Classic Cars, Motorcycles & Automobilia

Concept drawings by John Orfe (1922-2011), an American automotive and airline designer, came for sale in Virginia.

Swann Auction Galleries’ (30% buyer’s premium) summer vintage poster sale in New York on August 3 received a significant boost from a single consignment.

Memories of Volvo estates flooded in to ATG after news that the model would no longer be sold in the UK (see ATG No 2605).

It’s the end of an era: Volvo will no longer sell its estates or saloon cars in the UK, choosing to market only its SUVs.

Recent advertising highlights from UK sales and an Italian auction

Two Generations Collection was the title of an auction of automobilia and collectors’ cars amassed by a single family.

The sale of automobilia at Richard Edmunds Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) in Chippenham on March 25 included a total of 16 different glass pump globes advertising Shell products.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

The first Michelin guide was published in 1900 by the eponymous tyre company.

The thirties became a period when mass production and Art Deco style combined to power cars to new heights of usage and popularity before war intervened

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.

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

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

Lancashire singer, comedian and actor George Formby (1904-61) performed to audiences around in the world in the 1930s-40s. Famous for his comical and occasionally double entendre-laden songs, he became Britain’s highest-paid entertainer at the time.

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

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.

‘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.

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.

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