Bidding Hot at Shannons Melbourne Late Summer Sale

MELBOURNE – Feb 19,2013: The weather was stinking hot and so was the bidding at Shannons Late Summer Classic Auction in Melbourne on February 18, with a strong 80 per cent clearance rate on the 66 vehicle and memorabilia lots offered.

Open top cars were in special demand as Melbourne’s sizzling summer continued.

A 1958 Chevrolet Corvette C1 Convertible finished in classic red with white coves sold for $102,000 after a slugging match amongst floor and telephone bidders – comfortably above its pre-auction guiding range of $60,000-$68,000.

An equally outstanding result was the $70,500 paid after frenetic bidding for a well-executed replica of a late 1920s Bentley 4.5 Litre Tourer, based on 1949 Bentley Mk VI running gear.

One of the night’s feature cars – a left-hand-drive, fully-restored 1967 Mustang ‘S-Code’ 390 GT Convertible factory fitted with a four-speed manual gearbox – sold just above its high estimate for $62,000; a two-owner 1998 Jaguar XK8 Convertible showing just 83,000km from new went for an excellent $44,500 and a ‘no reserve’ 1964 left hand drive Ford Thunderbird Convertible made a predicted $28,000.

Another standout result for an open sporting car after a strong bidding duel, was the $19,600 paid against a guiding range of $9,000-$12,000 for a ‘no reserve’ 1961 MGA Mk I that had been mechanically upgraded with an 1800cc MGB engine as a ‘running restoration project’.

Classic Australian Holden and Ford sedans and coupes were also in strong demand at the auction, with a 1968 HK Brougham 307-cid V8 sedan believed to have covered just 73,300 miles from new and a one-owner ‘poverty pack’ 1974 HQ Monaro Coupe fitted with the 202-cid six cylinder engine and three-speed manual transmission both selling for $22,000.

A very original 1975 HJ Monaro 253-cid V8 sedan from a deceased estate brought $22,500, a fully-restored, three-owner 1978 Ford XC Fairmont GXL 351-cid sedan retro-fitted with a Tremec five-speed manual transmission realised $25,000 and a one owner 1984 Holden WB Statesman DeVille 308-cid V8 automatic sedan showing just 51,300 indicated kilometres offered with ‘no reserve’ made $15,500.

British and European luxury saloons also produced good results, with a fully-restored, very early-build, right hand drive Jaguar Mk II 3.4-litre with automatic transmission and overdrive selling for $30,000, a Sydney-delivered 1951 Bentley Mk VI Saloon with an extensive history file bringing $23,000 and a 1968 Daimler 250 V8 Saloon with 82,099 indicated miles making $13,600 – $100 more than a 1969 V8-engined Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 litre Saloon.

Heritage numerical numberplates were again consistently in demand, with the Victorian black and white ‘711’ producing the best result of the six three-digit plates on offer at $68,000, ‘1.550’ and ‘7.878’ tied for the top four-digit result at $14,000, while the intriguing consecutive running numbers plate ’56.789’ was the standout five-digit result at $18,750