractor section saw an excellent entry of nearly 300 vintage a classic models with the usual range of superbly restored, good ex-farm original to the ones for restoration or spares. Arguably the quality was up and the ‘first row’ seemed to spread well into the second. With just under 75% of the tractors selling its fair to say trade was brisk and with probably the best ever crowd seen at the saleground. With the sun shining and a clear forecast for the day ahead it was time to slap on the sun cream and get to work!

First up was very original Ferguson Brown Type A in running order and sold well at £9,200, a well restored Fordson Model F hit £5,500 and a super original 1922 IH Titan 10/20 was well thought of and knocked down at £10,500. Up next were two ultimate classics in the form of a 1969 Roadless 115 and 1975 JJ Thomas Ninety-Five 100 and both sold for £10,000 and £8,800 respectfully. Then two very interesting tractors were sold in the form of the 1964 Fordson County Super Dexta timber tractor which sold for a strong £9,800 and the one they were all talking about was the 1936 Marshall 18/30. One of only twenty 18/30’s known to exist this tractor was subject to VAT but made a massive £48,000! The Julian Podger Collection was well received and a fine line of ‘Harvest Gold’ Marshall’s looked well in the spring sunshine with his IH 634 All Wheel Drive at £9,500, a Marshall 904XL at £6,200 and a super little 132 made £3,450.

It was then onto one of the most unusual tractors in the sale the much coveted 1970 Massey Ferguson 135 Silver 50th Anniversary Edition which was inspired by Universal Hobbies 1:16 scale model of the 135 to celebrate 50 years of Massey Ferguson. With the crowd still buzzing after the Marshall it was knocked down for a chart topping £12,200. Kicking off the restored section of the sale was a very fine Massey Ferguson 165, a 3 times concourse winner and looking superb, it certainly caught the eye of one bidder who had to part with £15,000. Then one of the finest restored 1184’s to come to the market in recent years was the Benson Group County that had been retrieved, repatriated and fully restored and hit the button at a whopping £47,000. Other superbly restored examples included a 1991 Massey Ferguson 362 at £7,900, a 1954 Fordson KFD 68 at £7,000 and a resplendent 1968 Roadless 95 made £10,500.

Other highlights include the second part of the Julian Podger Collection with a Leyland 4100 skid unit, with many spares and in need of extensive work to bring it back to life someone was up for the challenge and made a jaw dropping £12,500. The line up of Leyland tractors looked well and received satisfying trade and the 6cylinder 2100’s averaged out around £1,500 - £2,500. Top honours went to a very original 1979 Leyland 272 and topped £4,200. To finish off the collection was a super original 1967 Massey Ferguson 31 combine and made a strong £4,000. County trade remained strong with a Super Six making £9,300, 1124 hit £6,200 and an 1125 Super Six knocked down at £4,200. It was arguably Massey’s day and trade for good ex-farm straight examples was tremendous, highlighted by a 1965 Massey Ferguson 165 Mark 1 on farm from new and made a reserve doubling £8,000, another straight 135 made £4,700.