Barons is joining owners of Rolls & Bentley cars this weekend to stage a prestige classic car automobilia sale. (PIC HEAVY)

Barons is joining vast numbers of Rolls-Royce and Bentley owners this weekend at palatial Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire. 

The auction house is staging a Rolls-Royce, Bentley and prestige classic car and automobilia sale on Saturday, June 25^th, at the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club three-day international Annual Rally and Concours d’Elegance, which attracts thousands of cherished motor cars and their owners from all over the world.

The sale starts at 10am with over 200 items of automobilia. A tremendously diverse range of items is on offer, making it the perfect ‘hunting ground’ for those after a special item for their collection or as a unique gift. 

One particularly interesting lot is the ‘Winged Icarus’ factory mascot designed by Frederick Gordon Crosby when commissioned by W O Bentley to find an alternative to the winged B mascot for the Cricklewood-built factory cars of the 1920s (£900-£1,000). 

Another fascinating lot is the ‘mystery mascot’, a Rolls-Royce prototype created around 1911 which has baffled historians and enthusiasts for years. Reputedly the ‘missing link’ between the Whisper and Spirit of Ecstasy mascots that were fitted to the 40/50HP Silver Ghosts of 1911, it carries an estimate of £600-£1,000.

Budding chauffeurs can acquire a smart silver Rolls-Royce chauffeur’s lapel badge, complete with a copy of the booklet ‘What a Good Chauffeur Should Know’ (£150-£250), while Art Deco fans could well be tempted by the delightful 1920s showroom deskpiece featuring a clock and a miniature Spirit of Ecstasy (£200-£400).

The motor car sale begins at 2pm on Saturday, and Barons is presenting a splendid selection, with Rolls-Royces and Bentleys spanning eight decades from the 1920s to the 1990s and including some very rare machines indeed.

The magnificent 1961 Bentley S2 Chinese Eye Continental Drophead Coupé (£195,000-£225,000) was bought new by John Bloom, whose business empire included the Rolls Razor and Electromatic Washing Machine Companies. 

He actually had the car converted to a Rolls-Royce Chinese Eye, but it was later restored to its Bentley identity by Wren Renovations. Other owners have included the famous pianist Russ Conway and the Managing Director of Bristol Motor Cars.

Another stunning Bentley Continental comes in the form of the 1965 S3 Continental Flying Spur, (£115,000-£135,000), while earlier Bentley design is showcased by the glamorous 1936 Vanvooren Pillarless Saloon (£80,000-£100,000).

The sale also features a most appropriate registration number – BNT 5 – which is being sold in aid of St Margaret’s Hospice in Yeovil (£2,000-£3,000).

Rolls-Royce produced a glorious range of individual machines in the 1920s and 30s. These are well represented at Barons at Burghley House, with entries including the head-turning 1926 Phantom 1 Open Tourer LWB Pullman de Ville by Barker (£90,000-£110,000).

Among the non-Rolls-Royce and Bentley element of the motor car sale is a very fine 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Pagoda which has covered less than 20 miles in the last ten years and a very pretty, and rare, 1967 Triumph TR4 1RS Surrey Top which has had just one owner. Estimates are £30,000-£50,000 and £21,000-£25,000 respectively.

Luxury motoring needn’t come at a luxury price. The 1977 Silver Shadow II in the sale was in daily use until dry-stored. It comes with a wealth of history and its original build plan and car assembly summary, handbooks etc. and requires a little TLC to make it a lovely car – and has an estimate of just £1,720-£3,000.

Rare painted Wood Effect Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost owned by The future Edward VIII, broke auction estimates.

A 1923 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost carrying ingenious painted ‘wood-effect’ shooting brake coachwork from a car once owned by the future Edward VIII – one of the earliest ‘woodies’ – burst through its £120,000 upper estimate to sell for £161,280 at H&H Classics’ 20 June auction. 

The sale was held in conjunction with the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club Annual Concours & Rally at Burghley House, Lincolnshire.

The lady vendor had driven the 92-year-old car to the event, no doubt relying on Rolls’ reputation in the day for making the ‘best car in the world’ – although it’s no stranger to adventure, having enjoyed many Ghost Club tours through Europe, South Africa and Australasia. 

In recent weeks the car has been the subject of much Fleet Street speculation that the then Prince of Wales employed it to smuggle Mrs Simpson out of Balmoral, making effective use of the black, `pull down' silk blinds.

In an auction that saw over 70% of motor car entries finding new buyers, other significant sales included the ex-Marquis de Portago 1931 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Sports Saloon achieving £95,200, £154,560 for the rare 1964 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III 'Flying Spur' and a canny buyer paying £47,250 for the 1969 Bentley T-Series Mulliner Park Ward (‘MPW’) Drophead, the perfect car for a picnic with friends at next year’s RREC Rally.

H&H broke all records with an extensive selection of nearly 500 lots of automobilia, which grossed nearly £150,000. Lot 201, an Austin Pathfinder Child’s Pedal Car, finally sold for £4928, some 25% above its upper estimate. 

Similarly, healthy bidding on the rare 1920s Michelin Tyres Illuminated Lightbox eventually saw the hammer coming down at a with-premium price of £6160 (estimate: £2500 - 3500).