1972 E-Type Jaguar fetches over $70,000 in London sale

(September 6, 2014) LONDON — A 1972 one-owner Jaguar E-type S3 FHC stormed past its £17,500 ($28,000) - £20,000 ($32,000) estimate to sell for £45,372 ($72,500) at Barons’ British Heritage sale at Sandown Park on Sept. 2. The car was part of the collection of the late David Cheeseman, and attracted a huge amount of interest, with bids coming in over the internet, from three phone bidders and from bidders in the bustling sale room itself.

Barons had nine Cheeseman collection cars in the sale, and every one sold, with the XK150 Roadster topping the price list, making £50,000 gross, the XK120 FHC achieving £43,692, the MKII 3.8 £15,132, Series One XJ6 manual £9,084, 1978 Triumph Stag £9,868 and the three no reserve cars selling for around gross £2,500.

With the Esher Hall packed with hopeful bidders and an excellent selection of motor cars on offer, it is no surprise to find that some exceptional prices were achieved from not only those in attendance but also from many telephone, on-line and commission bidders.

As is usual with Barons, Jaguars featured heavily and the £13,732 paid for a beautifully presented XJ6 Series 2 SWB saloon (top estimate £10,000) demonstrates, yet again, that Barons is the place to buy and sell classic Jaguars at auction. The bright red E-type S3 Roadster, which had been in the same ownership for 29 years and covered under 60,000 miles, just nudged over top estimate to achieve £42,072, the 6 Weber twin-choke carburetors possibly putting off the Jaguar purist who might have driven the price even higher.

Barons British Heritage Sale is now in its 13th year. The selection of cars on offer at the latest sale spanned British cars from the 1920s onward.

The most written-about lot was the 1984 "garage find" Austin Maestro with just 102 miles on the clock. The ‘delivery’ mileage and fascinating story helped this virtually as-new car achieve an excellent £3,260 gross. Parked alongside the Maestro was another low mileage BL offering in the way of a Rover 214SLi with 37,000 recorded miles, which grossed £1,642. At other end of the scale were the Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible – slightly above top estimate at £44,812 — and the 1964 Austin-Healey 3000, which sold for £43,692.

The sale also featured some non-British cars, in the collectors’ and prestige cars element. The highest seller here was a 1988 UR Quattro coupé (£11,384), closely followed by a 1976 VW T2 Campervan £11,100).