ONE of the largest collective sales of vintage machinery in Europe was staged at Cheffins’ Sutton site in Cambridgeshire, when in excess of £2m changed hands for 3000 lots.
With more than 4000 people in attendance from all over the UK, Ireland and abroad, including Germany, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and the Sudan, the event also attracted a number of record prices for the 260 vintage and classic tractors which totalled just over £1.135m.
Hitting the lead price of £147,00 was a pair of 1918 John Fowler ploughing steam engines known as Horsa and Hengist, which sold to a collector.
Setting a UK record for a vintage at £86,100, when it broke its £40,000 guide price, was a 1963 Matbro Mastiff.  This was followed at £75,600 for a Lanz Bulldog D9550 crawler tractor which sold to a German buyer to set a model record, while another crawler tractor, a 1957 David Brown, also set a record for it’s type when it made £63,000.
Classic commercial vehicles hit a top of £73,500 for a 1920 Albion Model A16 Charabanc that was previously owned by the High Commissioner of New Zealand and starred in the TV series, Houdini and Doyle.
Classic cars peaked at £35,700 for a 1936 Rolls-Royce 25/30 Tourer, followed at £14,700 for a 1966 Mini Cooper Mk1, and a dismantled Fowler Class DNA ‘Hercules’ steam tractor attracted a final bid of £31,500.
A pre-war 499cc AJS Model dating back to 1938 topped the classic motorcycles – which met a 92% clearance rate – at £11,340.
Other items included more than 2500 lots of memorabilia, spares and implements. A price of £14,300 was paid for a 4.5-inch scale model of a Burrell agriculture engine. One of the more unusual lots, a steam launch boat, known as Sir Lancelot, achieved £8800 and a Rudge penny farthing bicycle dating back to 1882 sold for £2805.