Quattro Turbo smashes auction records

A 1991 Audi Quattro Turbo 20v broke auction records when it sold for £72,050 during the recent Classic Car Auctions in England. Huge crowds turned out for one of the biggest one-day classic car sales of the year, and trade was brisk with about £2 million changing hands in five hours, with 77 per cent of the 166 cars on offer finding new homes. The raucous applause for the Audi was repeated when a 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera Supersport racked up the highest price of day at £99,000, after a series of audacious bids pushed it almost £40,000 beyond its lower estimate. Enthusiastic bidding was a theme on the day, with several cars attracting opening bids far above their estimates. A 1989 Daimler Double Six started with an opening bid £3,000 above its lower estimate, eventually selling for £13,750, and a 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S in Silver Rose started with a bid £5,000 above its lower estimate and sold for £34,100 after brisk bidding. An unfinished 1970 Fixed Head Series II Jaguar E-Type 4.2 attracted serious attention in the room with fast-paced bidding pushing the final price to £40,700, over £16,000 more than the lower estimate, while a 1972 Triumph TR6 with overdrive was pushed £13,000 above its lower estimate after some tense brinkmanship among room and phone bidders to sell for £30,800. The Triumph wasn’t the only traditional British sports car to do well at the auction, with a 1966 Austin Healey 3000 MkIII drawing applause on reaching its final sale price of £50,600, and an ex-award winning 1964 Triumph Spitfire 4 Mk1 that had recently fallen on hard times sold for £6,160 despite being offered at no reserve. Seventies BMWs seem to the flavour of the month among classic car collectors and the September Sale was no exception, with a 1975 BMW 3.0 CSA being fought over in a two-way bidding war in the room, joined later by online bidders to push the final selling price almost £8,000 beyond its lower estimate to £29,480. Quirky lots regularly make an appearance at Classic Car Auctions and on this occasion it was a 1979 Ford Fiesta 1300S that drew smiles of affection with only 5,693 miles on the clock but looking very sorry for itself after more than a decade in storage. But with bags of potential, the little ‘no reserve’ Fiesta drew enthusiastic bidding and eventually sold for almost a pound for every mile it had covered at £5,720.