Five pre-war Humbers proved to be too many even for the large number of enthusiasts and traders in the Richard Edmonds auction tent on a Saturday beside the Castle Combe racing circuit where competitors’ engines were in full song out on the track throughout the day. Two of the Humbers did sell though with £18,150 available for a 1926 12/25 4-Seater Tourer and £8580 for an open 1929 9/20 for four. There were also buyers for both post-war Rootes Group Humbers, with a 1966 Super Snipe from same family ownership of over 30 years raising £6600, £1600 over the guide price, and a cosmetically only fair 1955 Hawk MkVI finding £2090.

Prices were headed by a 1927 Alvis TG 12/50 with handsome Sportsman Saloon bodywork sold for £33,000, with the same money available for a 1933 Rover Fourteen ‘Speed Pilot’ with open coachwork for four that had been uniquely crafted by Carbodies. Another pair of Rovers were much viewed and also motored well under Richard Edmonds’ gavel with £11,550 paid for a 1938 and therefore pre-WW2 10hp two-door Coupe, and £10,340 for a postwar 10hp 4-Door Saloon of 1946 manufacture. In sharp contrast was a valuation of only £330 for a 1971 2000TC, albeit requiring some re-commissioning.

A 1914 Morris Oxford Tourer with most likely still original leather for two and lots of brass to rub that was being dispersed from the Andrew Booth Collection made £29,700, top estimate money, and a 1925 Bullnose 13.9 Oxford Tourer for four £15,400, more than the guide price. A cosmetically super-sharp Jensen Interceptor Convertible converted from left to right-hand drive in 1999 was well bought for £23,650.

A 1929 Riley Nine with open fabric bodywork made a close to top estimate £24,200 – while really most attractive was a 1935 Singer Le Mans that had been rebuilt with new ash frame and ‘Long Tail’ treatment by Michael Sharpe in 2007, and which deservedly attracted £22,000.

A VSCC road and trial events eligible 1928 Fiat 509A Saloon certainly pulled well above its weight to sell for £12,430, £3300 more than the top estimate. Whilst Austin Seven prices recorded were a 1929 Chummy restored in 1994 sold for £11,000, a 1928 Chummy, an older restoration, for £10,560 and a 1935 Box Deluxe with scruffy interior and requiring work to the brakes for £3850.

Although £9000 or more had been floated for a rare Citroen 2CV AZU ‘Fourgonette’, the well restored commercial example still raised £8360 with premium. A less than forecast £4675 was accepted for a Light Fifteen ‘Traction Avant’ that had been assembled in Slough in 1955. 

By far the most rapid lot in the sale, a 1992 Ford Escort Cosworth with big wing and upgrades powered to a £13,750 result and one of the final Rolls-Royce Silver Shadows from the 1980 model year purred out of the tent into new ownership for £4400. Even less,  £1375 including premium in fact, acquired a really quite reasonable looking 1969 Triumph Vitesse Mk2 Convertible, though an oil burning engine and noisy transmission declared in the ‘saleroom notices’ may cost plenty to fix.