Historics at Brooklands – the classic and sports car auctioneer – believes a recent spate of wet weather will do nothing to dampen the British enthusiasm for ‘soft-tops’, as it brings no fewer than 27 examples to auction on Saturday 26th May.
With interest in roadsters remaining rife, Historics’ current catalogue boasts 15 British born cars suitable for enjoying the summer sun, whatever the bank balance.
For those with the biggest budget, a 1933 Bentley 4¼ litre Open Tourer in the Vanden Plas style represents the ultimate in topless indulgence. Originally used by Bentley Motors as an experimental model, the car’s residence latterly in the Midlands Motor Museum is testament to its superb provenance, and it is valued at between £100,000 and £140,000.
Launched to great acclaim at the 1948 Earls Court motor show, the Jaguar XK120 mates timeless elegance with bristling performance. With parts plentiful, the XK120 remains an attractive option for top-down touring today, with Historics offering a sympathetically uprated 1954 drophead coupé for £75,000 – £85,000.
Equally alluring and in the same price range is a rare 1959 Jaguar XK150S Roadster. Formerly owned by Le Mans racer Nick Faure, the 150S boasts the highly desirable uprated 250bhp engine, which took the elegant sports tourer to 137mph, and from standstill to 60mph in just 7.8 seconds.
Earls Court connections continue with a 1953 Alvis TA21 Three Position drophead coupe by Tickford. For early TA21’s it was not uncommon for Alvis to swap bodies on the drophead coupés, which is how a car that started life with the Swiss Alvis importer in Zurich, before returning to the UK via California, has come to sport the body from the 1950 Earls Court show car. With a beauty to truly behold, Historics are anticipating offers in the region of £24,000 – £28,000 at auction.
Although designed by Italian styling guru Giovanni Michelotti, the Triumph Spitfire is considered as quintessentially British a car as they come, with the Mk.IV 1500 model delivering the successful Spitfire range a genuine 100mph model. Having covered just 16,800 miles, Historics brings a 1979 car benefitting from the addition of a roll bar and high performance exhaust system to auction, with bids expected in the region of £4,500 – £6,000.
Equally affordable – with an estimate between £3,000 and £6,000 – and with its own intriguing history, is a 1960 Ford Zephyr Mk.II Convertible. Although the Mk.II was a big seller in its day, convertibles – featuring a power hood that was rare in the 1960s – were produced in far smaller numbers. The example on offer via Historics next sale is from the estate of the late Dan Dare artist, Arthur Bruce Cornwall, and with a few of his own external embellishments, represents a tidy car.
