The month that was April | Gavelled!

If you found yourself shopping for a V12 Ferrari back in the day, the handling package was an option box that absolutely needed ticking. Not that the marque’s GTs were a flabby mess without it, but had you forked out the many thousands required you were treated to an array of subtle yet significant improvements that sharpened up the dynamics while maintaining a degree of pliancy. These days, most buyers of old Ferrari grand tourers intend to use them sparingly and they’ll want every mile to feel as special as can be, making the handling packaging as desirable now as it’s ever been. 

Not that you’d turn your nose up at this 599 GTB Fiorano if it were in a bargain spec, because there’s 620hp of naturally-aspirated V12 up front and Pininfarina looks to die for. But this is an HGTE, or ‘Handling Gran Turismo Evoluzione’, meaning a lower ride height, tweaks to the damping and a remapped throttle and gearbox for extra snappiness. Add to that a superbly understated black on black spec, stacks of main dealer and specialist servicing plus a recent clutch replacement, and you’ve got yourself a bidding magnet. The hammer ultimately fell at £75,040 including the buyer’s fee, leaving the seller with a 599-shaped space on their drive and a wad of cash to fill it. 

For a company that’s synonymous with a single model, Porsche’s history is full of cars that have helped prop the brand up when 911 sales alone could not. Cars like the 924, Boxster and Cayenne have all thrown Porsche a financial lifeline in the past, allowing the 911 to remain as the model that upholds the brand’s identity. And while it’s unfair to include the 356 in that list, given it predates the 911 by over a decade and a half, it’s the car that turned Porsche from a small engineering outfit into a fully fledged car manufacturer. So really quite important, then.

Obviously, that’s been reflected in values for quite some time, but actually putting a price tag on one can be difficult. Porsche made tens of thousands of them, making condition and provenance key to a strong result at auction. That’s exactly what we’ve got with this lovely Heron Grey 356 C, which not only comes with a Porsche Certificate of Authenticity and Kardex, but has also been meticulously restored using as many original parts as possible. It really is a lovely thing, and naturally spawned quite the bidding frenzy. It amassed an impressive 119 bids before hammer met gavel, with the winning bidder handing over £70,000 including the buyer’s fee to get their hands on it. Not a bad return for a car that, if you ignore inflation, only cost a few grand when new…

Yes, a Subaru Impreza does look out of place sat alongside a Ferrari V12 and a piece of Porsche history. But to call this any old Impreza would be doing it a huge injustice. As you’ll know, Subaru dished out umpteen special edition WRXs over the years, a good chunk of which were done in partnership with its WRC squad Prodrive. The RB320 is arguably the most special of the lot, built to commemorate the late, great Richard Burns, who bagged the 2001 driver’s championship driving for Subaru.

To pay tribute, Prodrive dialled up the 2.5-litre turbocharged flat-four to 320hp, bolted on some Bilstein dampers paired with lower Eibach springs, and fitted an adjustable anti-roll bar to the rear. It was meaner, too, with all 320 examples finished in black with black wheels and a black interior, albeit with orange accents from the RB320 logos providing a tiny dash of colour. Values are starting to go the way of the P1, with this immaculate example going for £28,955 including the buyer’s fee. Given they were in the mid-teens just a decade ago, it does make you wonder how much it might go for the next time one goes under the hammer.

Top 10 PistonHeads auction results in April*

1. Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano – £75,040
2. Porsche 356 C – £70,000
3. Lotus Exige S3 V6 Roadster – £38,056
4. Porsche 911 (996) Turbo – £35,376
5. Audi e-tron GT Quattro Vorsprung – £35,912
6. Lotus Esprit V8 Twin Turbo – £34,500
7. Porsche 911 (997.1) Targa 4S – £33,323
8. Subaru Impreza WRX STI RB320 – £28,995
9. Caterham Seven 310S SV – £26,264
10. 10. Marcos Mantara 3.9 V8 – £24,656

*Prices shown are inclusive of the buyer’s fee, which is 6% of the selling price + VAT, with a minimum of £695 + VAT