H &H Classics reported a 70 percent sell-through rate for its Donington Park auction over the weekend. Although it did not report a total sales figure, it did note that there was “an absence of any Brexit jitters” and a record price paid for an unrestored Velocette Thruxton motorcycle.
The bike, a 1966 model, sold for £20,000 ($26,451), twice the pre-sale estimate, and a new world record for an unrestored bike of this type.
“We are delighted with this result and this new record,” Mark Bryan, head of H&H Classics’ motorcycle department said in a news release, adding that motorcycles sold at an 85 percent sell-through rate during the auction.
Accoring to H&H, the Velocette was the last British single, being produced until 1971, when the company closed its Hall Green, Birmingham, factory.
Sold at no reserve, the bike had only two previous owners and had been in storage since the 1970s. The Thruxton was a factory-built cafe racer and successor to the famed and record-setting Venom model.
The Thruxton had an upgraded engine producing 40 horsepower and in 1967 Thruxtons finished 1-2 in the Production TT on the Isle of Man.
“It is super rare to find a bike in this condition, which is not even on the Velocette Owners Club register,” Bryan noted. “This motorcycle is a very real and rare discovery.”
Among the cars sold at the auction:
1933 Sunbeam Sports Coupe brings $45,200• A 1933 Sunbeam 25hp Sports Coupe, an older restoration from a brand that once rivaled Bentley, Lagonda and the like, sold for £34,320 ($45,200).
• A barn-found 1972 Lotus Elan Sprint came out of 14 years of storage and sold for £25,168 ($33,285), double its pre-auction estimate and a strong number for a car that wasn’t running and had been converted from a coupe to a convertible.
• A 1966 Daimler V8 250 originally delivered to Australia also exceeded its estimated value when it sold for £15,444 ($20,028).
• A 1972 Jaguar E-type V12 coupe, owned by the consignor since 1982, a manually shifted vehicle still with its original red interior and only 48,000 miles on its odometer, was the high-sale of the auction at £41,756 ($55,225), nearly double its pre-sale expectation.
• A 1967 Lancia Fulvia 1.8 coupe that had appeared in the British television program CAR SOS sold for £21,450 ($28,370), double its anticipated value.
1976 Stingray sells for $26,628• A 1976 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with custom exhaust went for £20,134 ($26,628), again more than double its pre-sale estimate.
