The first ACA sale of the year saw an interesting mix of classics go under the hammer. Here are our highlights

Words: Joe Miller

With the weather surprisingly mild, plenty of bidders turned up for Anglia Car Auctions’ (ACA) first sale of the year. The catalogue was an intriguing one too, packed with everyman classics, prestige, traditional models, former street furniture and a host of alluring projects.

Many lots found homes at impressive prices, including some 1970s stalwarts. These began with a 1973 Ford Cortina Mk3 1600XL that beat its lower estimate to sell for £4968, with 1979 Vauxhall Chevette 1.3L in saloon making £3240 having been offered with no reserve. Perhaps rarest of our ’70s favourites, however, was a 1975 Datsun 120Y Estate. Surely one of just a handful left, it looked to be in fine fettle and was sold for £3780.

Further entries from the same decade came thick and fast, with a 1972 MGB GT beating its estimate to sell for £2916, and a 1977 Mercedes W123 in rare ‘250’ guise exceeding its £3000-£4000 guide to achieve £4320. Rarest of all was a stunning 1972 Fiat 130 Coupe, with the V6-powered GT flying past its £5000-£7000 estimate to sell for £9072.

Modern classics had a great sale too, with a tidy 2002 MG TF beating its estimate to sell for £2592, a 2006 Chrysler Crossfire Roadster in striking yellow exceeding its guide to fetch £3348 and pleasingly unmodified 1999 Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000 Estate offered with no reserve making £5292. Elsewhere, a 2004 Toyota Corolla T-Sport 190 sold mid-estimate for £2592, joined by the 2002 MGZS 180 that achieved £2700, a 1999 Bentley Arnage that beat its estimate to sell for £12,420 and a 2003 Range Rover L322 Vogue with just 36,000 miles that found a new home for a remarkable £13,392.

Fords are always a firm favourite, and this sale had blue ovals for all tastes and budgets. A superb 1980 Escort RS2000 sold mid-estimate for £27,540, while the Mk1 Ford Focus range was bookended by a 2002 RS that managed a final figure of £18,360 and a humbler 1.6 LX, which sold for £1160.

Elsewhere, a 1987 Sierra XR4x4i combined its rarity with excellent condition to achieve £5994, and a recently restored 1992 Mk5 Escort Van stood out even more, being perhaps the tidiest we’ve seen. With just 58,000 miles and extensive original paperwork, it sold for £5184. For the full list of results, see angliacarauctions.co.uk

  • This 1988 Vauxhall Cavalier SRi had only had one owner from new, but had been dry-stored due to a fuel leak. Offered with no reserve, its last MoT expired in 2006, but that didn’t stop it selling for an impressive £7236.
  • The much-maligned Citroën C3 Pluriel is a rare sight nowadays, often owing to poor reliability. However, this 2010 Charleston Edition – in homage to the popular 2CV edition – surpassed a £2000-£2500 estimate to sell for an impressive £3240.
  • Unquestionably the loudest car in the sale was this 1963 Corvette C2 Stingray Roadster, complete with twin side-pipes. The metallic brown muscle car sported an uprated 327ci V8 and surpassed its £28,000-£34,000 guide to fetch an impressive £38,880.
  • Perhaps the rarest car in the sale was this stunning 1973 Fiat 130 Coupe. Boasting the lovely 3.2-litre V6 and substantial recent specialist expenditure, it flew past a £5000-£7000 estimate to sell for £9072.
  • This 1991 Nissan Figaro proves that the classically-styled curio is now an appreciating classic in its own right – with just 59,000 miles on the clock and a tasteful respray in red, it beat a £2000-£3000 estimate and fetched £3672.
  • This 1960 Austin-Healey Frogeye Sprite was very unusual, sporting a Shorrock supercharger that was approved by BMC and fitted (we believe) by Donald Healey Ltd in Warwickshire. Dry-stored until recommissioning in 2013, it topped its upper estimate to sell for £15,012.
  • After some years in the doldrums, the W114-generation Mercedes saloons are finally garnering interest – this 1973 250 Auto smashed a £4500-£5500 guide to sell for £7020.
  • Said to have been barn-stored for 25 years at least, this 1977 Opel Kadett Coupe was offered with no reserve as an ambitious but outwardly solid-looking restoration. It ultimately fetched a remarkable £10,152.