Coys sold a claimed 40 cars out of 62 offered for a 65 per cent sale rate at its annual Blenheim sale, held in conjunction with the Octane Concours. Top seller was the first Bentley 3 Litre Speed Model made. The 1924 Red Label car was in super and very original condition after an older restoration, and it fetched £155,500 in the room.

A Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster was close at £270,000 bid between three phones, but went on to Coys next sale at the Nurburgring on August 8 in the hope of better luck. Two ex-film stars sold well: one of the For Your Eyes Only 1980 Lotus Esprits fetched a solid £103,800, about what the market has come to expect for a Bond Esprit, and the ‘wicker’ 1963 Mini Cooper once owned by Peter Sellers and used in the Inspector Clouseau comedy A Shot In The Dark, approached ex-works rally car money.

This was the second of two near-identical Coopers the former Goons star owned: the first was built by Hooper, but this left-hand drive car was copied by Radford, opening a whole new market for the coachbuilder. It served time as Sellers’ transport in France and, via Beverly Hills and later repatriation to the UK, returned there on a phone bid of £37,000, or £42,200 all in.