Classic Cars, Motorcycles & Automobilia

The vendor of this 1966 Mercedes W111 250 SE Auto Coupé won it in a competition.

The world record for a car sold at auction was broken last month when a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé was hammered down for €135m (£112m) on May 5.

This exciting 1968 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA 1300 emerged for auction at Tennants (10% buyer’s premium).

Spirit of Ecstasy has adorned the bonnet of every Rolls-Royce motor car since February 6, 1911.

The You Can Be Sure Of Shell adverts are some of the most familiar and renowned examples in British graphic design.

‘Significant damage and rust’ was spot on as a catalogue description when it came to an enamel sign sold at Cotswold Auction Company (22% buyer’s premium) on February 8. It was a mess.

Top price among a selection of car mascots offered in Newcastle came for a design in honour of the French aviator George Guynemer.

French illustrator Robert Falcucci (1900-89) was famous for his graphic works of the Art Deco era – particularly the Monaco Grand Prix posters.

Ewbank’s (24% buyer’s premium) held a dedicated Cars, Motorbikes, Scooters & Automobilia auction on December 2 in Send, Woking.

This London Transport poster for the Motor Show that took place from October 17-26, 1935, in Olympia, west London, was designed by Heather Perry – known as Herry Perry (1897-1962). It was printed by The Dangerfield Printing Co, London.

Described by Bonhams (15% buyer’s premium) as “the ultimate in rally equipment from the 1960s”, a pair of stopwatches mounted on an original Heuer plate intended to be attached to the dashboard of a racing or rally car received a suitably enthusiastic response.

Lyon & Turnbull notes that while mascots made no functional contribution to a car, they “certainly added style, and generally have fared better over time than the cars to which they were mounted”.

While classic, vintage and antique cars have a sizeable collecting market, the wider worlds of automobilia and petroliana also attract dedicated enthusiasts with plenty of auctions featuring a variety of lots.

Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium) has been holding auctions of classic cars, motorcycles and automobilia for nearly 20 years.

Pedal cars are regular visitors to salerooms but rarer powered versions were also produced for children to use, partly for road safety training

A collection of vintage cars that have been stored in untouched condition in the cave of a wine grower/collector are coming up for auction at Ivoire Nîmes in southern France on November 16.

This Ford Escort once owned by Diana, Princess of Wales, has been bought by a museum in Chile.

Petrol-themed enamel signs do not get much better than that made to promote British Dominions Empire Motor Insurance in c.1912.

Every collector of glass petrol pump globes – or lenses as they are known in the US – hopes to own examples by the classic big brands: BP, Shell, Esso and the like.