16 Classic Car Mart Spring 2016
CHARTERHOUSE, SHEPTON MALLET FEBRUARY 14
Even though the front of house parked 1953
Austin-Healey 100 was too cosmetically
challenged to excite a buying bid anywhere
near the £45,000-48,000 sought, and
£38,000 or more was not forthcoming under
the hammer for an instantly retailable, left-
to-right converted 1957 100/6 with disc
brake conversion, a reasonable crowd did
buy more than half of the contents of the first
Charterhouse car catalogue of the year at
the Shepton Mallet Showground.
For the final dispersal stock of the late
dealer/collector Derek James moved on, led
by his 6 DEJ registered 1960 Rolls-Royce
Silver Cloud II, which sold to a couple in the
front row for £25,300. His 1930 Rolls-Royce
20/25 that had been re-bodied with racey-
looking and very open bodywork reminiscent
of the Brooklands Sluggard Special of yore
raised £16,500 and headed for a European
mainland future. The ex-Terence Conran 1995
Bentley Turbo RL LWB with old invoice and
MoT-supported 62,000 mileage also raised
£15,620 – £4620 more than expected.
Much viewed were a 1973 Jensen
Interceptor III that had been a restoration
project seven years ago, but had been
revived and MoT tested, which sold for
£22,000 including premium. A no longer
complete 1969 Gilbern Genie, stripped for a
rebuild that never happened, minus gearbox
but with a new chassis, was very bravely
taken on for £1760.
A retired garage proprietor successfully
cleared five of his redundant and no longer
fashionable classic rally cars from the 1950s
and 1960s, led by a 1994 Monte Carlo
Challenge 20th placed 1955 Austin A
Westminster with twin SUs, floor change and
front disc brakes, which sold for £5500. A
1967 Humber Hawk estate had been driven
in anger to Cape Town and completed Le Jog
before selling here for £3960, and a Targa
Rusticana and Welsh Retro class-winning
1954 Austin Somerset with a larger 1.5-litre
engine made £3190.
Really very sharp indeed was a 2000
Rover Mini Cooper ‘John Cooper S Works’,
bodily restored and well repainted in 2015,
which deservedly sold for £12,650. A
Vauxhall Victor FE from 1972 – one of
only three still registered, which had been
treated to new-old-stock front wings, but
otherwise appearing to be an original –
made a more than expected £5280. Finally
a 1961 Volkswagen Beetle 1200 left
hooker with ski-rack complete with skis, but
with bubbling below the paintwork, still flew
downhill to a £4180 top estimate result,
the absent winner being an i-bidder who
could have been anywhere and may well
have been away skiing.