Barons Heritage’s ‘Mid-Week Sale’ kicked off in Esher with a reasonably large crowd of prospective buyers, mainly composed of dealers, with a sprinkling of private buyers.

Bidding started briskly enough, with a MG Midget Mk3 that fetched a reasonable £3000, secured through a telephone bid. However, proceedings then struggled: with many cars either not selling or only provisionally sold, the turn came for an unusual vehicle, a 2003 US Ford Thunderbird convertible in red, with low mileage and powered by a Jaguar-sourced 3.9 AJV8. Even such a rare combination elicited a maximum bid of £13,250, provoking the auctioneer to quip that he refused even to submit the bid.

A rare and interesting gem was the beautiful 1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale, in Rosso Corsa and sporting extensive and expensive restoration in the early 1990s. It sold for £39k, a good deal for both buyer and seller.

Most interest as normal was centred around the Jaguars, with no less than five E-types on offer, in various degrees of desirability and condition, right up to the star of the show (if not of the E-type herd): a black S3 Commemorative model in excellent condition with an upper estimate of £160k.

Yet, despite being the 12th from last ever built, and benefiting from a £40k restoration, it failed to sell after reaching £120k. Barons is currently busy negotiating a deal with three potential buyers, post-sale.

Keeping on the Jaguar theme, a XK150S Roadster with the only visible disadvantage of being a left-hooker failed to sell at £80k, against a lower estimate of £90k.

Even an E-type S3 V12 convertible of similar colour and finish to the XK150 S, fitted with a Getrag manual five-speed gearbox and lower ratio differential, plus a desirable “53CAT” number plate, sold only provisionally for £33k.

Another American rarity was a 1953 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket Convertible with a two-tone red and white body, an unmolested interior, and what only an euphemism would call ‘patina’ again failed to sell but was offered £13k.

After most of the Jaguars and the E-types had been auctioned, the crowd thinned, missing a sleeper: a 1960 MkIX Jaguar, looking like a standard car finished in black/red but fitted with a six-litre, fuel-injected V12 and GM 400 ‘box and modified XJ40 suspension. Ten years of continuous work on the model helped it reach another provisional bid of £26k.

The auction finished with the cheapest Bentley Mulsanne - a recorded mileage of only 38k miles was bid to £7250.

Barons sold about 50% of the cars available. One could argue that the less-than-sparkling results may be an indication of winter and long nights looming, or the ghost of recession. More likely is the fact that, given the company’s successful track record, this is a September glitch with less-than-average attendance, two more auctions taking place around the same time, and few private internet and telephone bidders.