Coys’ first London sale of this year, hosted at the Royal Horticultural Halls on March 8, laid out the customary feat of British automotive achievements peppered by a smattering of Italian and German beauties, including one of Giovanni Giordanengo’s creations, a Ferrari 250 GT SWB Aluminium Spyder looking from all angles like a California Spyder but on a 1950 250 Pininfarina GTE chassis.

Giordanengo, a famous coachbuilder specialising in recreations which may sell for as much as the originals, later restored the midnight blue Ferrari which – though replicating the looks, performance and spirit of a California Spyder - was offered a fraction of the latter’s value, at ￡240k before Coys’ 15% buyer premium. Negotiations were taking place after the auction.

The Ferrari was in good company, with a freshly recommissioned Lamborghini Diablo in unusual red. Coys regards super sportscars of the ‘90s as the new smart investment for car enthusiasts, and the Lamborghini’s estimate, at ￡60k/￡70k, reflected that. The car remained unsold when the bidding reached ￡56k. It’ll probably resurface at the next auction. 

Lower down the Italian rungs, two 1972 and 1979 De Tomaso Panteras sold well at ￡31.3k and ￡30.5k respectively, the former to a German collector and Italian car dealer. Panteras may enjoy a revival of public interest as a rejuvenated De Tomaso brand makes plans to bring out new models and sportscars in the UK by the end of this year.

Quintessentially British pre-war motor cars and classic sportscars looked ‘at home’ in the airy and light Royal Horticultural Halls. The layout of the venue allows for potential buyers to stroll around the cars they may be interested in without elbowing anyone out of the way or missing any of the lively auction action. Yet the 1959 Bentley SI Drophead Coupe, one of only two convertibles bodied in that design by independent coachbuilder H.J.Mulliner, was displayed at the auctioneer’s feet: one of the highlights of the auction, it was the subject of vigorous bidding and changed hands at ￡191k.

Another topless classic, the 1937 Jaguar SS1 Tourer, sold at ￡76K. It was in good company with three E-types (one a Project): the 50th anniversary this year has rather flooded the market with the beautiful sportscars, and immaculate examples shamelessly sold in the ￡70k bracket earlier on are starting to command more reasonable prices at around ￡50k.

British motor sport fans were catered for too, with an original 1956 Cooper Climax Type 39 ‘Bobtail’ complete with FIA papers and ready to race at all the important ‘must-be-seen-at’ historic events such as Goodwood Revival, Le Mans Classic and Gentleman Drivers. It was offered ￡106k, and remained unsold at the end of the auction.

Coys’ Spring auction claimed around 71% sale ratio, with an overall revenue in the region of ￡1.6m.