£23,520, Historics, Ascot Racecourse, 17 April
Even in the current market, with values of everyday classics growing like bindweed, this was a remarkable result. We had the best of these guided at below £10k, so Historics pre-sale estimate of £13-17k looked bold.
But that’s auctions for you, and this is possibly the best surviving example of an early 1596cc Vitesse droptop. It came to the sale with several Best in Show awards to its credit. Unbeatable? Probably.
Our latest table of Price Guide Movers On The Up table in the July issue shows Triumph Vitesse Convertibles up between 16% and 24%, depending on variant. That puts the smallest engined versions of these straight six-powered Michelotti-styled cars, the 1600, at £1.5k (rough), £3.5k (good), £7k (mint), and £11.5k (concours).
The 2-litre MkI is now worth within a few percent of the 1600 in equivalent condition at £1.5k, £3.4k, £7k and £11k respectively but the MkII is worth up to £1k more at the top end of the condition scale: £1.65k, £3.75k, £7.k and £12k.
These shifts come in a month when our biggest climbers list is dominated by sub-£50k cars and 69% of them are sub-£20k. Strongest performer? Wolseley 4/44 and 15/50 with an astonishing 41% leap while the smallest is the Lancia Beta HPE up just 2.3%. The highest-value car to make our climbers list is the W113 generation Mercedes 280SL, up 4.2% to £25-100k, depending on condition.
Russ Smith's Market Analysis is part of 18 pages of market tips, analysis and buying advice in the latest issue ofClassic Cars