Five cars to watch at Silverstone Auctions' Restoration Show sale

 

This limited-edition Mini has a four-speed auto and disc brakes up front, in addition to newer switchgear. 

Importable European classics gather for auction in the UK

Silverstone Auctions' Restoration Show sale is coming up this Saturday, a popular event that has scared up some long-forgotten cars from sheds in the English countryside in previous years. Meant to showcase machinery that needs more than a buff and a wax, the Restoration Show sale offers up minty cars and projects alike, including a cylinder block or two from pre-war Bugattis or an Austin Healey shell in need of everything else.

This year Silverstone Auctions will have more than 60 mostly-complete cars on offer, ranging from a 1963 Renault Estafette van to a Jensen Interceptor that will require more than a few days of sitting on eBay Motors and sourcing parts. We can't figure out what we'd do with either of those, so we've picked out some less labor-intensive alternatives.

Here are five cars to watch from the upcoming sale.

Silverstone will offer this 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo Targa.

Porsche 911 Turbo values are going one way -- up -- and Silverstone will have a 1989 Targa on offer equipped with the somewhat rare G50 five-speed gearbox. An example from the last year of production for the 930 Turbo model, this one is finished in Baltic Blue over a cream leather interior. The car shows a claimed 74,500 miles, and Silverstone opines that it has led a charmed life given the condition of the paint and the leather. A car that has spent most of its life in the UK, this right-hand drive example will now be offered with German paperwork. Silverstone estimates that it is likely to bring between £55,000 and £65,000 on auction day, which translates into $82,000 to $97,000. This is the price range where 930 Turbos currently live, and there is no indication so far of values for these cooling down. The era of cheap used 930 Turbos ended a few years ago.

This Mini from the 1980s features an automatic transmission.

Demand for classic Minis is showing no signs of abating, but collectors tend to go for the earlier models, as original as possible. The Mini's long production run means that bargains requiring less mechanical attention can be had a bit further down the road, with plenty of special editions from the 1980s and 1990s to choose from. For Mini fans in the U.S. it's just the 1980s for now, with Minis through the 1990 model year being ineligible for importation. Silverstone will be offering a late-production Mini from 1986, a Mayfair Limited Edition, with such luxuries as servo disc brakes up front, a modernized dash, velour seating, and opening rear side windows. This one is equipped with a British Leyland four-speed automatic, and is showing a claimed 11,200 miles on the clock, both factors which make it that rare half-way step towards a modern BMW-era Mini. There are a few more modern details throughout, such as the revised taill lights, trim, and wheelcovers, in addition to newer switchgear. Silverstone estimates this example to bring between £8,500 and £10,000, which translates to approximately $12,600 to $15,000. We can see this one becoming a summer car at a beachhouse here in the States.

There's another Mini in the sale, a 1998 Rover Mini Cooper Sport Limited, but it won't be importable for another eight years.

This rare 1976 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 features the six-cylinder engine.

We may be used to seeing surviving Jaguar XJ6Cs at concours events, but there was an even rarer version of the Jag coupe that was offered from 1975 till 1978. The coupe was also offered as a Daimler Sovereign, with Daimler being the upmarket badge applied to range-topping Jaguar sedan models. This particular example from 1976 is equipped with the 4.2-liter six-cylinder engine, so it's not the expensive V12 that was also on the menu at the time. Silverstone doesn't state whether the paint on this example is original, but reports that it is showing a claimed 59,000 miles and comes with documentation supporting this. The auction house estimates that this example will bring between £14,000 and £16,000 on auction day, which translates into approximately $21,000 to $24,000.

This 1986 Mercedes-Benz 500SL is a low-mileage car, but will it fetch $74,000 to $89,000 as the auction house predicts?

Mercedes-Benz SL roadsters of all flavors from the 1980s can still be easily found, but perhaps not with the low mileage that this example from 1986 claims to have. Silverstone will be offering a 500 SL showing a reported 9,044 miles on the odometer, a car that had resided in the Patrick Car Collection created by Joseph Patrick of Patrick Motors Ltd. that was later turned into a private car museum. This RHD example reportedly received a full service in 2013 at a Mercedes-Benz dealer and has covered 58 miles since. Silverstone estimates this example to bring between £50,000 and £60,000 on auction day, which translates into a very ambitious $74,000 to $89,000 range. That's a handful in either currency, and we have trouble picturing someone paying that much for an 500SL from the 1980s, even with delivery mileage. There is a reserve on this lot, but we'll see what really happens once the bidding starts. Someone may end up getting a bargain.

This Testarossa shows a claimed 27,000 miles.

Ferrari Testarossa values are slowly inching up after bottoming out in the early aughts, with an increased number of these popular supercars now coming to market after having been stashed away for a couple of decades. Just in the last year, the best examples have gone from the mid-$60,000 range to the $100,000 range.

The example that Silvertone will be offering is from the 1988 model year and is the 4.9-liter 390-hp version. Delivered new to Switzerland, spending time in a private collection there until coming to the UK and now shows a claimed 27,000 miles on the odometer (which is in kilometers, actually). This example is reported to have received the pricey cambelt change within the last 1,000 miles, and will be offered with the spare spare wheel, tool bag, jack, and the leather handbook pack. Silverstone estimates that this example will fetch between £80,000 and £90,000 on auction day, which translates into a pretty ambitious $119,000 to $134,000 range.