It’s a new year, which means another 12 months of classic car auctions to look forward to, following the progress (or lack of) of cars you’ve got your eye on or hoping to pick up a bargain in the making should you be the only bidder in the room. The Silverstone Auctions Race Retro Classic and Competition Car Sale is one of the first – not to mention 1 of the particular longest names – associated with 2023, with 55 cars set to go under the hammer at Stoneleigh Park.

We’ll provide a full preview of the Competition Retro auction nearer the time, but within the meantime we’re highlighting seven magnificent Lotus Elans, many along with celebrity provenance. It’s the rare opportunity to find so many available at once. Rob Hubbard, sales director associated with Silverstone Auctions, said: “If ever you have wanted to purchase a Lotus Animation there will never again be an opportunity like this a single, to choose your ideal car from this outstanding collection put together by Deryck Norville [a former Cosworth engineer]. Each one particular also comes with the provenance that just adds to their interest. ”

That source makes more than a great talking point at a car show or marque meet-up. It can, in certain cases, add to a car’s value, something Hagerty has highlighted in its 2022 Power List .

If you’re interested in these or any of the other vehicles within the Silverstone Auctions sale, you’ll need to become in Warwickshire on Saturday 25 February 2023. And to compare any of their estimates to the Hagerty Price Guide values, follow this link.

Lotus Avidity Drophead Coupé –  Ron Hickman

Estimate: £70, 000 – £90, 000

Lotus enthusiasts will remember Ron Hickman for his work on the original Elite, Elan, Gusto +2 and Europa. The South African designer joined Lotus in 1956 after meeting company founder Colin Chapman at the Earls Court Motor Show but left Lotus within 1967 in order to pursue other projects. He’s best known for designing the Workmate, which Black & Decker put into mass production in 1973; Hickman earned the 3 per cent royalty on every one sold. Nice work if you can get it.

Ron Hickman moved to Jersey in 1977, retiring five years later, with this Vitality kept in his villa overlooking St Brelade’s Bay. The car was the particular subject associated with a complete restoration within 1997 plus used sparingly until Hickman’s death in 2011. Derek Norville purchased the car nine years later, adding it to his ‘Piddington Collection’.   The Hagerty Price Manual shows values of up to £65, 000 for a concours example of a Sprint FHC. Will the Hickman connection power that on?

Lotus Elan S3 SE – Take advantage of Walker

Estimation: £50, 500 – £80, 000

As their obituary in  The Guardian   points out, Rob Walker once listed his occupation as ‘gentleman’. He was born into the wealthy Johnnie Walker whisky family and is perhaps best known for running the particular successful R. R. C. Walker Racing Team in the 1950s and ’60s. Working with Master, Stirling Moss finished third in a Cooper-Climax T51 within the 1959 World Championship, before switching to That lotus from the second race of the 1960 season. His victory from Monaco in 1960 was Lotus’ first F1 competition win, albeit by a private team.

Walker ran the particular successful L. R. Chemical. Walker dealership at Corsley Garage near Warminster, which is where he took delivery of this 1968 Animation S3 ZE. The vehicle was finished in Walker’s signature Ford Midnight Blue to commemorate Moss’ victory for Team Lotus in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix.   With its history, it’s little wonder it’s anticipated to outperfom values within the Hagerty Price Guideline .

Lotus Elan S3 SE –  Peter Sellers

Estimate: £80, 000 – £120, 1000

Cars formerly owned by Peter Sellers are like buses: a person wait ages for one to come along and then two appear at once. Hot on the heels from the Radford Mini de Ville we reported on, yesterday, is this particular Lotus Avidity S3, said to have been owned by the late actor and comedian from 1966 until 1969. It’s no stranger towards the auction scene, having gone under the sludge hammer at the NEC Traditional Motor Display in 2015, selling with regard to £50, 625.

It’s expected to fetch considerably more in 2023 – considerably more than the average prices in the particular Hagerty Price Guide , too – but then this has been treated in order to what Silverstone Auctions calls a “beyond Concours d’Elegance” standard restoration. Amazingly, it hasn’t turned a wheel since the restoration, which usually raises the particular usual question: to use it or even store this? It must be the former, simply no?

Lotus Gusto S4 FHC –  Jochen Rindt

Calculate: £80, 000 – £120, 000

This 1969 Lotus Vitality S4 FHC offers poignancy to proceed with its plant source. It was presented to Jochen Rindt with the end of the particular 1970 German Grand Tarifs, following the Austrian driver’s fourth consecutive victory regarding Lotus and his fifth of the particular season. Two races later on, Rindt suffered a fatal accident in practice before the Italian Grand Prix; he was just 28.

Rindt was awarded the title posthumously, having secured enough points to beat Jacky Ickx. There’s a photo online showing Rindt being handed the keys simply by a beaming Colin Chapman, along with one of him testing an Elan Sprint prototype along with optional two-tone paint finish. Like the ex-Peter Sellers Elan, ‘NVG 853H’ has been treated to a complete restoration. Given its history, we’re not surprised that will the car is estimated at more than twice the value of a concours Elan S4 FHC .

Lotus Animation S3 Drophead Coupé – Diana Rigg

Estimate: £80, 000 – £120, 500

According to Silverstone Online auctions, “this is the most famous That lotus Elan in the world. ” Quite a claim, although given the role in  The particular Avengers   – not in order to mention ownership by a certain Diana Rigg – it’s the claim that’s not without substance. ‘SJH 499D’ featured as Emma Peel’s vehicle in 19 episodes before being gifted to Rigg at the end of the particular sixth series.

Not becoming into cars, Rigg gave the Avidity to a friend, who afterwards sold it to her sister in America. It returned to the UNITED KINGDOM to reside in the Vehicles of the Stars Museum until it closed this year, when it has been acquired from the Miami Auto Museum. Fortunately, the 1966 Elan S3 fixed-head coupé has since returned to the UK, where a Westminster radio receiver continues to be fitted in order to pay homage to Peel.

Lotus Gusto S4 Coupé –  Keith Duckworth

Estimate: £50, 000 – £80, 1000

This one is known as the ‘Duckworth Elan’, having been gifted towards the co-founder of Cosworth by Lotus Cars to memorialize the 1st victory simply by a Cosworth DFV-engined Great Prix on Zandvoort within 1967. It is a very early Vitality S4, which was rescued by Deryck Norville plus sent to Ken and Neil Myers for a complete restoration. This was completed in 2017.

As Silverstone Sales points out, the chassis, body plus engine are original and the car was repainted in its original Lotus British Race Green. Mike Costin, the other founder of Cosworth, was also insured upon the car and used it occasionally.

That lotus Elan Run

Estimate: £50, 000 – £80, 000

This Elan Sprint arrives without the particular provenance associated with celebrity possession, but it was the last 1 to end up being registered in the UK. It had been supplied in kit form to Ken Myers, who ran the particular Lotus main dealer within Northampton plus planned in order to build intended for his son Neil’s birthday. That in no way happened, so the car was sold to a husband and wife that kept this for 39 years. This sold to get £29, 900 at an auction in 2014.

Neil would finally get his hands on the vehicle when Deryck Norville, owner of the collection, entrusted him plus his dad to carry out a full restoration. One marque expert has described the vehicle as: “Probably the best FHC Sprint in the world. ” Fancy placing a bid? Make sure you’re at Race Retro in Feb.

Read more

Our Classics: 1982 Lotus Esprit S3 | Counting the cost of Esprit ownership
Restoring the Lotus Animation kept me sane during lockdown
I bought a Lotus Esprit – and broke every car-buying rule within the book