Lightweight Porsche 911 Turbo S breaks half million barrier at auction

A lightweight Porsche 911S Turbo Leichtbau sold for £556,875 at auction over the weekend. Fierce competition from two bidders at the Silverstone Auctions sale pushed the car over the half-a-million mark when it went under the hammer on 13 May.

Porsches in general sold well, with a 1989 Porsche 911 Speedster sold for £164,250 (exceeding its lower estimate by £19,250). A 1961 Porsche 356B Cabriolet beat its lower estimate by almost £24,000 when a two-way bidding battle pushed the sale price to £123,750.

A 1991 944 Turbo Cabriolet beat expectations reaching £39,375 - more than £14,000 more than its lower estimate.

Another popular marque was Jaguar, and seven out of the eight E-types presented sold. Strongest price was a 1965 Series 1 Roadster selling at £112,500, an impressive £27,500 over its lower estimate. A 1964 Series 1 fixed-head coupe pulled frenetic bidding to reach £59,625, beating its lower estimate by almost £13,000.

1955 XK140 sold for £121,500.

A left-hand drive 1955 XK140 SE really caught the attention of bidders with a phone war breaking out to push the price £46,500 beyond its lower estimate to £121,500.

Another sale highlight was the 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL, which sold for £83,813 after a dramatic bidding war pushed the price to almost double its lower estimate of £45,000.

Established classic marques drew plenty of attention, with John Cleland’s 1971 Aston Martin DB6 Mark II Vantage fetching an impressive £348,750, but some of the more modern machinery attracted intense interest, too. A 1993 Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 2 beat its lower estimate by £15,000, to sell for £41,063.

Bidding interest was global and buyers added to the international flavour with a modified 1985 Ferrari 308 GTS QV shipping out to Indonesia with a Ferrari 400 series V12 shoehorned into its engine bay. Despite the less-than original powerplant, this impressive machine sold for £54,000.

1973 BMW 3.0 CSL sold for £83,813.

One car that attracted attention more for its owner than its motoring heritage was the 1960 Bentley S2 sold on behalf of Sir Ray Davies of the Kinks. In need of restoration, the hammer fell at £29,250.

Oddball lot of the day? A Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB/4 original tool roll sold for £12,000 – surely a world record for a toolkit.

To view the full results from the sale, visit www.silverstoneauctions.com.