Anglia Car Auctions set a new auction house record in its June Classic Car Sale.

Anglia Car Auctions set a new auction house record in its June Classic Car Sale with the sale of a 1962 Maserati 3500 GT for £117,600 including premium, more than three times its highest estimate.

With 263 classic vehicles on offer, the matching numbers exhumed Maserati was just one of 72 per cent of lots sold with an overall sales total of £1,955,860 as the hammer dropped for the final time on Saturday 13^thJune.

Proprietor Lyn George said: “It was a great auction with a diverse catalogue and we’d like to thank all the vendors and bidders who came and supported the sale. We still have some outstanding provisional bids, which we feel confident will take the final figure to over £2,000,000.”

Other estimate busters included a genuine 59,000 miles 1987 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth barn find, with an estimate of £15-20,000, which saw the hammer down at £47,250 including premium.

ACA’s success with Mercedes ‘Pagoda’ sales continued with a two-owner 1967 250 selling at the higher end of its estimate at £81,900 including premium, while a 1957 190SL rested at the lower end, selling at £61,950 plus premium.

The limited edition BMW E30 M3 Europameister sold at £38,850, with all but one of the dozen BMWs on offer also finding new homes.

With its biggest-ever Capri offering, the Kings Lynn auction house saw the last off the line 280 Brooklands sell for £14,910 including premium.

Rare, mega low mileage 30th anniversary Mini's going under the hammer,

A pair of low mileage Mini 30 special editions will be the star cars at Anglia Car Auctions’ forthcoming Classic Car Sale on Saturday 4^th April. The cars, from a production run totalling just 3000, have been in storage for 25 years. One has just 18 miles from new, while the other has covered 137 miles.

The Mini 30 was a celebration of the Mini’s thirtieth anniversary with 2,000 cars produced in Cherry Red Pearlescent, and a further 1,000 in black. 

The cars, from the same source, were registered with the same sequence of digits and have been stored in a heated garage since 1989. Both cars are completely original, retaining their original alloy wheels and unique Mini 30 trim.  Both cars still have their handbooks, brochures, and commemorative books by Rob Golding as originally provided by Austin Rover.

The black 18-mile car has an estimate of £11-15,000, while the Cherry Red 137-mile example has an estimate of £10-15,000. As neither have been driven since 1989, neither have ever been MoT’d.

A Mini 35 special edition is also available. One of only 200, the car was recently imported from Japan and is completely rust free. The guide price for this example is £4-5,000.

Anglia Car Auctions’ proprietor Lyn George said “These cars are bound to attract Mini collectors from all over, especially being such low mileage Mini 30s in pristine condition. Our April sale is historically very popular so we’re bringing in more catering, opening a second gate to make entrance for the public much easier and even have a block of Portaloos on order.”

The Kings Lynn auction house celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year as well as ten years of its successful classic car auctions.

Timewarp unregistered MG Midget, up for auction.

Anglia Car Auctions has discovered another ‘timewarp’ classic with low mileage – an unregistered 1980 MG Midget with just 162 miles on the clock.

The vendor brought the car brand new after hearing of the imminent demise of MG but never registered the vehicle as he intended to give the car to one of his young children on passing their driving test. 

ACA owner Lyn George explains: “After 11 months, the car was despatched to Holland Brothers in Sleaford, in a horsebox of all things, for its first annual service. The car had, at this point, covered just 143 delivery miles.

“Whilst at the main dealer, they discovered that the speedo would not read above 10mph. It was duly replaced and the speedometer now reads 19 miles giving a total mileage of 162.” 

The car, in vermillion red, remains unregistered but is complete with the original bill of sale, owner’s handbooks, and service manuals. It is estimated to warrant a sale price of between £7,000 to £9,000.

The MG Midget will be just one of the vehicles on offer in Anglia Car Auctions’ Classic Sale on Saturday 14^thJune, with viewing on the afternoon of Friday 13th June.

1987 Volvo 340 - Time Warp - 132 miles and in near mint condition

A 1987 Volvo 340 with just 132 miles on the clock from new has been uncovered by Anglia Car Auctions for the upcoming Classic sale on Saturday  April 5^th at its King’s Lynn auction house.

The car was bought brand new from Lancaster Volvo and was barely used by the original owner. After a few weeks the car suffered a coming together with a bollard at a garden centre, grazing the driver’s side wing.

Confidence shaken, the elderly owner put the car into garage where it stayed until the beginning of March when its was dragged out of hiding and added to the auction catalogue. 

The 340 was the result of a joint venture between Volvo and Dutch carmaker DAF. DAF were looking for a partner to help them bring the car to market, while Volvo were interested in the Renault engines that DAF had access to.

The partnership worked, and eventually DAF would be absorbed into Volvo. Compared to contemporaries from Ford and Volkswagen the Volvo stood out, thanks to its rear-wheel drive layout, De Dion suspension and rear-mounted gearbox. The 340 would go on to enjoy a successful career in motorsport and, typically for a Volvo, an enviable record for safety.

This 340 uses the 1.7 litre Renault-sourced petrol engine and still boasts its original battery, coolant, oil and spark plugs. Incredibly it’s even retained its original dealer-issue Volvo-branded paper floor mates.

Rob George, Anglia Car Auctions, said: " Plenty of people claim to offer a ‘time warp’ classic but in the case of this Volvo 340 the term was never more fitting.”

Despite its long hibernation the 340 starts and runs, though understandably items like the brakes may well require attention. There’s no sign of corrosion on the car and the interior retains that new-car smell.

For more information on Anglia Car Auctions, visit www.angliacarauctions.co.uk