Between the long-term restoration projects we’ve been working through and a certain pandemic, it’s been a while since we’ve found the time to head to a classic auction. However, we’ve sold a few cars recently, freeing up some space and, besides, there was a certain trident boasting beauty drawing us in to this sale with its boomerang tail lights.
It was a slightly different set-up over at King’s Lynn than we’re used to, with a whole week’s worth of viewing days leading up to a weekend-long sale, with all bidding taking place online or over the phone. Viewing took place by appointment, with 2-hour intervals between sessions for social distancing rules. Although these changes were obviously forced into place because of Covid-19, we actually found them something of an unexpected improvement. As anyone who’s battled their way through the crowds at The Cattlemarket during a normal ACA sale will appreciate, having the space and time to have a proper look at the lots and then bidding from the comfort of your own home was a welcome advance.
Anyway, onto the cars. There was plenty of metal to keep us Italophiles entertained, with a wealth of soft-tops and the largest number of X1/9’s we’ve seen in one place for many a year. Check them each out below with a few of our observations, plenty of photos and the resulting hammer price. There are some surprising results…
1975 Alfa Romeo Spider 2000 Veloce (S2)
Quite an unsuspecting colour for an Alfa Spider, but actually the silver does bring out the muted stylings of the earlier 115 Spiders very nicely indeed. Particularly when it’s on a car that has covered just 16k miles from new! I’m not sure how correct that is - given it’s passed owners no fewer than 6 times it does seem unlikely - but there was certainly nothing in its condition to suggest it was anything but 100% true.
Restored back in 2004, rarely used since, pampered in a dry garage and maintained by specialists like Jamie Porter, this was a stunning example that, to us, was estimated far too cheaply. The sale price even looked reasonably conservative to us for such a nice S2.
1990 Alfa Romeo Spider 2.0 Graduate (S3)
Although the ‘Graduate’ model was intended as a more affordable, entry-level Spider with some of the usual S3 refinements stripped back, they’re now becoming more and more sought after. Sadly, though, this one had lost its original steel wheels somewhere along the lines and had been converted to RHD by its original UK seller, Ramponi. Although the catalogue stated the 69k speedo reading couldn’t be warranted, it looked about right.
A more than presentable example, the only thing that rang our alarm bells was a small hole in the roof. It was big enough to let water in, but whether big enough to warrant a new hood when the rest of it was in pretty great condition, was another matter. Again, this was pretty conservatively estimated so was nice to see it go on and reach a higher value - would have done better with the original Graduate features in place and remaining in LHD, we’d bet.
1997 Alfa Romeo 146 2.0 Ti
We’re still kicking ourselves for forgetting to take any photos of this one, as it was at the very top of our list of potential purchases. The too-often forgotten offering in the ‘hot-hatch’ segment of Alfa’s history, seeing this 146 Ti listed with just 45k miles and apparently cherished by its two owners from new got our pulses racing.
And while we weren’t disappointed, per se, it didn’t really get our bidding fingers twitching as much as we’d thought. Quite a bit of remedial bodywork to attend to (lacquer peel on the spoiler, cracked & rusted paint on the tailgate, scuffed bumpers, etc), distinct lack of history, due a timing belt and a scruffy engine bay; it smacked more of a car that had covered low miles because it had been abandoned in a garden rather than much-loved and pampered, if we’re brutally honest.
Saying that, though, we were under-bidders and did wonder if maybe we should have gone just one more. Could have made a very nice car with some italicar pampering.
Estimate - £1,500 - £2,000
Hammer Price - £1,100
1999 Alfa Romeo GTV 2.0 Twin Spark
While there is no doubt, least of all from us, that the 916 GTV has reached inarguable classic status, shabby examples such as this aren’t included in that. Badly painted wheels, deep scratches and rippled panels, poor paint on the bumpers and mirrors and a worryingly dank stench eminating from cloth-upholstered cabin. Nothing in the service history improved matters either, unfortunately. We weren’t keen.
There was no reserve (understandably so), but when there was so much to choose from in terms of well presented, cared for classics, this stood out as an odd inclusion in the catalogue. Not expensive by any stretch of the imagination, but could have devoured thousands more to get up to any sort of standard.
1999 Alfa Romeo Spider 2.0 Twin Spark
In our books, this was far-and-away the nicest 916 offering in the entire weekend’s sale. Refreshingly original (the head-unit had been replaced but at least it remained the correct shade of silver matching the centre console!), a beautiful colour combination of Proteo Red with light tan leather upholstery and all in great cosmetic condition. Add in the genuine 55k mile speedo reading and a stack of history, and this was a beaut.
Given a pretty wide estimate, this ended up pushing the higher end of current 2.0 916-Spider values but, in our opinion, worth every penny! One to tuck away for the future and bound to be a sound investment. A lovely car we’d have been proud to add to the italicar collection.
2000 Alfa Romeo 2.0 Twin Spark
Another entry which, on paper, really piqued our interest. We’ve always had a hankering for a Zoe Yellow Spider (in an ideal world, it would be Busso-powered) and although the inclusion Red Leather Momo upholstery might have been a bit….”tart’s boudoir” in some people’s books, we were still keen. Not even the 115k miles, seven owners, makeshift parking sensors or a distinct shortfall in service history particularly put us off.
Even when we saw the poor paintwork (you have to accept that metallic yellow’s going to fade at different rates and offer 50-shades of banana, but this had also been badly resprayed in areas) and the 156 17” teledials that didn’t quite fill the rear arches correctly, we still wanted to love it. But, at the price of £2,250 plus fees, it was a bit too rich for us to warrant.
2004 Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 3.2 V6 24v
You had us at GTA. But, then, throw into the mix 130BB Rosso Alfa, ‘horsehoe’ alloys, just 59k miles and pretty much original condition and you’re talking italicar’s language fluently. This is such an underrated model in our opinion. It simply oozes drama from every aspect - the agressive styling, those amazing seats and, wow, that 3.2 soundtrack courtesy of Sr. Busso. Forget your M3’s, your AMG’s - this is the performance saloon for us, thanks.
There wasn’t a huge amount of history, but enough to get by with. In terms of jobs we’d added to our list that would need rectifying; only one of the four jacking point covers from the sideskirts had survived and some aftermarket paintwork on the offside C-pillar had dropped and definitely needed attention. Other than that, though, this was a really good example - the aroma of all that sumptuous leather inside immediately took us back to owning our own GTA probably 10 years ago now. We weren’t entirely convinced the rear wing, albeit a genuine Alfa example, really brought anything to the table, but we’d have lived with it.
Our bidding number may have been involved in this GTA’s rush above the estimate, but we missed out. We think someone’s got themselves a good car here.
2004 Ferrari 575M F1
As lovely as some of the other Italian cars were in the sale, it was pretty hard to tear ourselves away from this gorgeous slab of Pininfarina beauty. A 365-Daytona for milennials, we adore these. I know it’s always been oh-so-fashionable to complain that Ferrari ‘don’t make ‘em like they used to’ but, come on, when was the last time something as knee-tremblingly beautiful as this came out of Maranello?
31k miles, TDF blue, beige hide interior, Scuderia wing shields, red calipers and a full Ferrari history up to 2018, this show-stopper had us questioning whether we really needed two kidneys?
1979 Fiat X1/9
Undoubtedly one of the stars of the auction for us, this remarkable early X1/9 had a unique provenance behind it. Having spent the past 41 years registered on Alderney (an island totalling just 4.5-square-miles in area) it had covered only 18k miles from brand new. Genuine timewarp condition, down to the minutest of details like the original X1/9 luggage set remaining in the boot. As good an X1/9 as we’ve ever seen.
The catalogue stated that it had recently undergone something of a mechanical health-check, but to our eyes this looked otherwise completely unrestored. Literally the only minor issue we could see was a tiny hairline crack on the front valance. Pretty much perfect, really. This deserved to do much, much better and was, for a long time, the bargain of the weekend. See below for a 4-door steal with a De Tomaso connection to see what beat it.
1988 Bertone X1/9
From the sublime to the almost ridiculous. Apparently this X1/9 had been in storage for nearly fifteen years and ‘restored’ last year. Well, if you class a respray (not a bad once, actually, but glass clearly wasn’t removed and the body coloured targa just looked wrong), a new cambelt and a shiny exhaust system as a ‘restoration’, I suppose that might be true. To us, this looked like something that had been quickly tarted up for the auction.
Dripping in fresh schutz paint in all the worrisome areas, with an alarmingly large puddle swimming in one of the rear turrets in the boot, this one wasn’t for us. Nor was it for many of the other bidders, evidently, as bidding petered out way under the estimate and it remains unsold.
1988 Bertone X1/9
While its gunmetal livery might not have been as eye-catching, this late Bertone badged X1/9 was, for our money, the far better of the two 1988 examples present. More conclusive service history, infinitely more original and, overall, a nice, honest example. The wheels in particular impressed us here - these are normally very prone to corrosion, but looked absolutely fantastic. Inside too, the upholstery was very well preserved.
So we were very surprised it struggled to entice only a bid of £5,500 (albeit provisional). Having seen the trajectory of icsunonove values over the past few years, this looked an absolute bargain to us.
1997 Fiat 126P ELX
Lots of people are (unfairly, in our opinion) sniffy about the Polski Fiat 126P. Over 4.5 million of these were built in the FSP factories, making it a massively important model for the marque and something of an icon in its home territory. Affectionately known as the ‘Maluch’ (‘small one’ in Polish), we can see a growing market for these in coming years. So, we watched this one with some interest.
Its condition, however, was a bit of a tale of two halves. From the right hand side everything looked rosy. Walk around to the other side, however, and things weren’t quite so spotless. Heavy scratches and dents to the bodywork and trim made it appear as if it had been rolled over on to its side (maybe to change the exhaust?!). Heartening to see it still made estimate, though.
1998 Fiat Barchetta
We should have been all over this, shouldn’t we? As fully signed-up fanatics of Fiat’s ‘little-boat’ sportscar and partial to Giallo Ginestra, we were up for it initially. Sadly, though, it was just too far gone to warrant. Paintwork had faded (as expected), the odd Abarth badges rang alarm bells, those marmite steel wheels were badly corroded and there were signs of seam sealer in some pretty frightening places on the chassis.
Throw in the fact that it’s been off the road for five years now, and this clearly needed some money throwing at it. Too much for our budget to get involved at the bidding once it was above the £2k mark.
1997 Lancia Kappa 2.0 Turbo Coupe
This was a case of heart very much versus head here for us. Never having actually seen a Kappa Coupe in the metal, this was a rare treat. Not even the most unhinged of Lanciaphiles is ever going to claim this is the prettiest car to ever bear the badge, but we loved it’s quirkiness. Those little hints at fins over the rear are a great touch, and the little touches of luxury inside are typically over-enginered Lancia.
Ultra rare (only a handful over 3000 k Coupes were ever built), a 2.0 16V Turbo Lampredi engine shared with the integrale and 202bhp. So, why on earth didn’t we buy it? The small matter of 171,000 miles, to be blunt. Built on a massively modified floorplan from the 166, we can only guess at what sort of money might need to be sunk into the suspension, etc after this sort of distance. Shame, we may never see another one.
1982 Maserati Quattroporte III 4.9
Looking like it had just rolled straight out of a Netflix documentary on the Mafia, this bronzed behemoth took some beating. Unusually, the 4.9-litre V8 was mated to a manual, 5-speed ZF transmission. Stunning condition, it had covered just 20k miles from new and looked every inch as good as you’d expect. The cabin smelt like a gentleman’s club, swathed in wood and leather and this was definitely my favourite of the weekend.
So the fact this made just £16,500 under the hammer is an absolute mystery to us. Yes, the De Tomaso era of Maserati’s history is probably it’s nadir, but come on, what else can you get sub £17,000 in the classic market today? This has to be an absolute steal.
Maserati 3200 GT
Look, lets not talk about this one, okay? We’re still a little raw. This is twice now we’ve narrowly missed out on a 3200 in an ACA classic car sale. We were really keen on this one. 55k miles, recent new timing belt and big service, decent history, a couple of little marks here and there to the bodywork but looked like a very straight, honest car. We wanted it. Badly.
The hammer price looks reasonable, but once you’ve added the various fees on top, you’re getting very close to full retail value. That’s without being able to hear it start up (you’re not allowed to do this on viewing days, and it’s impossible to hear on the livestream when bidding) and absolutely no come-backs if there’s something terminally wrong with it. We were close, but no boomerang-tail-light-shaped cigar for us this time.
