Vintage 2CV helps towards bumper sale
Honiton’s independent auction house, Chilcotts Auctioneers is celebrating after a bumper sale.
Many auction lots achieved in excess of their estimates after a surge of interest in the June Fine Art, Antiques and Collectors Items sale.
Top performer was a lot comprising important WW2 medals and memorabilia, including the logbooks, photographs, training manuals and uniforms of Bomber Command pilot Group Captain Peter Casement. This achieved a hammer price of £21,000 against an upper estimate of £15,000.
A collection of vintage jewellery which Chilcotts marketed as The Pamela Schneider Collection was a runaway success with a hammer price of £25,000. The jewellery had been amassed over many years by Pamela, who was one of Chilcotts first vendors when the business started in 2004.
One lot that garnered unexpected high levels of interest was a 2CV6 vintage van, with a 1973 registration. The vendor’s father had been living in France and brought it back when he returned to England. With left hand drive and a very unusual gear change, the van presented a challenge to any driver. It was kept at home by the Chilcotts before the sale, and Liz Chilcott described it as being ‘an eccentric drive’.
The van was bought by a regular Chilcotts customer who already had a 2CV and was keen to purchase the van as a ‘project’.
Auctioneer, Duncan Chilcott said: “This was a very lively sale! Usually by the final few items the sale room is fairly empty, but on this occasion, it was still busy.
“Prior to the sale, we had been proactive in publicising several of the more important lots, including the WW2 memorabilia and the Pamela Schneider Collection, and this really helped to draw the crowds in.”
Total sales from the 606 lots reached £135,500, impressively 9 per cent over the top auction estimate. 35 per cent of the auction sales sold online, and there were 773 registered bidders encompassing online, telephone and sale room.
Post-sale, items were sent worldwide to successful bidders, including the USA, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Europe and Eastern Europe. Postage and packing costs were in excess of £2,000.
