An auctioneer who has been putting old cars under the hammer for more than 30 years has decided to branch out into selling classics through his own company.
Jonathan Humbert has shifted millions of pounds’ worth of metal at Silverstone Auctions (now Iconic Auctioneers) and Classic Car Auctions but is also managing director of Daventry-based Humbert & Ellis, whose recent results include an ex-Peter Collins Allard J2, which made £86,940, and a Triumph TR3A that sold for £23,200.
The company’s auctions are listed as timed seven-day sales, costing £50 entry with five per cent commission (plus VAT) – and a tree is planted for every vehicle sold to help balance the company’s carbon emissions.
Jonathan told Classic Car Weekly: ‘While I am obviously a great believer in live and event-led auctions I am also firm in the belief that timed online auctions are very much the modern take. I've seen so many customers spend hundreds of pounds in entry and transport fees to and from a sale, only to return home with nothing to show for the outlay. We literally sell from our clients’ driveways to the world.’