AUCTION REVIEW | IWM Duxford, November 2017

E-TYPE JAGUAR IN ‘ONE-ARMED BANDIT MURDER’ OF 1967 WHICH INSPIRED THE FILM 'GET CARTER' SELLS AT H&H CLASSICS FOR £155,250

BIG CATS AND HALF-TRACK ROAR LOUDEST AT H&H CLASSICS IN DUXFORD & MERCEDES BARNFIND TOPS £100,000 IN £2.3M AUCTION

A Carmen Red 1966 Jaguar E-Type 4.2 Roadster with a fascinating and colourful history headed a massive offering of 20 wonderful Jaguars at the H&H Classics sale on November 15 at Duxford, Imperial War Museum.

The car was implicated in the infamous ‘one-armed bandit murder’ of 1967 which inspired the film 'Get Carter' and was referred to in the Mark Knopfler song '5:15am' from the album Shangri-La. It sold for £155,250.

The Roadster was supplied new to fruit machine king Vince Landa via his employee Kemal Kansaran. It has had three keepers and has just 49,000 warranted miles on the clock from new.

Vince Landa fell foul of the infamous Kray Twins when they accused him of installing slot machines in some of their clubs. Relocating to the North East as a result, he set-up Social Club Services - a fruit machine business valued at £8m in 1966 - and became the owner of The Piccadilly and Birdcage nightclubs in Newcastle which played host to the likes of Tom Jones and Roy Orbison.

Embroiled in the so-called `one armed bandit murder' which saw Social Club Services' employee Angus Sibbert shot dead on January 4th 1967, `LGT 788D' was supposedly being driven that night by Michael Luvaglio (Landa's brother) and Dennis Stafford who were subsequently convicted of the crime. Messers Luvaglio and Stafford have long protested their innocence and the whole affair is referenced in Mark Knopfler's song 5:15am as well as being cited as an inspiration for the film `Get Carter' (which just so happens to feature Dryderdale Hall as the villain's lair).

1958 JAGUAR XK150 S 3.4 ROADSTER SOLD FOR £138,000

This exquisite 150 is possibly the first S version to be constructed and is certainly understood to be only the 7th righthand drive Roadster to leave the factory on the 4th December 1958 to Henlys of London. The first owner was a MR JHL Copper and its then understood to have been acquired by its long term previous keeper a Mr Murdoch Laing - initially of London but later Ross-shire, Scotland. 'VYR 764' was apparently treated to an extensive restoration of engine, bodywork and interior in the 1990s but, unhappy about the way it was progressing, Mr Laing had the task completed by Goldsmith & Young of Warminster. At some stage in the past the block has been replaced with a larger 3.8-litre unit, although it still retains the original triple carb head (no. VS1634-9) which has been modified to run on unleaded fuel and has been fitted with Coopercraft brakes. The vendor acquired the Jaguar in 2011, and presently considers the bodywork, paintwork, Tan leather interior, straight-six engine and four-speed manual transmission to all be in 'very good' condition. This rare and highly desirable XK is currently displaying (an unwarranted) 48,300 miles and is now being sold complete with collection of old MOTs and invoices, dialogue of the restoration and Heritage certificate.

1943 INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER M5 HALF-TRACK PERSONNEL CARRIER SOLD FOR £138,000

This 1943 International Harvester M5 Half-Track Personnel Carrier was estimated at £90,000 - £110,000 and made £138,000 at the sale.

The Half-Track was used during the Allied liberation of Europe most likely by the Polish forces and was overhauled at the Mercedes-Benz Works in Germany once peace came before being seconded to the French Army who stationed it in French Guyana, South America for decades. 

Brought back to France in the 1980s and sold to Belgian collector (and chateau owner) Mr Louis Amerijckx, it was acquired from the latter by Dutch enthusiast Ivo Rigter during Summer 1987 and treated to a 2,500-hour, 'chassis up' restoration over the next twenty-seven years!

The International Harvester’s massive 7.4 litre straight-six engine was overhauled by the Bugatti Works during the 1960s (and again as part of the refurbishment). Genuine parts were used wherever possible and sourced from all over the globe.

The vehicle is liveried in the markings of the Polish 10th Regiment Dragonders and as a tribute to the famous Polish SOE Agent Maria 'Krystyna' Janina Skarbek. Surviving WW2, she became a British Citizen and took the name Christine Granville. Amazingly, the Personnel Carrier is road legal and can be driven on certain kinds of car licences.

1954 MERCEDES-BENZ 300 B ‘ADENAUER’ CABRIOLET SOLD FOR £106,904

An exceptionally rare right-hand drive Mercedes-Benz 300 unearthed after decades of dusty slumber in a recent barnfind in the north of England made £106,904.

This 1954 Mercedes 300 B Adenauer Cabriolet - which is thought to be one of just seven right hand drive versions built – had been estimated to sell for £50,000 to £70,000.

When the 300 B Adenauer Cabriolet was launched in 1951 it cost almost twice the price of the contemporary top-of-the-range Cadillac and was without doubt one of the world's most exclusive automobiles.

It was a very important design for Mercedes-Benz, one of the first all-new designs since the end of WW2. It first showed its face to the world at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1951 and the 300's arrival re-established Mercedes-Benz in the front rank of prestige car manufacturers. This car’s message was that Mercedes had returned to the marque's tradition of building quality high-performance luxury automobiles.

It gained the name, 'Adenauer' after German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, its most high-profile customer. This was an important car for Mercedes-Benz as it marked a new beginning. With this car Germany announced that it was back in all seriousness with the aim of capturing a world market for luxury limousines.

All nine cars entered from a private Irish collection sold including an ultra-low mileage 1968 Hillman Imp Californian which fetched a record breaking £21,160. The eight cars consigned from the Old Hall Collection all found new homes too. 88 of the 130 cars on offer changed hands for a 68% sale rate.