Morris Leslie’s May classic auction had plenty to tempt bidders up to its Perth headquarters, with a wide variety of interesting lots

Over 80 classics found new homes at Morris Leslie’s latest classic sale, with some impressive results among them.

Several traditional British classics performed well, with a very late Morris Oxford dating from 1971 almost doubling its lower estimate to sell for £6020. A 1961 Rover 100 achieved close to the top end of its guide by making £3630, while a 1959 Land Rover 109 was another to almost double its lower estimate when it sold for £8600. In addition, a 1969 Morris Minor 1000 was another to outperform expectations when it sold for £8600 against a £5000-£6000 guide, and likewise, a very cool Austin A35 van with wide steel wheels and custom touches sold above expectations for £6772.

Other classic cars from a similar period included a smart 1967 Volvo 123GT, which beat its £8250 upper guide to sell for £9782. Skipping forward a generation, a late MG Metro from 1990 showed a mere 38,750 miles and sold for an impressive £7310, while a fellow hatch in the shape of a 1987 Peugeot 205 GTI with a period bodykit smashed its £1000-£1500 guide to reach £5280, despite being a non-runner with a mileage of over 195,000. For those preferring a later – and working – performance three door, a 2003 Ford Focus RS just eclipsed its upper estimate to make £16,555.

Elsewhere, it was something of a Mercedes-Benz show, with a plethora of varied examples performing well. One of the oldest was an imposing 280SE 4.5, which sold towards the top of its guide for £10,320, with the newest a 2008 SLK200, which changed for £5280. In-between, a couple of 1990s R129 SLs exceeded expectations, as did further SLKs, a 2005 CLK and an immaculate 2004 ML, which showed just 18,000 miles and comfortably beat its £9000 upper guide when it achieved a sale price of £12,470.

With a host of no reserve bargains also snapped up – including a 1993 Toyota Celica GT-Four WRC for just £2250 and a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 1 project for a mere £1212 – many of the bumper crowd in attendance went home happy. For further details on upcoming sales, see morrisleslie.com

  • Another entry to outperform expectations was this 1959 Land Rover Series 2 109. Owned by the vendor for 46 years, it was subject to a ground up restoration between 2020 and 2022, and accordingly beat its £5500 upper estimate to sell for £8600
  • One of a host of Mercedes-Benz entries in the sale, this 1972 280SE 4.5 was resplendent in gold and looked to be in excellent condition throughout. The left-hand drive example sold towards the top of its guide for £10,320
  • A very tidy late example showing a mere 55,000 miles, this 1979 MG Midget 1500 looked the part in red with its Minator alloy wheels. It sold above its upper estimate at £4020, but still looked excellent value to us
  • A late Series 4 automatic example registered in 1971, this Morris Oxford has previously been used to tour France and came with a recent advisory free MoT. It was estimated at £3250-£4250 but went on to sell for an impressive £6020
  • Wearing a smart private plate, this 1999 Subaru Impreza Turbo had been treated to numerous performance-enhancing upgrades and came with a packed history file. It beat its £6750-£7500 estimate to sell for an impressive £11,072
  • Boasting an upgraded B20 engine, this lovely 1967 Volvo Amazon 123GT looked smart on Minilite-style wheels and wore original Volvo spotlights. It was estimated at £7500-£8250 but went on to sell for £9782
  • Registered in 2003, this rare Ford Focus RS looked to be in good order despite a relatively high 90,000 miles. One to use and enjoy, it just eclipsed its £16,250 upper estimate to make £16,555