£259k Triumph TR2 tops Silverstone’s £5.75m NEC sale

Trebles all round for Silverstone Auctions, which conducted a two-day sale of motor cars, motorbikes and automobilia on 9-10 November at the Classic Motor Show held at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. Top seller was the Triumph TR2 driven by Leslie Brooke and Mortimer Morris-Goodall to 19th position at the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Impressive work by the Midlands-based company not only to consign the TR2 (below) but also to sell it, and overall sell-through by number was a strong 76%.

The distinctive early ‘washboard’ Aston Martin DB2 was less successful and went home unsold; however, two DB5s did find new owners. The California Sage, fully restored – with some mods – car (pictured, top) achieved £618,750 gross, while the Silver Birch car (once owned by British DJ Chris Evans) went for £607,500 with premium.

Also on the Aston front, a wannabe Roy Salvadori put (probably ‘invested’) £75,375 into a 2013 Evanta 'DBR1 Evocation'. They walk among us.

Elsewhere, other punchy results included £362,813 for the 1993 Jaguar XJ220 (two owners, 2,000 miles from new, recommissioned by expert Don Law in 2016); £41,625 for the LHD, two-owner, resprayed but basically untouched 1975 Range Rover and £65,250 for the fully restored 1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1.

Considering the parochial setting, this was a remarkably good effort that could teach some of the international salerooms a thing or two.

In brief:

Gross: £5,753,630
Number of cars offered: 114
Number of cars sold: 87
Percentage of cars sold by number: 76%
Average value of cars sold: £66,134

Photos by Silverstone Auctions