THIS WEEK was featured by yet another second-hand car sale -- at the
Honourable Artillery Company's headquarters in the City of London. Just
off City Road, it has plenty of warehouse space and an ample playing
field, both rare in the city, and it has become a regular venue for
Sotheby's car sales.
Top price was paid by the pioneering publisher, Eddy Shah, who bought
two cars. He paid #231,000 for a very rare 1927 61!/;1/-litre Bentley
tourer in what might be described as ''interesting restoration project''
condition -- estate agent jargon? -- and bought Sir Malcolm Campbell's
31!/;1/-litre saloon of the same marque for #51,700.
Stirling Moss bought himself a sedate little 1898-99 American Allen
71!/;1/hp runabout for #19,800, a truly historic car, but a little less
fiery than he is used to.
Star of the show, a 1965 Ferrari coupe failed to find a buyer at
#400,000, possibly because punters were distracted by an enormous open
thirties' Mercedes 500K parked outside, which was not even in the sale.
The car is estimated to go for up to #1m when it comes under the hammer
in Monaco on July 23. It seems rather, however, an extremely sinister,
noisy and expensive way to cart oneself around the landscape.
A few years ago, the major auction houses held one or two vintage and
veteran car auctions and they were mostly low-key affairs. All too
often, the most interesting lot was a car once owned by the Beatles and
not a ''collectable'' in its own right.
Nowadays, things have changed dramatically. Vintage and classic cars
are outstripping even the Impressionists in the sale room. Christie's
May sale in Monte Carlo two years ago brought in a total of #4.2m.
This year in May, a very similar selection sold for nearly #18m -- an
increase of over 400%. An Aston Martin DBR2, from the early days of the
marque's return to racing in the 1950s, fetched a staggering #2.17m.
A figure of over a million would have been unthinkable only a few
years ago, except for the rarest and most unusual vehicle.
An interesting aspect of Sotheby's auction this week was the number of
last-minute additional lots, mostly of decidedly mundane post-war
vehicles. Out of a total of 89 lots, 27 were supplementary. Everyone
appears to be jumping on the bandwagon.
Quite apart from the fact that most small boys would prefer to play
with motor cars than fine pictures, a major reason for the upsurge must
be the kindly treatment from the tax office.
Joyce Jacobs of the Inland Revenue was the one to point out to me what
should have been obvious, and I am indebted to her.
Under present regulations, the profit from the sale of a car more than
four years old does not attract capital gains tax and this, of course,
applies to vintage and classic cars. That pretty jar on the mantlepiece,
taken to the BBC's Antiques Roadshow, turns out to be worth a bomb.
Well, the bomb turns out to be taxable.
Moreover, the capital cost of a car used for business purposes can be
offset against profits for tax purposes, she suggests.
A major proportion of the cars being sold have MoTs, even the very old
ones.
Coming up this month is Sotheby's Monaco sale on the 23rd, with the
Mercedes. Despite the somewhat scathing comments, it is an outstanding
car. Before that, and a bit closer to home, Christie's will be holding
an auction at Lord Montagu's house next to the National Motor Museum at
Beaulieu, Hampshire, on July 10.
It should be worth a visit just to see the extraordinary 1907
Metallurgique Maybach, powered by a 21-litre airship engine.
However, it might be hard to persuade Ms Jacobs it could be used for
business purposes.
Alternatively, Elsie comes up today at Phillips' traditional sale of
river craft at Henley Royal Regatta. Elsie is a classic 30ft Thames
launch built in 1913 and in the ownership of the same family since new.
Phillips' auction makes a change from the rowing and long skirts in the
enclosures -- mini-skirts are rigorously banned at Henley.
* A SCOTTISH manuscript, the Moneypenny Breviary, achieved the second
highest price ever for a manuscript at auction, when it sold to the
Paris dealer Pierre Beres for #1.87m at Sotheby's auction of the final
part of Major J.R. Abbey's great library in June.
Sir William Moneypenny was a Scottish ambassador in France, married to
Katherine Stewart.
The breviary, made in Bourges, France, in the 1490s and showing the
arms of Moneypenny and Stewart, was commissioned by their two sons.
They both went on to achieve high rank in France, once as a councillor
and chamberlain to Louis XII, the other as abbey to the Convent of St
Saturin Berry.
Puritanism in Scotland has resulted in medieval liturgical manuscripts
made for Scottish patrons being extremely rare.
The library of Major Abbey -- he died in 1969 -- which was the last of
the great English private collections, has now all been dispersed.
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