Monday, August 24, 2015

Barons Auction House, achieves new record for the uber rare 1954 Bentley Continental R-Type Fastback.

Bids were flying around Barons’ Sandown Park saleroom on April 21st, when an extremely rare 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback ‘barn find’ restoration project went under the hammer. With an estimate of £200,000-£400,000, the car attracted frenzied bidding before it was finally secured by its new owner for £739,212*. 

This was the highest price Barons has ever achieved for a car – and other strong sales on the day brought the auction total to over £1 million, another company record for Barons.

It was not an easy bidding battle to win, with bids coming in from around the world. Barons’ staff were taking bids from 10 potential buyers over the telephone, 20 on the internet and a further 15 in the saleroom itself, as the bids began climbing in increments of £50,000 then tapering to increments of £25,000 before reaching the final, remarkable figure.


In the end the car went to a British owner, who will be adding this magnificent machine to his private collection. When restored his new acquisition – which has not been driven in 15 years - could be worth over £1,000,000.

Chassis BC52C was commissioned in 1954 by the Welsh racing driver R D Weatherall and was originally painted in his racing colour, Royal Purple. It still bears the registration number RDW 536. A subsequent owner, a doctor from Yorkshire, had the car re-sprayed in white, the colour it retains to this day.

Barons’ director Tony Cavell said, “This was an absolutely fantastic result. A ‘lost’ car always attracts collectors’ attention, and when it’s such a rare, iconic and valuable machine, that interest can lead to a frenetic bidding battle such as we saw yesterday. It will be fascinating to see the ‘journey’ the Bentley now takes, as its restoration commences.”

“This was the first sale that my fellow director Peter Gascoigne and I have fully assembled and presided over since we took the reins at Barons earlier in the year. 

We couldn’t have been more delighted with how things turned out, from the atmosphere in the saleroom to the final result. To top £1 million for the first time for Barons is a tremendous achievement, and it has been a privilege to play a role in finding a new home for a truly remarkable car.”

Other strong results achieved included the very beautiful 1934 Rolls-Royce 20/25, which drove past top estimate to sell for just under £41,000*, and a stately Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III, which sold for £23,500*.

YearMakeModelSold @ Inc
1953BentleyR-Type Continental Fastback£739,212
1934Rolls-Royce20/25 Saloon£40,892
2001Aston MartinDB7 GTS Coupe£25,772
1965Rolls-RoyceSilver Cloud III£23,532
1951ChevroletStyleline Custom£19,052
1974TriumphStag£14,292
1987Mercedes300SL Convertible£10,876
1935Austin7 APD/E Military Tourer£10,042
1963MercedesEvocation 500K£10,000
1968FordEscort 1100 De Luxe£9,756
2000RoverMini Cooper 500LE£8,132
1991Peugeot205 Cti£7,964
1996Alfa RomeoV6 Spider£7,852
1989BentleyEight£7,852
1966WolseleyHornet Heinz 57 Crayford£7,852
1987Mercedes300SL£7,068
1987Harley Davidson1200 Custom£6,732
1989Alfa RomeoSpider£6,620
1989Land RoverRange Rover Vogue SE£6,452
1986BentleyEight£6,172
1989CitroenCX 2500 Gti£5,612
1977Mercedes200£4,716
1972Fiat500£4,604
1961Mercedes180 Ponton£4,268
1998MercedesSL320£4,212
1996DaimlerSix (X300)£3,988
1995Daimler Double Six LWB£3,752
1985AustinRover Mini Hot Rod£3,652
2002Land RoverRange Rover£3,596
1979DaihatsuF20 Taft£3,484
1991Mercedes300CE£3,204
2000MercedesCLK 320£3,036
1974ReliantScimitar GTE SE5A£2,924
1999JaguarXJ8 4.0 V8£2,364
1990Mitsubishi3000 GTO V6£2,364
1978Rolls-RoyceSilver Shadow I£2,252
1990Mercedes300SE£1,916
2002VauxhallVectra£1,142
1950sChild's pedal car£531
Bologna Chronograph£142
Rim Chronograph£130
SALE TOTAL£1,038,010

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