Barely noticed rarities
04/30/2017
Yesterday, the hammer fell once again on almost 100 vehicles at the spring auction in Toffen . These included sports cars and cherished convertible gems, of course, but also former bread-and-butter vehicles, or at least relatives of them. These were then sold at almost sandwich prices, which must have been surprising.
The Sunbeam Sceptre from 1968, for example, would easily rival the rarity of many a Ferrari or even a Mercedes gullwing today. The model from which it was derived, namely the Humber Sceptre, was already rare, but the Sunbeam variant is probably even rarer today. It may well be that not even 10 have survived. The Sunbeam Sceptre is a four-door saloon with a particularly luxurious interior and was built as the Humber Sceptre from 1967 to 1976 as the MK III. With it, not only the model designation disappeared, but also the Humber brand name. For export markets where the Humber name was not familiar, the Sunbeam brand was used.
Would you like another example? Take the Ford Escort (see picture above). It is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. Simply equipped variants of the first series, such as the 1300 L sold in Toffen, are rarely seen today, while the RS models have a much higher survival rate.
Both - Sunbeam and Ford - were sold for four-figure sums, not much money when you consider how much it costs to restore or even just maintain these cars.
And who knows, perhaps such rarities will one day attract much more attention if, for example, a class for bread-and-butter exotic cars is introduced in Pebble Beach or exemptions are made for cars occupied by four or more people when classic cars are banned from driving in cities ...
The comprehensive report on the results of the classic car auction in Toffen has already been published.
