Rare vintage and classic tractors help create a successful sale

Cheffins’ Cambridge Vintage Sale at Sutton, near Ely on the 21st April 2018 made a total of £1.4million over 3,000 lots. Showcasing a number of the world’s most unusual classic cars, motorcycles, tractors and steam engines, the sale was a major event for collectors and enthusiasts from across the country.  

The headline lot of the day was a 1919 Albion Anglo-American Oil Company delivery lorry which sold for £60,900, which is the highest price paid for a vintage commercial vehicle in the UK for some considerable time. It has only had two owners from new, and was bought by the vendor in 1985, still in the Anglo American Oil Co livery. It was fully restored in 2011, including over £1,500-worth of gold leaf used to recreate the sign writing. Another exceptional lot was a 1907 Davey Paxman steam engine, which was ready to show and rally and sold for a stunning £98,700. This is one of only a handful of traction engines known to still be in existence. 

Of the 212 tractors available on the day, the top price went to a very well presented 1966 Doe-130 which had been fully restored and sold for £72,975. Ford and Fordson conversions were also popular with buyers with two restored Roadless examples selling for £53,550 for a 118 version and £31,500 for a 980 version. Similarly, a 1979 County 7700-FOUR tractor which was consigned directly from a local farm sold for a record £25,725. Older examples also sold well with a 1920s Ruston & Hornsby British Wallis selling for £41,475 and a 1945 Marshall Model M selling for £21,000. 

The automotive and motorcycle section also saw strong prices paid on the day with the lead lot being a 1960 BMW R60 motorcycle and sidecar selling for £11,016, whilst a 1977 Ducati 900SS ‘Special’ made £9,720. Other highlights included a single owner collection of auto literature with 75 lots selling for a total of £11,500. Other vintage car lovers were interested in the sale of part of the world-renowned automobilia collection from Goodwood Revival and set and prop hire company, Themed Garages. Owned by famous enthusiast, Stewart Imber, the collection has previously appeared on Channel 4, Quest TV and has been dressing sets at The Goodwood Revival since 2005. Of the 140 items for sale the top price went to a ‘Michelin Man’ forecourt compressor which sold at £2,310. For those looking for something completely unusual the 1973 Rolls-Royce Shadow pick-up drew attention and eventually sold for £4,200. This is a conversion from an original Rolls Royce which now comes with a completed tailgate. 

Also on offer was a collection of six working models of tractors, balers and a combine from constructor Roger Townshend. These took a combined total of £52,800, with the top price going to the Nuffield 10/60 model which achieved £16,500, a stunning result when a life size example would have cost a sixth of that amount. 

Cheffins chairman Bill King comments:

“Over 3,000 lots went under the hammer in the April heatwave and drew crowds of biblical proportions to what must be the busiest vintage sale hosted by Cheffins to date. There was a superb line up of tractors as well as classic cars, motorbikes, models and various other memorabilia items. Prices achieved were spectacular with a number of records broken for various items. The automobilia section was also particularly strong at this year’s sale and we look forward to a further tranche of items from the Stewart Imber collection later on in the year.”