Barn finds rule at Heritage sale
2012-08-13 10:31
RESURRECTED FROM A DUSTY GRAVE: One of the British Heritage auction's star performers has been spruced up after a 31-year stay in a dusty garage.
A number of rare finds will make their way to centre stage at a British Heritage sale, including a 1961 racing Mini restored after being stuffed in a dusty garage for 31 years.
The Mini was upgraded back in the 1960's by Oselli in one of the performance tuning specialist’s earliest conversions. It's regarded as a highly collectable classic but was taken off the road in the early 1980's and gathered dust in a garage.
BRITISH BIG HITTERS
Also going under the hammer will be an immaculate 1969 Mini Cooper Mk.II that was subjected to a full restoration in 2004/05, including a new body. Since its restoration, the car has been used as a concours entrant and is never driven in rain or bright sunlight.
Auctioneers reckon the Oselli Mini could make the equivalent of close to R130 000, the Cooper perhaps around R190 000.
The sale will also see the sale of a 1950 Bentley Mk.VI (according to its owner, swopped for "a very nice Ford Cortina" in 1987) that has been comprehensively restored and carries an estimate of R228 000 to R278 500, and a 1948 Rover P2 12 Tourer of which only 200 were built. It will be sold with its original tool kit for perhaps R235 000.
The auction on September 18 2012 at Sandown Park in Surrey, England, will also offer a selection of cars made outside the UK, including a glamorous 1939 French-built Hotchkiss 686 Riviera DHC and a 1958 Mercedes-Benz 190SL with a factory hard top.
