Egged on by the enthusiastic auction crowd of around 700 people, bidding for the massive off-road vehicle developed from the HMMWV (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) used by US Forces in the Gulf War began at $25,000 and soon soared through its pre-auction estimate of $40-$50,000 before selling to a local Hummer enthusiast in the room.

While the Hummer was the highest-priced vehicle lot of the auction, the top price went to a much smaller piece of metal - the Victorian numeric black and white number plate ‘293′, which made a strong $71,000.

In fact sales of the 11 Victorian black and white plates in the auction totalled $320,000, representing an average price of $29,000 per plate.

While the Hummer was the standout sale of the auction, most of the interest was in affordable entry-level classics in the $10-$25,000 range, with British and European sporting cars all being ‘on the money’.

A three-owner 1966 Mercedes-Benz 250SE Coupe that had covered just 91,508 miles from new sold for $23,000; a 1959 MGA 1600 Mk I Roadster in good condition sold for a strong $21,500; a 1985 Porsche 928S Coupe and a 1966 Jaguar MkII 3.4 manual saloon each made $14,000 and a 1987 (red) Maserati Bi-Turbo Spyder brought $11,500.

Good buying amongst other classics in the auction were a 1994 right hand drive Ford Mustang V6 Coupe that sold for $15,000; a black 1961 Holden EK Special Sedan that made $11,500 and a 1985 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Coupe in need of some body work that sold unreserved for $7,500.

Amongst other good results, a beautiful 1928 Chevrolet National Tourer that had covered less than 1,200 miles since a complete restoration in 1996 bringing $18,000 and a 1960 Harley-Davidson FL Duo-Glide motorcycle in great condition sold for $17,000.

Further information www.shannons.com.au

The cap will be sold with a letter written by Bradman himself, confirming its authenticity.

It reads: “This memo is to certify that on his twelfth birthday I gave Richard Robins one of my Aust XI caps. If he decides to sell it the auctioneers are hereby assured it is genuine”.

“The most prized possession of any collector of cricket memorabilia is a baggy green,” auctioneer Charles Leski said.

“A Bradman cap, particularly this one, eclipses all others.”

The cap has a pre-sale estimated value of $750,000, but early interest should see it sell for more than $1 million, he said.

Auction info www.leski.com.au

The Books, Maps & Manuscripts auction will see 367 lots offered. Highlights include GJ Angas’ South Australia Illustrated (1847); 3 volumes of Cook’s First Voyage (1773); and C. Ptolemy’s Geographica (1574). Also on offer will be a collection of 19th Century sub-division maps of land in Sydney & district; early collectables concerning trams in Sydney (Illustrated), as well as Art reference titles, Australiana and other Ephemera.

Viewing
224 Young Street
Waterloo NSW 2017

Thursday 4 December Noon to 6pm
Friday 5 December 10 to 6pm
Saturday 6 December 11 to 6pm
Sunday 7 December 10 to 4pm
Monday 8 December 9 to 10am

Pickles Auctions Sunshine Branch Manager, Mark Thorne, says this is a great opportunity for the general public to save thousands on high quality, near-new vehicles.

There are a range of models to suit everyone’s needs and budget, including Barina, Viva, Astra, Captiva, Epica, Rodeo, Colorado, 60th Anniversary SS, SV6 Sedans, SS V Sportswagon, SS/SV6 Utes, and Monaro’s.

In the current economic climate, it is great to be able to conduct an auction with no reserve prices. All of the vehicles must all be sold and many of the vehicles have under 100kms. There has never been a better opportunity to save on a car purchase, says Mark.
Pickles Auctions can provide competitive finance to ensure a fast and stress-free vehicle purchase on auction day.

The UNRESERVED Dealer Liquidation Auction will be held on Tuesday, 2 December at 2.00pm at 41-45 McIntyre Road Sunshine Victoria. Viewing is available from 8.30am to 4.00pm on Monday, 1 December and from 8.00am on the day of sale.

Pickles Auctions is Australia’s leading Auctioneers, specialising in ex-Government & fleet, repossessed vehicles, damaged vehicles, and used trucks, machinery & earthmoving equipment.

Across the country, Pickles Auctions offers more than 8000 new & used cars, trucks and machinery live in real-time to bid on and are conducting in excess of 100 auctions per month.

“The Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded to Sergeant P Finlay of the Dorset Yeomanry for his gallantry during the Gallipoli campaign.” Commented Richard Bromell. “The vendor, who is the niece of Sergeant Finlay, has decided to sell this family group of medals knowing that it will go the home of a collector and there has already been a good deal of interest shown in the group.”

The Gallipoli Campaign took place on the Gallipoli peninsula during 1915 and 1916. It was a joint French and British Empire operation mounted to capture the ottoman capital of Constantinople, which is modern day Istanbul, and secure a sea route to Russia. The attempt failed with heavy casualties on both sides.

The medal group, which is estimated at £1,500-2,500, comes up for auction on Friday 12th December with other medals, collectors’ items and clocks. On the previous day is the Charterhouse auction devoted to nearly 400 lots of trains and railwayana. Catalogues are available from the auctioneers or on their web site www.charterhouse-auctions.co.uk

Charterhouse is now accepting entries for their two day January sale with a major collection of Border Fine Arts being combined with Doulton & Beswick, with pictures, books & antiques the following day, closely followed by classic cars, motorbikes and automobilia at the prestigious Bristol Classic Car Show in February which attracts tens of thousands of enthusiasts. For further information regarding these sales visit:

www.charterhouse-auctions.co.uk

Lovers of European sporting classics have plenty to get excited about, with a very rare factory right hand drive, 1959 Facel Vega HK500 and a beautiful 1964 Ferrari 330GT 2+2 coupe providing the opportunity to enter the world market for these highly desirable cars at very realistic prices.

Shannons expect the French-built, Chrysler V8-engined Facel Vega to sell for $100-$125,000 and the restored and very desirable V12 Ferrari with its four-speed manual gearbox to bring $150-$180,000 - keen value on the International stage.

Equally-desirable for Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts is the fully-restored, Australian delivered, factory right hand drive 1962 Mercedes-Benz 190SL, finished in unblemished red paintwork with black interior and period accessories, with an estimated selling range of $90-$105,000.

An interesting vehicle expected to sell for around a quarter of its new price is the little-used Hummer H1 that was originally purchased at the Melbourne Motor Show new by flamboyant Australian tennis star Mark Philippoussis.

With just 29,700km showing on its odometer, the now-collectible Hummer with its 6.5 litre turbocharged V8 GM diesel engine is in excellent overall condition, but is being sold as a ‘project vehicle’ with no reserve price as some easily-replaceable exterior hardware and interior trim have been removed.

Shannons expect it to sell with no reserve price for $40-$50,000, making it a very attractive proposition for off-road adventurers compared to its replacement price.

A great range of Australian muscle cars on offer is topped by a beautifully-presented, matching numbers 1972 Chrysler VH Charger E49 R/T ‘Bathurst’ coupe freshly repainted in its original Mercury Silver with black stripes.

This ultimate Charger - one of just 145 E49 models built - features an upgraded 300HP six-cylinder engine and a new four-speed gearbox for Chrysler’s 1972 Bathurst campaign. It was the fastest accelerating Australian Muscle Car in its era, sprinting from 0-100km/h in just on 6.0 seconds.

Shannons guiding range for the E49 Charger is $140-$165,000 - great value for one of Australia’s top three collectible muscle cars.

Equally desirable for Holden muscle car enthusiasts is a superbly maintained and original white LH Torana L34 sedan ($100-$120,000), while for collectors, there is a 1977 LX Torana hatchback, featuring a genuine ‘ GMP&A’ A9X replacement body shell and fitted with all the wanted Bathurst racing options ($130-$160,000).

The auction also offers a major opportunity for memorabilia enthusiasts and number plate collectors, with 11 black and white Victorian numerical plates on offer, including the triple digit ‘293′, ‘701′ and ‘707′ and the Porsche favourite ‘99.111′ - all with very realistic reserve prices.

Auction info www.shannons.com.au

Mark Kehoe from Gray’s Online says the ferry made its last trip from Circular Quay to Manly in 1983.

“Since then, she was bought by a businessman who spent over $1 million trying to renovate her,” he said.

Auction info www.graysonline.com.au

Australian Modern and Contemporary Art Highlights

Leading this section is a single-owner collection of nine pictures by the pioneering Australian modern artist Grace Cossington Smith, including Wattle (estimate: £20,000-30,000). The property of the artist’s sister Mabel, the suite of pictures features five fine still lifes dating from the 1920s to the 1940s. Cossington Smith was one of the first Australian artists, along with de Maistre and Wakelin, to take an interest in colour. She developed her own individual technique and her works demonstrate the influence of the impressionist and post-impressionist revolution on Australian art. Painting in single dabs of pure colour, Cossington Smith created a language which was completely new in Australian art at the time and which placed her work in the vanguard of modernist art in 1930s Sydney.

Moving forwards by almost a century, the sale will include six flower pieces dating from 1993-94 and 2007-08 by the contemporary Australian artist Tim Maguire. Maguire’s work resonates with that of Cossington Smith, as he too explores the nature of pure colour, this time in the digital age. In his latest work Maguire’s dots of magenta, cyan and yellow, mixed in a computer, generate a uniquely new and intense fluorescence. One of a group of early still lifes from 1993-4 to be offered is the powerful Untitled 94U09 (estimate: £35,000-45,000). Maguire’s extravagantly enlarged images of flowers, blown up from digital DNA - derived from photographed details of those intensely observed 17th century Dutch and Flemish still lifes, and more recently from the artist’s own photographs of flowers – might be viewed as the 21st century cousins of Cossington Smith’s vibrant flowerpieces.

South African Modern + Contemporary Art Highlights

2007 saw significant demand for South African art, with the sale at Christie’s of Irma Stern’s stunning Congolese Woman for £569,300 (ZAR7.7m.), setting a new auction record for the artist. The select group of South African art offered in the upcoming sale is led by two further beautiful Irma Stern canvases from 1944: Roses in a vase (estimate £250,000-350,000), and Malay Girl with Hibiscus (estimate £250,000-350,000). The two works date to the highpoint of Stern’s career in the mid-1940s when she produced some of her most powerful and accomplished work. In a flurry of activity, stimulated and inspired by her travels to Zanzibar and Congo, Stern emerged as a great colourist and the present works show her on virtuoso form. These two paintings, one of a vase of red roses on a sumptuous golden ground, and the other of a richly exotic Cape Malay woman, embellished with the accent of a tropical red hibiscus flower, on a thickly palette-knifed jade ground, powerfully convey the artist’s legendary joie de vivre.

After being commissioned to sculpt a leopard for Johann Rupert’s Leopard Creek golf course, South African sculptor Dylan Lewis developed the project into a series of 18 leopard studies. This project allowed him, as he commented in 2007, ‘to explore the leopard form in a progression of different attitudes (from a state of repose through to awakening, hunting, stalking and killing). The sale will include four of these breathtaking, life-size, bronzes of leopards, including Sitting Leopard, 1996 (estimate: £40,000-60,000), plus a maquette for Running cheetahs, no 2 (estimate: £10,000-15,000). Lewis’s single-owner sale at Christie’s in June 2007 set records for the artist and showed the new levels of international interest that Lewis and his fellow South African artists now attract.

Further highlights include a rare canvas by Pieter Wenning, Cottages at Claremont, (estimate: £40,000-60,000), and a fine veldt landscape by Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, Landscape, (estimate: £60,000-80,000) both works originally from the collection of R. P. Gain, Cape Town.

The painting, Mondrian’s Last Chrysanthemum: Scared, has been held in a private collection for the last 12 years.

Viewing: Wed. 1 – 6 pm & Thurs. 10 am – 6 pm

Tel: 03 9568 7811 & 22 Fax: 03 9568 7866

Auction info www.thecollector.com.au