August Round-up - Rare Finds From Around The World

Many people head off on holiday during August, but it proved to be our busiest ever period for inbound enquiries; nearly 20% up on July. While it was ‘business as usual’ for our team in delivering a great service for buyers and sellers, there was nothing usual about some of the incredible cars and bikes sold last month.

Unquestionably one of the highlights was a fantastic Subaru Impreza 22B. An original JDM car, this rally-derived icon came to the UK very early in its life, and was offered with just over 33,000 miles from new. It attracted a fierce bidding war, flying over its reserve price to achieve a final winning bid of £222,500 – making it the most anyone has ever paid in Pounds Sterling at auction for one of these coveted machines.

The rally fever didn’t stop there though. Just four days later, the hammer came down on a sensational Ex Works Group A Lancia Delta Integrale ‘Deltona’, driven to victory in period by Carlos Sainz – and the last Works-entered Lancia to win a rally. A thrilling four-minute film showing Chris Harris behind the wheel of the car got pulses racing, and the car sold for a remarkable £321,000.

Plenty of modern performance heroes changed hands for much more affordable sums in August, including a Toyota GR Yaris with the sought-after Circuit Pack. Having covered 4,500 miles, it had also received a bespoke re-trim in Green Connolly leather, and found a winning bid of £32,333. These cars remain as popular as ever since the first GR Yaris offered in our marketplace back in February 2021.

Another acclaimed hot hatch came in the form of a Renaultsport Megane R26.R. Finished in the rarer Lunar Grey and with just shy of 35,000 miles on the clock, it sold for £28,050 – arguably a relative bargain for a car described as “the front-drive GT3” by Pistonheads.

We never talk about cars as ‘investments’, but it is undeniable that many collectors will seek out particularly low-mileage examples of any given model, which can drive up the price significantly. We saw this in action with an exceptional 1,959-mile Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG Performance Pack that sold for £60,000, and an E92-era BMW M3 Competition with just 10,889 miles that found a winning bid of £51,600. In Europe, a true ‘time warp’ Porsche 928 S4 with just 11,044 miles sold for €50,750, while a 17,178-kilometre Honda S2000 consigned by our team in Australia fetched A$62,751.

Further reflecting the marketplace’s global reach was a great selection of sought-after 1960s classics. In the UK, a stunning 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 ‘Flat Floor’ Roadster, still in excellent condition following an exhaustive restoration in 2015, sold for £148,500. In Italy, a wonderfully original 1968 Maserati Ghibli 4.7 in the elegant ‘Oro Longchamps’ colour found a winning bid of €143,005; and a recently recommissioned 1968 De Tomaso Mangusta offered from a Californian seller sold for US$185,500.

Track-focused machines were also well-represented in August, with the European team consigning a barely used Porsche 991 GT2 RS Clubsport that sold for €335,000, as well as a riotous Dodge Viper ACR with a fully rebuilt engine, which found a winning bid of €115,000.

A few other cars caught our eye for their rarity and somewhat ‘under the radar’ status last month. Considering a verdict calling it “the most thrilling M car for a generation” at launch, the BMW M4 GTS is not as coveted as the reviews might have predicted – though whether that changes in the future remains to be seen. An 895-mile car sold for £83,500 in August; around the same price as an equivalent mileage BMW M2 CS, of which there were three times as many built.

Another car made in the hundreds of units, but similarly not as well-known as its performance might suggest, is the Subaru Impreza WRX STI Spec-C Type RA-R. Just 300 of these cars left the factory, with Evo magazine dubbing it “STI’s ultimate trackday Impreza”. Three of these have now sold on Collecting Cars, with the most recent achieving a winning bid of £55,500. Another lesser-seen find was the Maserati Gransport MC Victory sold in Czechia for €62,500. With major improvements over the 4200 Coupe and even the standard Gransport – and featuring the same carbon bucket seats at the MC12 supercar – just 180 were built, and they are sought-after by those in the know.

As ever, it was not just road-going cars and bikes finding new homes in the marketplace. A seller in Pennsylvania, US, offered a 2001 Jordan EJ11 Formula 1 car as a rolling chassis, previously driven by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jean Alesi and Ricardo Zonta, which found a winning bid of US$70,000. A genuine 2.4-litre V8 Cosworth CA engine block and headers was also offered by the same seller, fetching US$26,250.

Highlights of our registration plate auctions during August had a distinct high-performance flavour, with ‘R4 CES’ selling for £27,560, ‘V12 NUT’ fetching £5,500, and ‘8 GT’ selling for a winning bid of £55,700.

Finally, we must mention the fantastic work being done by Veloce. This is the creation of collector and philanthropist Peter Neumark, who teamed up with motoring event organiser Chris Bucknall and V Events in 2017 to raise charity funds from a track day concept. They paired a spectacular grid of cars with some seriously famous racing drivers, and charged sponsors and guests for the privilege of experiencing unforgettable passenger laps – initially around Goodwood before moving to Silverstone for 2022. Described as “the greatest track day on earth”, in just four years Veloce has raised over £700,000 for good causes.

Collecting Cars partnered with Veloce for the second year running to auction some incredible motorsport experiences for charity in August, adding just over £19,000 to that total.As always, our Consignment Team is eager to help motivated sellers of special cars and bikes to get a great price at auction, so speak to our specialists today to take the first step.