A Bell of a collection

Classic Car Auctions (CCA) December 2020 auction included as part of its line-up the very special Mike Bell Collection. The 11-piece collection was made up of both road and race cars along with an exotic Italian motorbike and a transporter to ferry the collection around in.
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We take a look at this special collection and how they did at the auction.

Gary Dunne, CCA’s Sales Manager, set out some context of the Collection “Mike was a well-respected preparer and driver of historic cars and he sadly past away earlier this year. Not only was he a top driver, but he gained a reputation as one of the best preparers in the country and we are honoured to offer his personal collection in our next sale.”

First up is 1971 Ford Escort RS1600 ‘Lairy Canary’ which is finished in the colours of Norwich football club, ‘The Canaries’. The Aveley-built example had been superbly prepared for racing and is eligible for a number of historic racing classes, if that is your thing. With MSA/HTP papers valid until the end of 2026, it had a strengthened shell and had been fully seam-welded. This iconic car has been magazine featured and lusted after by many. Sold – £83,000

​The 1972 Ford Escort RS1600 competed in the first Goodwood Road racing Club Sprint in 2006. The Aveley-built car is finished in Daytona Yellow, the fastest colour surely, was fully restored to a superb standard and by many aficionados is considered to be the Holy Grail of RS’s. Sold – £41,000.

A Sebring Red 1974 Ford Escort RS2000 was owned by Mike for 11 years. The RS2000 was the last car to be introduced into the AVO range. Its performance was said to comparable to the more complex RS1600, but with the same reliability and ease of maintenance as the Mexico. The front seats which were with the car needed re-fitting, but apart from that this smashing RS was good to go. And go it did. Sold – £37,000.

Apparently one Mike’s favourite cars was the delightful 1965 Gilbern 1800 GT. It was raced throughout the UK and Europe. Around 200 GTs were built with the most common being the 1800GT which utilised the MGB engine, gearbox and, front and rear running gear. Sold – £23,000.

​The 1959 Morgan Plus 4 built to Supersports Specification was another special car. The Morgan came with a great racing pedigree having previously raced at many circuits throughout Europe, including Nürburgring, Pau, Silverstone, and Goodwood gaining some podium places along the way. Only 103 Supersports were made, this is a rather special car. Sold – £68,000.

The 1994 Porsche 968 Sport had minimal use over recent years. But nonetheless remains an appealing modern classic in excellent condition throughout. It was reported to require minor recommissioning but that really should not have put anyone off. It came with an extensive history file containing service invoices, MOT Certificates, etc. complete with its original handbook and service pack. In Guards Red it looked lovely. Sold – £10,000

For the uninitiated, the 2001 Ducati Monster S4, is powered by a liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, 90-degree V-Twin, DOHC, desmodromic 4 valves per cylinder engine producing 101bhp @ 8750 rpm a max torque of 67.86 ft/lbs and a top speed of 143 mph. But you all knew that anyway. This Monster was supplied by Chris Clarke Motorcycles, Wymondham, Norfolk. It had one owner and had covered just 4,000m. Original handbook, docs alongside FSH & MOTs were all with this Super Naked bike. Super price too, sold – £5,000. A bargain, surely.

​The 1989 Peugeot 205 1300 Rallye was described as having ‘French specification’ whatever that means and was in LHD. It was in totally stripped-down condition and therefore represented a good deal of work for whoever bought it. However, these little beasts are very collectable. The engine had been bored out by PTS from 1124cc to 1294 cc, and was now equipped with twin 40 Webbers and a fast cam. The chaps at PTS engineers also reduced the weight to a featherlight 790kg. Which in all certainty meant this little French spec 205 will go like waste matter off of a gardeners utensil – even a French one!  Sold – £6,000.

As if the Collection needed any more provenance, the famous Patrick Head designed these marvellous 1978 Delta T78/9 Formula Ford 2000 Series cars like the one seen here. This particular car ran in the BARC Classic FF 2000 Championship during the ’90s. It was rewarded with several front-row grid positions and set a new lap record at Castle Coombe. Something not to be sniffed at. The smart little racer came as complete car with spare wheels, tyres and gear ratios. Accompanying it were FIA papers dated 1997. After a period of idleness, it was reported the car would require recommissioning. But who cares? Great car. Sold – £18,000.

The 1978 MTX 2-01 Spyder B5 Sports Racer was pretty much totally dissembled and as such represented an interesting project for someone with the time and inclination. But with only three of these ever built, it was surely worth it. Metalex, who manufactured these cars were a Czech company involved in the manufacture of racing and competition cars from 1969 and produced a series of ‘Sport Prototype’ cars (MTX) for the Czechoslovakian Sportscar Championship. This Spyder, chassis number #0203, was originally fitted with 1600cc, 4-cylinder Fiat engine. Its racing debut was in 1973 resulting in a couple of 4th places. 1974 saw it have a further six races with two thirds and two wins. In 1975 it underwent some upgrades not least of which was 2.0ltr BMW engine with which it was reported to have had much more success. It came complete with a fully rebuilt engine and spare, spare wheels and numerous other parts. Great project and great fun when finished. Sold – £19,000.
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The whole collection was offered without reserve prices. The final totally amassing to just over £300k. A great price. A great collection.