CREMONINI CLASSIC

Few people working within the British classic car market can claim experience stretching back to the 1960s. For Robin Lawton, an involvement with vintage and classic motor cars has been a constant for more than half a century.

Robin acquired his first car at just 15 before formally entering the motor trade in 1968 with the Wadhams Group. During the 1970s he joined University Motors, one of the best-known names associated with MG and the British sports car industry, establishing the foundations of a career that would span specialist dealerships, major auctions and decades of buying and selling vintage and classic motor cars.

Decades of Market Experience

In 1982, Robin established Guildford Sports & Classic Cars, developing his business during a period when the classic car market was considerably different from the international collector industry of today.

His career later took him into the auction world, heading the Classic & Historic Automobile Division at British Car Auctions, where he was responsible for organising more than 70 sales.

That breadth of experience has provided Robin with an unusually detailed understanding of the market — from changing values and buyer behaviour to the qualities that distinguish a genuinely good motor car.

An enthusiast-led approach

Today, operating from Hampshire, Robin offers an eclectic selection of vintage and classic cars predominantly dating from the 1920s through to the early 1970s.

There is a particular emphasis on Riley, MG and Austin, together with other British marques possessing interesting histories or notable pedigree. His expertise extends particularly to vintage and pre-war cars, combining market knowledge with an enthusiast-led approach to sourcing cars that can genuinely be used and enjoyed.

Rather than concentrating solely on concours examples or the highest-value cars, Robin has long appreciated well-sorted classics with character, provenance and mechanical integrity.

With older machinery, understanding condition, previous restoration work and how a car actually performs on the road requires considerably more than photographs and documentation. It is knowledge accumulated through decades of buying, selling, owning and experiencing the cars themselves.

After more than five decades within the industry, that combination of experience, judgement and genuine enthusiasm remains central to Robin Lawton's approach — and is why he is recognised as a HACCA Trusted Specialist.

Robin Lawton
Hampshire, United Kingdom
+44 (0)1420 474919

Wrightson Automotive brings together extensive experience at the upper end of the classic and collector car market with a refreshingly straightforward approach to buying and selling significant motor cars.

The business was founded following nearly 15 years spent within one of the world's leading classic car dealerships, experience that included playing a key role in establishing The Classic Motor Hub. Those years provided an unusually broad grounding in the acquisition, presentation and sale of important cars, as well as first-hand experience of the relationships that exist between collectors, dealers and the wider specialist industry.

Today, from its Oxfordshire base, Wrightson Automotive applies that knowledge through a highly personal service centred around acquisitions, sales, brokerage and independent advice.

From Bugatti to Ferrari

One of the defining characteristics of Wrightson Automotive is the breadth of cars that have shaped its experience.

At one end of the spectrum are pre-war Bugattis and Bentleys — cars for which history, provenance and originality can be every bit as important as condition. At the other are landmark modern classics such as the Ferrari 288 GTO and F40, representing a generation of cars that has become increasingly significant within major international collections.

Understanding both worlds provides a particularly relevant perspective on today's collector car market.

The traditional boundaries between classic and modern classic have become increasingly blurred. Established pre-war and post-war machinery now shares collection space with important cars from the 1980s, 1990s and beyond, while collectors themselves are becoming less constrained by individual marques or periods.

For an adviser, this requires more than detailed knowledge of a particular model. Values, provenance, originality, restoration history, market positioning and changing collector tastes all need to be considered when determining whether a particular car represents the right opportunity.

It is this breadth that allows Wrightson Automotive to advise across a collection rather than being confined to a single marque or generation.

Finding the right car

Buying an important collector car is often as much about knowing which example not to buy as identifying the right one.

A car may have the correct specification and an impressive history file yet still represent the wrong acquisition once condition, provenance, previous restoration work or market position are properly considered.

Wrightson Automotive's approach to sourcing therefore begins with understanding the individual client and what they are trying to achieve.

From identifying potential cars and assessing opportunities to negotiating an acquisition and representing the client's interests, the emphasis remains on informed, straightforward advice rather than simply facilitating a transaction.

The same principle applies when selling. Discreet brokerage and careful positioning can be particularly valuable for significant cars, where finding the appropriate next owner may prove more important than simply exposing the car to the widest possible market.

A personal approach in a global market

Despite the increasingly international nature of the collector car industry, Wrightson Automotive remains deliberately personal in its approach.

Collectors may require assistance with an individual acquisition, advice on the changing direction of a collection or representation during a sale. In each case, the relationship is built around understanding the client's requirements and providing knowledgeable guidance without unnecessary complication.

That independence is particularly relevant in a market where exceptional cars increasingly trade privately and opportunities can emerge through relationships long before reaching the open market.

Ultimately, the value lies not simply in knowing motor cars, but in understanding the market, the people within it and when a particular car genuinely represents the right opportunity.

It is this combination of broad collector-car experience, independent judgement and straightforward personal representation that distinguishes Wrightson Automotive — and is why the business is recognised as a HACCA Trusted Specialist.

Wrightson Automotive
Oxfordshire, England
+44 (0)1993 665 747

What began in 1975 as a small family business has developed into one of Europe's most substantial destinations for classic and collector motor cars.

Founded by Nico Aaldering, Gallery Aaldering has been based in Brummen in the Netherlands since 1987. Nico began with just three employees, initially building the business around Alfa Romeo before expanding into other Italian marques and subsequently British and European classics. Today, he runs the company alongside his son Nick Aaldering, bringing a second generation into a business now entering its sixth decade.

The scale is immediately apparent on entering its neoclassical premises. Across four floors sits a constantly changing collection of hundreds of cars, ranging from accessible classics to significant Ferraris, Aston Martins, Maseratis, Jaguars, Porsches and increasingly important modern collector cars.

Yet the size of the collection tells only part of the story. Gallery Aaldering has created something closer to an automotive destination than a conventional dealership — somewhere where several generations and entirely different schools of motoring can be explored beneath one roof.

Something for every generation

There is an appealing unpredictability to the cars found at Gallery Aaldering.

A pre-war motor car might sit within the same building as a 1960s Italian grand tourer, an air-cooled Porsche or a limited-production contemporary supercar. The inventory continually changes, and that variety reflects the development of the collector-car market itself.

When Nico Aaldering began trading, many of today's most desirable classics were simply used cars. Over the following decades, attitudes towards them changed enormously. Preservation became more important, provenance attracted greater scrutiny and cars from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s gradually joined much older machinery within established collections.

Gallery Aaldering has evolved alongside that market.

Its early association with Alfa Romeo developed into a broader interest in Italian cars and later British marques, while the collection today crosses nationalities, periods and price points.

That breadth makes visiting the Gallery rather different from entering a marque specialist.

There is no single interpretation of what constitutes an interesting classic. Instead, the collection provides an opportunity to move through decades of automotive history and appreciate just how differently manufacturers approached the sports car, grand tourer and luxury motor car.

For an enthusiast, much of the pleasure is simply seeing what appears next.

Beyond the showroom

Managing hundreds of classic cars requires considerably more than space to display them.

Gallery Aaldering operates its own fully equipped workshop, where experienced technicians maintain and service the diverse marques represented within the collection. The workshop combines historically appropriate equipment with contemporary tools, reflecting the considerable technical range required when cars from very different periods occupy the same premises.

Detailing forms another part of the operation, while preparation, inspection and international transport allow cars to be handled through the process of moving between owners and countries.

This in-house technical capability is particularly relevant given the variety involved.

Maintaining a carburetted Italian classic demands a very different understanding from preparing a later electronically managed performance car. Equally, a highly original survivor should not necessarily receive the same treatment as a car that has already undergone comprehensive restoration.

Having workshop support alongside the collection allows those differences to be addressed as part of the wider business rather than treating the cars simply as showroom inventory.

And because the collection changes continuously, the workshop itself encounters an unusually broad cross-section of automotive engineering.

A place built around the cars

Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Gallery Aaldering is the environment Nico and Nick have created around the collection.

The current Brummen building opened at the end of 2000 and was conceived in a neoclassical style deliberately chosen to complement the cars housed within it. The premises also incorporate a Grand Café overlooking both the collection and the surrounding IJssel landscape, together with spaces used for meetings and events.

It changes the rhythm of visiting.

Rather than arriving solely to inspect one particular car, it is possible to spend time wandering through the floors, discovering machinery that might otherwise rarely be encountered together and simply enjoying the surroundings.

That feels particularly appropriate for classic cars.

Much of the culture surrounding them has always been social: conversations in workshops, journeys to events, rallies, club meetings and the shared enthusiasm that develops around particular marques and models.

Gallery Aaldering has effectively brought some of that atmosphere indoors.

Nearly half a century after Nico Aaldering began with a handful of employees, the family business has grown enormously, but the underlying fascination with motor cars remains readily apparent.

It is this combination of scale, variety, family continuity and an environment created around the enjoyment of classic and collector cars that makes Gallery Aaldering recognised as a HACCA Trusted 

Specialist.

Gallery Aaldering
Brummen, Netherlands
+31 (0)575 564 055

Set within the historic former RAF Bibury site in the heart of the Cotswolds, The Classic Motor Hub has developed into considerably more than a traditional classic car dealership.

Bringing together carefully selected motor cars, specialist storage, transport and collection support within one distinctive location, the business has created an environment centred around both the ownership and enjoyment of classic and collector cars.

Its historic setting provides an appropriate backdrop. Once part of a wartime RAF airfield, the site has been transformed into a dedicated automotive destination where collectors, enthusiasts and significant motor cars come together.

Carefully selected motor cars

At the centre of The Classic Motor Hub is the sale of classic and collector cars from its Cotswolds showrooms.

The selection encompasses cars from different marques, periods and areas of the market, with an emphasis on interesting, high-quality examples possessing the history, provenance and character sought by knowledgeable enthusiasts and collectors.

For clients looking to acquire or sell a significant car, the dealership combines market knowledge with the wider resources available across the Hub, creating an ownership environment that extends beyond the transaction itself.

Supporting the collector

Alongside its sales operation, The Classic Motor Hub provides a range of services designed around the practical requirements of owning and managing important motor cars.

Secure vehicle storage allows owners to keep cars within a specialist environment, while transport and logistics services provide support when vehicles need to travel between collections, events, workshops or destinations further afield.

These capabilities also enable the business to support collectors with multiple vehicles, bringing together elements of storage, transportation, showroom presentation and collection management within a single location.

More than a dealership

Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of The Classic Motor Hub is the community that has developed around it.

With its café, retail space, events and enthusiast-focused facilities, the Hub provides a place for people to meet, discover interesting cars and share an enthusiasm for motoring.

This combination of classic car sales, specialist ownership services and automotive community has created something relatively unusual within the collector car industry — a destination that can be visited and enjoyed rather than simply a dealership where cars are bought and sold.

It is this broader approach to classic car ownership and enthusiasm that distinguishes The Classic Motor Hub — and is why the business is recognised as a HACCA Trusted Specialist.

The Classic Motor Hub
Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
+44 (0)1242 384092

For more than four decades, Daniel Donovan has been involved in the sale of some of the world's most iconic and desirable classic motor cars, building DD Classics around extensive market experience, marque knowledge and a genuine enthusiasm for the cars themselves.

Based in Richmond, Surrey, the business has developed an international reputation for sourcing and presenting a broad selection of significant classics, ranging from established British and European marques to important collector and investment-grade motor cars.

Four decades of market experience

Longevity within the collector car industry brings an understanding that extends considerably beyond individual makes and models. Over more than 40 years, Daniel has experienced changing markets, evolving collector tastes and the increasing importance placed upon provenance, originality and the quality of preparation.

That experience underpins the approach at DD Classics, where cars are carefully sourced through an established global network and prepared before being offered for sale.

The breadth of cars handled by the business also provides a valuable perspective across different marques, periods and areas of the market, allowing clients to draw upon extensive knowledge when acquiring or selling an important motor car.

From acquisition to preparation

A significant part of the DD Classics approach is the preparation that takes place beyond the initial acquisition.

Supported by an on-site workshop and in-house preparation team, cars can be mechanically inspected, serviced and prepared as required. For projects requiring more extensive work, DD Classics works closely with leading UK restoration specialists to coordinate everything from sympathetic refurbishment through to comprehensive concours-level restoration.

This allows the business to provide continuity throughout the ownership and sales process rather than simply acting as an intermediary between buyer and seller.

Combined with its international sourcing capabilities, DD Classics can assist clients with locating particular cars, acquiring vehicles from overseas and preparing them appropriately before presentation or sale.

When experience matters

Despite the increasingly international and investment-led nature of the collector car market, enthusiasm remains an important part of the business.

Whether dealing with an established classic, an important collector car or an example requiring careful restoration before returning to the road, the emphasis remains on quality, preparation and understanding the individual motor car.

It is this combination of more than four decades of experience, global sourcing capability and comprehensive preparation that continues to define DD Classics — and is why the business is recognised as a HACCA Trusted Specialist.

DD Classics
Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 8878 3355

There was a time when the distinction between a new performance car and a collector car was relatively easy to make.

Age usually separated the two.

That distinction has become considerably less obvious. Some of the most actively collected motor cars today were built within the past twenty years, while limited production, unusual specifications, factory provenance and allocation history can make two apparently identical cars very different propositions.

European Prestige operates firmly within that world.

From its 20,000 sq ft headquarters in Orpington, Greater London, the business buys, sells and sources performance cars, supercars and hypercars from manufacturers including Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, McLaren, Bugatti, Pagani, Koenigsegg and Aston Martin.

Its stock can move from a Porsche 911 to a Ferrari Enzo, Carrera GT or Bugatti Chiron, but the more revealing story is found in the cars that have already passed through the business.

Ferrari F40s, F50s, Enzos and LaFerraris. Porsche Carrera GTs and 918 Spyders. McLaren P1s. Pagani Zondas. Bugatti Veyrons and Chirons. Koenigseggs and limited-production Lamborghinis.

These are relatively young cars in the context of the wider collector market.

Increasingly, however, they require much of the same knowledge traditionally associated with considerably older machinery.

The question is no longer simply which model to buy.

It is knowing which individual car matters.

When Specification Becomes Provenance

European Prestige founder John Lambert began dealing in cars in 2007, initially importing limited-edition models into Ireland before spending time working in Australia.

European Prestige itself followed in 2016, beginning with a dealership in Kildare, Ireland. The business expanded into the UK in 2021 and subsequently established its Orpington headquarters, alongside a more recent operation in Belfast.

As the business has grown, so has the level of machinery passing through it.

That matters because the upper end of the contemporary collector market has developed its own increasingly complicated language.

Mileage remains important, but it is only one consideration. Factory specification, colour, market of delivery, ownership history, servicing, warranty status and originality can all materially affect the desirability of a car.

Then there are the derivatives.

A Bugatti Chiron is already a rare motor car, but a Pur Sport represents something different from a Super Sport. A conventional Porsche 918 Spyder and a Weissach Package example occupy subtly different positions in the market. Lamborghini produced numerous limited derivatives of the Aventador and Huracán, while Ferrari's special-series and Icona cars have developed their own collector following.

At this level, knowledge becomes increasingly granular.

European Prestige's approach is predominantly to own the cars it offers rather than operate principally as a consignment business. Consignment is occasionally considered where a car meets the company's requirements for provenance, rarity and quality, but purchasing stock directly means making a commercial judgement before asking a client to do the same.

That inevitably places considerable importance on selecting the right individual car.

The company's preference is for well-maintained, low-mileage examples, frequently retaining the balance of their manufacturer's warranty where applicable.

Yet some specifications require another level of understanding entirely.

Paint-to-Sample Porsches, exposed-carbon Bugattis, unusually configured Ferraris and limited-production anniversary models demonstrate how far personalisation has developed. For the collector, identifying a particular model is sometimes only the beginning.

Understanding exactly how it left the factory can be equally important.

From the F40 to the Hybrid Hypercar

Few areas illustrate the evolution of the modern collector market better than Ferrari's flagship cars.

The F40 belongs unmistakably to another era: turbocharged, manual and famously uncompromising. The F50 followed with its naturally aspirated V12 and competition-derived engineering before the Enzo brought the formula into the twenty-first century.

Then came LaFerrari.

Alongside the McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 Spyder, it established an entirely new category of hybrid hypercar and created what collectors subsequently came to call the Holy Trinity.

European Prestige has developed considerable experience with all three.

During 2026 alone, the business reported selling more than six examples of the Ferrari LaFerrari, five McLaren P1s and more than 13 Porsche 918 Spyders. Its wider sales history encompasses more than ten individual 918s supplied to clients, alongside examples of the other significant modern hypercars that increasingly sit beside established classics in major collections.

The numbers are important because repetition builds knowledge.

Handling one 918 Spyder provides experience of the model. Handling numerous examples begins to reveal the differences between them — specification, condition, mileage, options, provenance and what collectors actually value when presented with several ostensibly similar cars.

The same applies further up the market.

Bugatti has become a particularly visible part of European Prestige's inventory, extending from the Veyron generation through the Chiron and its increasingly specialised derivatives. Pagani and Koenigsegg occupy an even smaller production universe, where individual chassis can become known internationally and the history attached to a particular car can be as important as its mechanical specification.

This is where the conventional distinction between modern supercar dealer and collector-car specialist begins to disappear.

A Ferrari Enzo is now more than twenty years old.

A Carrera GT belongs to the same period. Early Bugatti Veyrons are approaching a similar age, while the F40 has long since become an established historic collector car.

Even the P1, LaFerrari and 918 Spyder have moved beyond simply being recent hypercars.

They now have market histories of their own.

A Market Without Borders

The other defining characteristic of this part of the collector-car world is its international nature.

A rare specification does not necessarily appear in the country where its next owner lives.

European Prestige maintains a worldwide sourcing network for cars that are not already within its inventory, allowing clients to search for a particular model or specification beyond the public market.

Conversely, cars owned by the business regularly find buyers overseas.

European Prestige has developed an international client base and coordinates enclosed transportation, international shipping and customs procedures where required. Distance sales are therefore not an exception to the business model but a routine part of dealing with cars whose potential market may be global.

That reach becomes particularly relevant as rarity increases.

There may be dozens of suitable examples of a mainstream performance model available domestically at any one time. With a particular Pagani, Koenigsegg, limited-production Bugatti or unusually specified Ferrari, the number may fall to a handful worldwide.

Finding the car is one part of the transaction.

Being confident enough in its history and condition to buy it from another country is another.

European Prestige's growth from an operation importing limited-edition cars into Ireland to a business trading some of the most significant contemporary collector cars internationally reflects how much this market itself has changed.

The traditional collector world was once dominated by age.

The modern one is increasingly defined by significance.

A car can become collectable because very few were built. Because it introduced important technology. Because it represents the final use of a particular engine or gearbox. Because its specification is exceptionally unusual. Or simply because, with hindsight, it has come to represent a particular moment in automotive history.

The challenge for the specialist is recognising those distinctions before treating every example as interchangeable.

European Prestige's sales history provides an unusually broad perspective from which to do so. From established analogue icons such as the Ferrari F40 and Porsche Carrera GT to the hybrid Holy Trinity and the latest limited-production machinery from Bugatti, Pagani and Koenigsegg, the business operates across several generations of what has become the modern collector-car market.

Some are already recognised as historic.

Others are still becoming so.

Knowing the difference — and understanding the individual cars within each category — is increasingly where the specialist knowledge lies.

That combination of international sourcing, substantial experience with limited-production machinery and an established understanding of the supercars and hypercars shaping the contemporary collector market is why European Prestige is a trusted and HACCA Trusted Specialist.

European Prestige
Kent, England
+44 (0)1689 251307

For William Heynes, Jaguar history is not something discovered through books or acquired later in a career. It is part of the family.

His grandfather, William Munger ‘Bill’ Heynes, joined SS Cars in 1935 and became Jaguar’s Chief Engineer and Technical Director. His influence reached across some of the most important chapters in the company’s history: the development of the XK engine, Jaguar’s decision to compete at Le Mans and the design and engineering of Jaguar motor cars across more than three decades.

Three generations later, his grandson is continuing that association from a rather different perspective.

Founded by William Heynes and his wife Amy Shore in 2021, William Heynes Ltd specialises in preserving, recommissioning and restoring Jaguar E-Types, alongside selected road and competition Jaguars.

There is an obvious historical connection in the name, but heritage alone does not restore a motor car correctly.

What distinguishes the workshop is the degree to which it studies the small production changes that occurred while these cars were being built — details that can reveal considerably more about an E-Type than its model year alone.

Sometimes the week matters

Ask William about an early E-Type and the important question may not be what year it was manufactured, but what week.

Jaguar production evolved continuously.

Drain holes changed. Flange depths differed. Panel construction varied from one car to another. Driveshafts, shock absorbers, electrical components and castings can all carry details or dates that help establish precisely how an individual E-Type would originally have been assembled.

William Heynes Ltd searches internationally for reference material and original cars against which those details can be compared.

That research gives restoration a different starting point.

Rather than working towards a generic idea of what a beautifully restored Series 1 E-Type should look like, the objective is to understand the specification appropriate to the particular car being restored.

For historically important examples, those differences matter.

An apparently insignificant component may help establish chronology. Original panel work can reveal manufacturing techniques that disappeared later in production. A surviving finish may provide a better reference than a modern interpretation of what somebody believes the factory originally intended.

The car itself becomes part of the archive.

Originality without freezing time

William Heynes Ltd describes its approach as securing originality through preservation and restoration.

There is an important distinction within that philosophy.

A historically correct car does not necessarily need to appear as though it was completed yesterday. The company's intention is for its restorations to mellow naturally with time, rather than becoming immaculate objects permanently separated from the ageing process.

That requires judgement about what should remain.

William grew up around the Jaguars designed and engineered during his grandfather's career, driving E-Types and XKs from an early age and hearing first-hand accounts from his father about Browns Lane, racing and the people involved with the cars.

His professional experience subsequently developed through fabrication and bodywork before extending into locating significant cars for clients and building a detailed understanding of early E-Types.

Since establishing the company, the team has restored, recommissioned and reported on historically significant examples, while also maintaining other important road and racing Jaguars.

One preservation project was accepted for the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, an appropriate setting for a philosophy that considers preservation every bit as important as comprehensive restoration.

Recreating the smallest details

Research eventually creates another problem.

Knowing that a component is incorrect is useful only if the correct alternative can still be found.

For early E-Types, that is becoming increasingly difficult.

William Heynes Ltd has therefore begun manufacturing components where available replacements fail to reproduce the appropriate specification. Some are remarkably specific: throttle linkage components for particular early 3.8-litre cars, correctly produced control rods and uprated V12 throttle springs created because existing replacements did not have the correct spring rate.

These are not dramatic components.

That is precisely why they matter.

A restoration can be visually spectacular while accumulating dozens of small inaccuracies beneath the surface. Correcting those details requires a willingness to research, manufacture and reproduce parts that most people may never notice.

The company is also investing in the continuation of those skills. William works with the historic vehicle community through the HCVA and is a trustee of StarterMotor, while the workshop works with the Heritage Skills Academy in developing apprentices entering the industry.

That introduces another form of preservation.

Jaguar's cars can survive only for as long as people retain the knowledge required to understand them.

For William Heynes Ltd, that responsibility carries an unusually personal dimension. The cars being restored today belong to the same engineering lineage that William's grandfather helped create at Jaguar decades earlier.

The connection between those generations does not mean treating history sentimentally. It creates a reason to examine it more closely.

Every casting date, panel variation and surviving original component can contribute another piece of evidence about how an individual Jaguar came into existence.

And sometimes, getting an E-Type right really does come down to knowing which week Jaguar built it.

It is this combination of three generations of Jaguar heritage, forensic attention to originality and a commitment to preserving both the cars and the knowledge behind them that makes William Heynes Ltd a HACCA Trusted Specialist.

William Heynes Ltd
Warwickshire, England
+44 (0)1789 507 611

The boundary between the performance car and the collector car has become increasingly difficult to define.

A Ferrari 488 Pista may still be a relatively contemporary supercar, yet specification, mileage and provenance already matter enormously. Certain Porsche 911s have moved decisively into collector territory, while cars from Aston Martin, McLaren and Lamborghini can become sought-after almost from the moment production ends. Alongside them sit established classics whose significance was determined decades earlier.

It means the modern specialist dealer increasingly has to understand several generations of the market at once.

Auto100 has developed within precisely that environment. What began with Christopher Smith sourcing unusual and high-performance cars from his dining room evolved into a family business formally established in 2002. Today, under the leadership of his eldest son Matthew, the company operates on a considerably different scale, with a flagship showroom in Nottinghamshire, a dedicated three-acre preparation centre and its Winchester Collection operation in Hampshire. Auto100 says its team collectively represents more than 500 years of motor-industry experience.

Yet scale alone is not what makes the business interesting from a collector-car perspective. It is the range of machinery now sitting within it — and the judgement required to select the individual cars.

The Individual Car Still Matters

At the upper end of the market, model designation is only the beginning.

Two apparently identical cars can occupy very different positions according to mileage, specification, service history, condition, ownership and provenance. Add limited-production derivatives, unusual factory options and desirable colour combinations and the difference becomes greater still.

Auto100's approach begins with buying its stock outright rather than relying upon sale-or-return inventory. The company says every vehicle is hand-selected according to quality, condition and provenance before undergoing its own preparation and quality-assurance process.

That distinction creates responsibility. When a dealer owns the car sitting in the showroom, the decision to acquire it has already been made with its own capital.

The breadth of the current inventory demonstrates how wide that decision-making process has become. Alongside contemporary performance and luxury machinery are cars firmly established within the collector market. At the time of writing, these include a 1965 Aston Martin DB5, Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder, Aston Martin V8 Vantage X-Pack and Porsche 911 Turbo Targa, while the wider stock encompasses modern Ferraris, McLarens, Aston Martins, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Porsches and Lamborghinis.

It is an interesting cross-section because today's collector rarely restricts a garage according to age.

The same collection might contain a DB5 and a contemporary Aston Martin, an air-cooled 911 and a GT3 RS, or an historic Ferrari alongside one of Maranello's modern limited-production cars. The reasons for acquiring them may differ, but the fundamentals of buying well remain remarkably similar: find the right example, understand its history and specification, establish its condition and recognise where it sits within the wider market.

Preparation Before Presentation

There is another important stage between acquisition and showroom.

Auto100 operates a dedicated three-acre preparation centre alongside its flagship operation, providing the infrastructure required to inspect and prepare cars before they are offered for sale. Its principal showroom on Nunn Brook Road has capacity for approximately 250 cars, while the company describes its overall inventory as exceeding £30 million in value.

For specialist cars, preparation has implications beyond presentation.

Cosmetic condition is immediately visible, but an informed buyer will look considerably deeper. Tyres, brakes, service requirements, paint condition, previous repairs, mechanical history and the quality of earlier maintenance can all influence whether an apparently desirable car is actually the right example.

That becomes particularly important as relatively modern cars enter the collector market. Their complexity is very different from that of an historic GT. Carbon-ceramic braking systems, adaptive suspension, sophisticated electronics, active aerodynamics and increasingly complex powertrains mean that a car with low mileage is not automatically a car without potential requirements.

Equally, originality can matter in surprisingly contemporary machinery. Factory specification, paint, interior trim and original components are increasingly scrutinised on cars that would once simply have been regarded as used performance cars.

Auto100's selection and preparation process therefore sits behind what the customer eventually sees in the showroom. The objective is not simply to assemble large numbers of prestigious cars, but to establish a consistent standard across an unusually broad inventory.

That philosophy also reflects the company's origins. Despite its expansion, Auto100 remains a family-run business, with Christopher Smith's original enthusiasm for sourcing unusual cars continuing through a second generation.

Collecting Across Generations

Perhaps the most interesting development within the modern collector market is how quickly its boundaries are moving.

There was once a reasonably clear distinction between the classic-car dealer and the contemporary prestige dealer. Increasingly, the cars themselves refuse to respect it.

An Aston Martin DB5 is unquestionably an historic collector car. A Ferrari 365 Daytona occupies similarly established territory. But the market also places considerable importance on modern cars such as the Ferrari 488 Pista, Porsche GT models and limited-production McLarens. Some are collected from new; others become recognised as significant only after the market has had time to understand them.

For a dealer operating across these generations, the challenge is recognising the qualities that make an individual car desirable rather than relying solely upon the badge attached to it.

Auto100's scale provides exposure to a substantial number of cars and transactions. Its website currently lists hundreds of vehicles, spanning everyday premium models through to established classics and significant modern performance cars.

That volume creates a useful perspective on the market. It allows patterns in specification, condition, demand and buyer preference to emerge while still requiring judgement at the level of the individual car.

The company's Winchester Collection adds another dimension, extending its reach towards collectors and enthusiasts in southern England while the Nottinghamshire operation remains its principal base. The business describes the Winchester location as part of its offering for collectors and enthusiasts, alongside its larger flagship showroom and preparation operation.

What Auto100 represents, therefore, is part of a broader change taking place within the collector-car world. The market is no longer defined solely by cars of a particular age. A significant motor car might have been manufactured in 1965, 1989, 2019 or considerably more recently.

What matters increasingly is understanding why that particular example deserves attention.

For Auto100, a business that began by sourcing unusual cars more than three decades ago, that principle has remained remarkably consistent even as the scale and nature of the cars around it have changed. The showroom may now contain hundreds of vehicles, but ultimately every acquisition still begins with a decision about one car.

That combination of more than three decades of family experience, substantial investment in vehicle preparation, outright ownership of its stock and an increasingly broad understanding of classic, prestige and contemporary collector machinery is why Auto100 is a trusted and HACCA Trusted Specialist.

Auto 100
Nottinghamshire, England
+44 (0)1623 513643

Selling a significant motor car has always involved more than deciding what it is worth. The right preparation, the way its history is understood, how it is presented and, increasingly, where the transaction takes place can all influence the result. Godins has built its approach around recognising that not every car — or every owner — requires the same route to market.

Based between West London and Sussex, the company deals across classic, performance and luxury motor cars, combining traditional specialist dealership experience with a more flexible approach to buying and selling. Its inventory can move comfortably between established classics and much newer collector machinery: at the time of writing, cars offered by Godins include a Ferrari 365 GT4 BB and Dino 246 GT, several generations of Jaguar E-Type, a Porsche 911 Turbo, Ferrari Testarossa, Aston Martin V8 Volante and considerably more contemporary machinery including a Porsche 911 GT3 RS and McLaren GT.

Behind that breadth is Director Daniel Godin, whose career includes significant experience with international auction houses and the wider collectors' car market. It gives the business an understanding of a marketplace in which the method of selling a car can be almost as important as the eventual asking price.

Godins therefore operates through several routes. Cars can be purchased outright, sold off-market or offered on consignment, while its consignment business is divided between a conventional Showroom Service and a Home Service that allows an owner to retain possession of the car while Godins manages its sale. It is a modern solution to a familiar collector-car problem: how to bring a significant car properly to market without assuming that every owner wants to hand over the keys first.

The Car Before the Advertisement

The best collector-car listings usually begin long before the photographer arrives.

Godins starts its consignment process with an inspection and valuation, followed by consideration of any preparation required before the car is offered publicly. Specification and history are reviewed, further research can be undertaken where necessary, and an inspection report forms part of the process. Only then are photography, videography and the detailed presentation of the car assembled.

That approach matters particularly with older cars. A classic is rarely adequately described by model, year, mileage and colour. Restoration work, long-term ownership, maintenance history, originality, specification and the specialists entrusted with the car over previous decades can all materially change how an individual example should be understood.

The company's own listings demonstrate that attention to detail. A Ferrari 308 GTS previously offered by Godins was presented with information covering its six-owner history, 23-year tenure with its previous keeper, earlier bare-metal repaint, maintenance by recognised Ferrari specialists and the supporting documentation retained within its history file. A Porsche 964 Carrera 2 Cabriolet was accompanied by records detailing more than £66,000 of maintenance and restoration expenditure, including an engine rebuild, repaint and retrim.

This is where knowledgeable presentation becomes valuable. The purpose is not simply to make a car sound attractive; it is to establish what makes that particular car interesting, where it has been, what has been done to it and what evidence remains to support its story.

For collectors, those distinctions increasingly matter. Two outwardly similar cars can represent very different propositions once their histories are opened.

Selling Without Handing Over the Keys

Perhaps the more distinctive element of the Godins model is its Home Service.

Consignment has traditionally required the car to be delivered to a dealer's premises, where it remains until sold or withdrawn. Godins retains that conventional Showroom Service through its West London and Sussex facilities, but its Home Service provides another option: the car remains with its owner while Godins assumes responsibility for bringing it to market.

A specialist handles the sale from beginning to end, dealing with enquiries, qualifying prospective buyers, discussing part-exchange proposals and arranging viewings with the owner. Godins undertakes the inspection, valuation, research and professional photography before producing the listing and marketing material. The car is then promoted through the company's website, database, newsletters and social channels without first having to leave its custodian.

It is a relatively simple idea, but one particularly relevant to the collector market.

Owners of significant cars may have carefully controlled storage arrangements, established routines for their collections or simply prefer not to leave a valuable motor car elsewhere for an indeterminate period. For somebody selling one car from a larger collection, retaining it alongside the rest until a serious buyer emerges can be especially attractive.

The alternative remains available when appropriate. Through the Showroom Service, Godins can arrange collection before the car is prepared, photographed, marketed and displayed through its facilities. The important distinction is that the route can be selected around the owner and the individual car rather than requiring the car to fit a single dealership model.

That flexibility continues elsewhere in the business. Godins offers outright purchase and part exchange alongside consignment and off-market transactions, while an in-house logistics service can arrange collection and delivery internationally.

Across Generations of Collecting

The definition of a collector car has widened considerably during the past two decades.

The established market for E-Types, air-cooled 911s, front-engined Aston Martins and analogue Ferraris now sits alongside an increasingly mature market for the performance cars that followed them. An F355, Testarossa or 911 Turbo can share a collection with a contemporary GT3 RS or McLaren without any contradiction. For many younger collectors in particular, the cars that defined the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s are now every bit as culturally significant as machinery built several decades earlier.

Godins operates naturally across those generations.

Its stock reflects a market where a 1960s Jaguar, 1970s Ferrari, 1980s Porsche and modern supercar can all appeal to the same buyer for different reasons. Understanding that market requires more than knowing established classic-car values. Specification, mileage, service history and condition remain important, but so too can factory options, colour combinations, production derivatives and the increasingly sophisticated preferences surrounding modern performance cars.

There is also an important human element to this part of the market. Buying a collector car is rarely an entirely rational transaction, and selling one can be equally personal. Cars may have remained with the same owner for decades, formed part of a collection or accumulated histories that cannot be condensed into a valuation guide.

Godins describes integrity as central to its approach, with its team combining collector-market knowledge, hands-on mechanical experience and specialist automotive photography. That mixture is significant because successful specialist dealing increasingly requires several disciplines at once: understanding the machinery, recognising the market, documenting the individual car and presenting it convincingly to the right audience.

The result is a business positioned between the traditional specialist dealership and a more contemporary, flexible method of bringing collector cars to market. The showroom remains important, but it is no longer assumed to be the only place from which a significant car can be sold.

For Godins, the starting point is the individual car and its owner — understanding what is being sold, establishing the story behind it and then deciding how it should reach the market.

That combination of collector-car knowledge, detailed vehicle presentation, flexible consignment services and an approach capable of working across both established classics and modern performance machinery is why Godins is a trusted and HACCA Trusted Specialist.

Godins
London, England 

+44 (0)208 0498443

Some collections make immediate sense.

A single marque. A particular decade. Competition cars, perhaps, or the work of one coachbuilder.

Others are connected by something less obvious.

The Ashtree Collection belongs to the latter category.

From its base in Shrewsbury, the specialist dealership has handled motor cars separated by generations, technologies and completely different interpretations of performance. A pre-war Jaguar SS100 might share the collection with an AC Ace, while elsewhere there may be a limited-production Porsche 911, a BAC Mono or one of the earliest genuinely collectable electric sports cars.

There is no attempt to make everything fit neatly into one category.

What connects the cars instead is interest.

Rarity matters. Specification matters. Provenance matters. But so too does whether a particular car represents something significant within the history of its manufacturer — or simply offers an experience sufficiently distinctive to make it worth seeking out.

That approach has produced an unusually varied sales history.

Ferrari 328 GTB and Aston Martin DB6. Porsche 911s spanning early cars through GT models and limited-production derivatives. BAC Monos. Audi R8 GTs. Modern Lamborghinis. Tesla Roadsters. Traditional British sports cars and motorcycles have appeared alongside them.

More recently, the collection has included cars as different as a 1938 Jaguar SS100 3½ Litre, Porsche 911 S/T, 997-generation 911 Sport Classic, BAC Mono R and Tesla Roadster Sport.

On paper, there is very little connecting them.

For the enthusiast, there is rather more.

When Rarity Has a Purpose

Limited production alone does not necessarily make a motor car interesting.

There has to be something behind the number.

The Ashtree Collection's inventory illustrates the distinction particularly well. A Porsche 997-generation Sport Classic is significant not simply because only 250 were produced, but because of what the model represented within the development of the modern Porsche special-series car.

It combined elements that enthusiasts increasingly valued — rear-wheel drive, a manual gearbox, unusual specification and visual references to earlier 911s — at a time when Porsche had yet to develop the sheer number of limited-production derivatives that would follow.

A later 992 S/T approaches the same idea from another direction.

Then there is the BAC Mono.

It is difficult to imagine a motor car further removed from a conventional grand tourer. Single-seat, exceptionally light and conceived around the experience of driving rather than carrying passengers or luggage, the Mono strips the road car back towards something much closer to competition machinery.

The Ashtree Collection has handled several iterations of the model, including early Cosworth-powered cars and later examples, while its inventory has included a Mono R — one of only a very small number registered in the UK.

Again, the production figure is only part of the story.

The reason the car matters is what BAC chose to do with it.

In an era when performance cars have generally become larger, heavier and more technologically complex, the Mono pursued almost the opposite philosophy. Its appeal comes from concentration rather than versatility.

That same principle can be applied to cars that initially appear far removed from it.

The original Tesla Roadster was not created as a traditional collector car. Based around the Lotus-derived architecture and produced when the viability of a serious electric sports car was still far from established, it now represents an identifiable point in automotive history.

The Ashtree Collection has handled rare right-hand-drive Roadster Sport examples, including limited-production derivatives.

A BAC Mono and an early Tesla Roadster could hardly deliver their performance in more different ways.

Yet both are interesting for essentially the same reason.

They attempted something different.

Across Generations

The challenge in dealing with cars from different periods is that they cannot all be assessed in the same way.

A nearly new limited-production Porsche may be judged closely on mileage, factory specification, paint protection, servicing and the completeness of everything supplied when new.

Move back several decades and the questions change.

With an early Porsche 911, Jaguar SS100, AC Ace or Aston Martin DB6, originality, restoration history, matching components, period modifications and provenance can become considerably more important than mileage alone.

The car has had a life.

Understanding that life becomes part of understanding the car.

A 1938 SS100, for example, belongs to an entirely different collector environment from a contemporary Porsche 911 S/T. Only 116 examples of the 3½-litre SS100 were produced, and surviving cars have subsequently passed through more than eight decades of maintenance, competition, restoration and ownership.

Assessing one therefore requires historical context.

An AC Ace brings similar considerations. Its significance extends beyond the attractiveness of the original sports car because the Ace sits within a much broader history encompassing AC, Bristol and ultimately the development of the Cobra.

Then there are cars that bridge the divide between old and new.

A Porsche 911 reimagined by Singer begins with an existing air-cooled 911 but becomes something substantially different through reconstruction, engineering and personal specification. Such cars now occupy their own established part of the collector market, with individual specification and the details of the commission forming an important part of their identity.

The Ashtree Collection's breadth is therefore less straightforward than simply selling classic and performance cars.

The knowledge required moves with the machinery.

What matters on one car may be largely irrelevant on the next.

Buying the Individual Car

This is ultimately where specialist dealing becomes more than knowing market values.

Two cars carrying the same badge can differ substantially in desirability.

One may have the right specification but the wrong history. Another might have accumulated more mileage yet possess unusually complete provenance. A limited-production derivative may command attention because of its rarity, while a superficially similar model produced in far greater numbers occupies an entirely different market.

The interesting car is not necessarily the obvious one.

The Ashtree Collection's trading history reflects that willingness to move between categories. Publicly advertised cars have ranged from relatively accessible modern classics to machinery approaching seven figures, with more than 300 listings appearing through Car & Classic alone since 2019.

That breadth also reflects how the collector-car market itself has changed.

The enthusiast who owns an SS100 may also have a modern GT Porsche. Someone interested in an analogue Ferrari may equally understand the historical importance of an early Tesla. Collections increasingly cross the old boundaries between classic, modern classic, supercar and contemporary limited-production machinery.

Age is no longer the only qualification for significance.

Sometimes the interesting part is the engineering.

Sometimes it is rarity.

Sometimes it is provenance, specification or the place a particular model occupies within the development of a manufacturer.

And occasionally it is simply that somebody built a car unlike almost anything else.

The best specialist inventories consequently tell you something about the person selecting them. They do not need every car to be similar; they need each car to have a reason for being there.

That is perhaps the clearest way to understand The Ashtree Collection.

From a pre-war Jaguar to a single-seat BAC, from an AC Ace to a limited-production Porsche or pioneering electric sports car, the machinery may change considerably.

The common denominator is the search for cars that have something worth understanding.

That combination of enthusiast-led selection, experience across multiple generations of collector machinery and an eye for rarity, specification and individual provenance is why The Ashtree Collection is a trusted and HACCA Trusted Specialist.

Shrewsbury, England 

+44 (0)1743 462999