Latest news with #carauction
The Sun
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Sun
Iconic 1980s Porsche left abandoned in a barn for 14 years sells for whopping £76,000 – three times its value
AN ICONIC 1980s Porsche left abandoned in a barn for 14 years has sold for over £76,000, which was over triple its estimate. The dust-covered 911 3.2 Carrera Sport coupé was put into storage by its owner in 2011 after being bought in 2002. 5 5 5 Its three litre engine produced 231bhp with a top speed of over 150mph. And it was capable of doing 0-60mph in 5.6 seconds. According to records, the car only covered 476 miles in the five years before it went into the barn. It was owned by a busy solicitor near Northampton who barely drove it for years, as reported by Luxury Auto News. Ahead of its auction its listing said: "The car presented here is a C16 1989-model example from the final year of 3.2 production before the introduction of the 964. "It is a Carrera 3.2 Sport which was a UK -only model and came factory-fitted with a black lip front spoiler, a rear whale tail rear spoiler, sports seats and Bilstein Sport shock absorbers. "It was optioned with a sunroof and the sought-after paint colour of silver metallic." The iconic 911 was first registered in May 1989 and had five previous owners before being snapped up in October 2002, the listing read. It added: "This 911 was first registered in May 1989 and passed through five keepers before being purchased by our vendor in October 2002. The listing added: "We believe he bought it from Autofarm of Bicester, Oxfordshire. Remastered Porsche so rare only 25 were ever made could be yours for eye-popping £850K – with 4L engine & 435 horsepower " MOT records indicate minimal usage - just 476 miles covered in five years. "This is wholly in keeping with what we know about our vendor, who was a very much a car enthusiast, having owned all sorts of interesting cars from Jaguars to 2CVs, but who was also a very busy solicitor with little time to enjoy his Porsche. "At some point in 2011, he drove the car into his barn adjoining his stone Northamptonshire house and there it has sat ever since." Despite being abandoned, the barn's warm, dry air helped preserve the rare car remarkably well. "Its condition when it was put away must have been exceptional and very much in-keeping with a minimally used 40,000-mile 911, with original features and components still in place. "Bodywork panels, paintwork, carpets, headlining and factory-finishes all appear to be original - and a jack and toolkit complete the picture. "The car is a feast of detail for any Porsche enthusiast, preserved in a manner that they will really appreciate. "Sadly the owner passed away in early 2025 and it falls to the family, particularly his son, to find it a new home. "This fantastic car is sensibly guided and will obviously require close inspection and a thorough recommissioning before starting/driving but it offers huge potential. "Cars built from September 1986 onwards were fitted with the more user-friendly G50 Getrag gearbox. "But all 3.2 Carreras feature galvanised bodies, which together with Porsche's legendary build quality, ensure that these classics are long lasting." It was expected to fetch around £25,000 when sold on Saturday by Iconic Auctioneers in Northampton. A spokesperson said: "It was driven into a barn for storage in 2011 and offered exactly as found, dust and all. "It tripled its estimate amid a bidding frenzy. "With 33 registered telephone bidders as well as numerous bidders in the room and online, bidding raced to £76,500. "This wonderfully preserved G50‑gearbox example that remains largely original, obviously captured bidders' imaginations with its untouched state and clear potential." It comes after astonishing images showed an abandoned graveyard of vintage cars and fire engines left to rot. And a classic car dealership worth a whopping £200,000 has been discovered - after sitting in the dark for 20 years. 5 5
The Drive
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
This Plymouth Superbird Sold for $1.65M in 2022. It Just Brought $418,000 at Auction
The latest car news, reviews, and features. In 2022, car collector Bobby Knudsen bought a 1970 Plymouth Superbird—you know, the one with the massive rear wing—for a record-breaking $1.65 million (after buyer's fees). Unfortunately for Knudsen's family, its value took a massive nosedive when they sold the numbers-matching muscle car at the Indy Mecum Auction over the weekend without reserve, as its new owner only paid $418,000 for it. Knudsen passed last December, so his family sold off 25 cars from his collection, including a few racing Pontiac Catalinas, a 1959 Nash Metropolitan, and, of course, the aforementioned Superbird. I'm not sure I've ever seen a classic car drop in value as much as Knudsen's Plymouth, but that could be because he massively overpaid for it three years ago. Even in its incredible unrestored condition, with 33,085 original miles, and rare automatic transmission (only 77 of these came with autos from the factory), this Superbird wasn't worth the $1.5 million Knudsen bid on it. At the time of his July 2022 bid, the priciest Superbird was $990,000, according to Hagerty. During the auction, this Superbird looked like it was going to sell for around $1.1 million, when Knudsen jumped up to $1.5 million to seal the deal. It's doubtful that the car realistically leaped half a million dollars in value during those six months, but he wanted his badly enough to knowingly overbid for it. Knudsen's Superbird wasn't the only one to sell at this past weekend's Mecum auction in Indy, though. The other sold for $550,000, with just under 21,000 miles on it. His family seems to have gotten the fair market price for his car, which proves just how far values have fallen in only three years. Mecum With its short-lived NASCAR pedigree, monstrous 426 cubic-inch Hemi V8, and iconic tall wing, it's easy to understand why the Superbird is so desirable. Still, this car's story is a painful reminder that everything has its fair price, no matter how desirable it may be to someone. Got tips? Send 'em to tips@ Nico DeMattia is a staff writer at The Drive. He started writing about cars on his own blog to express his opinions when no one else would publish them back in 2015, and eventually turned it into a full-time career.
Motor 1
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- Motor 1
This Groundbreaking Porsche Prototype Is For Sale Now
Well, you don't see one of these every day: The very first Porsche 910 ever built—a prototype and hillclimb racer from Stuttgart's most romantic era—is up for auction. You can check out the bidding here on Bring a Trailer . Why should you care? Well, maybe you're one of the many well-heeled billionaire playboys who seem to fill our comment section with expertise these days, in which case, you'll want to be clued in to Blue Chip investments like this one. Photo by: Bring a Trailer Aside from that, the Porsche 910 just plain rocks. This particular car bridged Porsche from a fledgling builder of sports and race cars to a domineering force in both categories. While the 910 evolved from other mid-engine closed-cockpit prototypes like the 904, this car bridged the gap between those mid-Sixties efforts to cars like the 917, which is arguably the most important endurance-racing prototype of all time. This particular car was the first 910 ever built, as mentioned, emblazoned with the chassis number "910001," but also comes with considerable palmarès. Those include a class win and fourth overall at the 1000km of Monza in 1968, followed by conversion for street use and a laundry list of race history as the car passed from one privateer to the next. Indeed, this 910 has lived a fuller life than most. Photo by: Bring a Trailer Photo by: Bring a Trailer Early examples of the 910 were powered by variants of the 2.0-liter flat-six you'd find in competition 911s of the era. While the later 910s eventually moved on to flat-eight powerplants better suited to endurance racing, I can tell you from experience that no Porsche sounds better or revs sweeter than these early 2.0-liter cars with the lightweight magnesium engine case. Something about that material and displacement specifically—some magic resonance or characteristic frequency—makes this Porsche's GOAT powertrain from an experiential standpoint, in my opinion. Photo by: Bring a Trailer Plus, just look at this thing. Following a restoration specifically aimed at prepping this car for FIA historic racing, you get all the authentic visual touches backed by the confidence to actually go out and use this thing, share its glorious ear-shattering song with other enthusiasts. At the time of writing, there are three days left on the auction and it's already passed $1.3 million. I'm not terribly obsessed with auction results; Honestly, speculation has cratered the classic car market for the everyman, but it's cool to see these gems unearthed from time to time, if only as an opportunity to dig into their histories. The Latest From Porsche The Porsche 911 GT2 RS Might Be Back as a Hybrid Is Porsche Delaying The Electric 718 and Three-Row SUV? Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
