The Lancaster Insurance classic motor show at the Birmingham NEC is a mecca for classic car lovers nationwide and a safe space for the petrolhead. If you’re remotely interested in the classic car world; be that the cars, car clubs, auto jumbles or new parts then in these five halls there is something for you.

The NEC called and it turns out the nation’s petrolheads responded. 71,000 of them to be exact.

The show offered a cornucopia of vintage metal and fine machinery, however aside from the static displays cars were changing hands at a fantastic rate of knots with everyone seemingly wanting a piece of the classic car pie. In the corner of Hall 2 was Silverstone Auctions with their November classic car auction. Always known for offering some special cars, Silverstone bought their A-game to the NEC and no one left disappointed.

With 71,000 enthusiasts passing through interest in the auction was never expected to dwindle and with a total sale of £5.8 million across the weekend it seems said interest was turned into a record breaking weekend. The auction paddock was continually surrounded by interested eyes and ears, and the ground was littered with the jaws of those earning the sale prices.

Saturday’s auction threw up some exciting results with this E30 M3 Sport Evo 3 selling for £109,250 and the Queen’s 2012 Bentley Mulsanne selling for £230,000 but it was on Sunday’s section of the sale where prices began to startle.

If you’ve read the title of this then you’re probably wanting to know about the E-Types, a cursory search through the classifieds shows their current pricing at anywhere between £40,000 – £120,000 depending on model and condition. Imagine the room’s surprise, then, when an S1 roadster sold for £146,250.

Just the third lot of the day and someone had already spent nearly £150,000 on an E-Type. The car was in very good condition and had low mileage which contribute to the high price, out of character for the E-Type market, perhaps this was just a fluke and determined buyer?

No. The first E-Type was soon followed by lot 611, a 1972 V12 roadster that sold for £119,250. Fast forward an hour and we are staring down the barrel of lot 635, the 35th car of the sale and our third E-Type. This E-type has a stronger CV than I do, featuring film credits alongside David Gandy in the F-Type promotional video as well as 43 years of classic motoring under its belt. Cars with an exciting history are often met with an equally exciting price tag and this white 1962 roadster was no exception.

£170,000.

Let that sink in, and with eyes replaced in sockets and jaws removed from floors let’s look at what the other E-types sold for.

The auction featured two other, marginally less exceptional models which sold for 70,875 and 69,750 respectively. These prices are what one would expect for a good E-Type and arguably higher than one would expect in the classifieds. Could these E-Type prices show renewed love for the brand and a shifting large scale interest in the classic car market?

From being stood in the auction room, feeling the enthusiasm and seeing the sale prices it is hard to deny that the classic car market is thriving. There were two Porsche 930 ‘flatnose’ Turbos offered for sale and the original press car, the cheapest, sold for £202,500 while the other sold for £211,500. Similarly a white countach á la Wolf of Wallstreet (from THAT scene) sold for £396,750 which only continues to push Italian classic car values higher.

One could be forgiven for thinking ‘So what? The expensive get more expensive and the headlines write themselves‘. They do, but this auction didn’t just cement the status of the already iconic, it also showed some promising figures for future classics. Silverstone had for sale a stunning Moonstone Blue Sierra RS Cosworth, a legend in the fast Ford circles which sold for £29,250 and supports the emerging trend that this could be the next big collectors car.

So too was the sale of a mint condition BMW Z3 M Coupe, long tipped to be the next collectable Beemer which sold for a staggering £58,500! With big sales and strong trends for classics it is no surprise that the auction fetched so much money and drew in such crowds.

A record breaking £5.8 million made at auction is one hell of a headline for both Silverstone Auctions and the Birmingham NEC and is well deserved. With an 80% sale rate we hope to see the auction back at next years Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, to see the full list of sales and some surprising figures you head to Silverstone’s website HERE.