Plus four new world records
Silverstone Auctions: We’re often asked: ‘How is the car market doing at the moment?’ A simple answer is that changing trends and economic fluctuations mean some things naturally plateau or come down in value, whereas others will rise. It has been an interesting year for classic cars with significant changes in the market place. One key trend is the continued rise of the Japanese Domestic Market cars.
The remarkable rise in Japanese Domestic Market cars continues to amaze, the early 2000’s JDM cars have really come on strong yet again this year. For a generation who grew up watching Fast and Furious, playing Gran Turismo and Need for Speed these JDM halo cars have fond memories. Across many auction houses the results achieved for 22B’s and Tommi Makkinens have been startling.
1987 Toyota Corolla AE86 Twin-Cam. The Classic Sale at Silverstone 2022 new UK record at £50,625
An instant cult-classic best known for its starring roll in the hugely popular TV show, Initial D, this UK-registered in 2017, Twin-Cam AE86 has been subject to a recently completed £20,000 restoration.
2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII MR FQ-400 The NEC Classic Motor Show Sale 2022 new World record at £72,000
The Japanese collectable story is very similar to what happened with ‘Fast Fords’ - when car values dropped many cars were ragged about, crashed, scrapped, rusted away, or broken for parts. So the good surviving and restored examples nowadays rightfully command a premium. We see that the upward trend in popularity and desirability of these JDM cars will continue to grow with the cars becoming rarer.
Now that the Japanese Domestic Market cars have truly caught the wind you can expect Nissan GT-R’s to steadily continue to rise, but also monitor brands like Toyota with Supras and Twin Cams as they are sure to take up the vacuum. The cascade effect of the higher value cars will drive astute buyers to lesser models as they look for the next investment. Now really is the time to buy.
Rob Hubbard. Sales Director and Principal Auctioneer for Silverstone Auctions, says: “During 2022 the collector’s car world has witnessed some truly extraordinary results, with an ever increasing and more knowledgeable customer buyer base. Originality, low mileage, and quality have never been more important – and many such equipped examples have achieved new UK and world record prices.
1989 Jaguar XJ-S 5.3-Litre V12 Convertible - Unregistered - 100 miles from new – Sold for £131,625. The NEC Classic Motor Show Sale 2022 new World Record
Conceived as a comfortable and long-legged Grand Routier, rather than an out-and-out sports car like the preceding E-Type, the XJ-S made use of the Jaguar XJ6/XJ12 saloon platform and running gear. Shorter in the wheelbase than its saloon siblings, the XJ-S debuted as a V12-powered Coupe. It was not until 1988 that a full convertible became available, however, and it was a marvel of engineering. It is fair to say that Jaguar took their time to perfect the convertible mechanism and such was its durability it was adopted by Aston Martin for the DB7 Volante. The 5.3 V12 Convertible produced between 1988 and 1991 is acknowledged as the XJ-S Convertible in its purest form.
2017 Ferrari F12tdf Limited Edition 1/799 A Sale of Ferraris In Association With The Ferrari Owners' Club GB new World record – sold for £678,500.
One of only 799, this ultra low mileage 'Tour de France' is finished in a rather stylish colour combination.
The F12 Berlinetta is the ultimate front-engined, rear-wheel drive Grand Tourer from Ferrari and made its debut at the 2012 Geneva Show featuring one of Ferrrari’s last naturally-aspirated V12 6.3-litre engines which delivered 740bhp with an impressive 690 Nm of torque offering 0-62mph in just 3.1 seconds and a top speed of 211mph.
2010 Ford Focus RS500 - 948 miles. The NEC Classic Motor Show Sale 2022 new World Record at £99,000.
The Ford Focus RS500 made its global debut at the Leipzig Motor Show on 9th April 2010 and marked the final swansong for production of the remarkable, second generation Focus RS. The new and more powerful, limited edition Focus RS500 model was launched as the ultimate performance Ford to provide the definitive driving experience for serious performance car enthusiasts. The new model was given the RS500 designation to highlight its strictly limited production run of 500 individually-numbered vehicles and featured a muscular 345bhp, 2.5-litre, five-cylinder engine, which generated 15% more power than the standard Focus RS and delivered truly exhilarating performance.
We have continued to witness a rise in 80s, 90s and 2000s cars, as buyers growing up with these cars now have the disposable income to relive their youth and purchase nostalgia.
1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth sold at The NEC Classic Motor Show Sale 2022, setting a new World record at £132,750.
This amazing Sierra Cosworth dates from 1986 and has incredibly covered just 8,795 miles from new. Looking as crisp as ever in Moonstone Blue with a virtually unmarked Recaro grey cloth interior, just two former keepers have had the pleasure of owning this time-warp car from new. It was dry stored in 2003 and only recently emerged from hiding to undergo a thorough recommissioning in April of this year at a cost approaching £7,000. The originality of this car cannot be underestimated, and during its preparation for the sale our vendor employed a professional detailer to present the RS in its best light and he stated that it was perhaps the finest he had ever seen.
Silverstone Auctions will continue to offer traditional live auctions for both Motorcycles and Classic and Collectors cars in 2023, along with the personal, professional, and transparent service that they have become so well known for. Details of their 2023 auctions can be found on their website www.silverstoneauctions.com
