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| December
2003 |
Classic
Vehicle Auction
John Mould
Collection |
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No go for
museum |
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John Mould is a demolition contractor based near Reading, whose tipper
trucks trundle the streets of Berkshire. He also owns an
extensive collection of vintage vehicles which are housed in premises
adjacent to his yard in Burghfield Bridge. After endless
negotiations with the local council he finally lost patience, and shelved
plans to convert |
| his vast
collection into a museum. Therefore the
decision was reached to sell off a substantial amount of the vehicles -
about 100 - leaving about another 150 stored under cover in a
shed. |
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| Preparation |
| Local auctioneers Thimbleby & Shorland were put in
charge and the auction date was set for 13 September 2003. Catalogues were printed and the
collection was open to public viewing on the Friday before the
auction. Fully-grown men could be seen crawling under 50 year
old lorries checking things. Meantime enthusiasts had an
excellent opportunity to take photographs in peace |
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| The day of
the auction dawned bright and sunny - a veritable Indian Summer's Day -
which encouraged hundreds of people to attend. The auction had
been well publicised on local TV and in the press. |
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| Auction |
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To get things rolling, about 100 lots of signs and paraphernalia were put
under the hammer first. Lessons had been learned from a
previous smaller |
| auction, and
a large screen had been installed so the
bidders could clearly see their intended purchases. Only
Laurel and Hardy could accidentally buy a grandfather clock at this auction.
Once the warm-up was over, the main event could start in
earnest. |
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| Vehicles |
| Most of the vehicles up for sale were pre- and
post-war cars, some in immaculate show-condition. There were
also some vans, lorries and a handful of buses and fire
engines. The bidders were a mixture of dealers and car
preservationists. The more organised took strict note of the
selling price of each vehicle. Although no reserve prices had
been published, it soon became obvious that they did exist, as the open
top London RT bus failed to sell for around £2500. |
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Eager
Buyers |
| As
each
vehicle sold, the eager buyer collected running boards and petrol caps and
returned gleefully to their new purchase. All such bits were
removed prior to sale to prevent any theft. During the
proceedings John Mould himself strolled around casually, chatting to
anyone who recognised him (standing left on RT above) |
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| Prize
Possession |
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| As the auction progressed one of
the prize items soon came under the hammer - a 1930's Bedford
painstakingly restored. Two phone bidders entered the fray at this point and
together with someone from the floor, the price soon galloped
up. Everyone held their breath as each bidder tried to land a
knockout blow - some bids increasing by £500 at a time. Eventually with the total standing |
| at just over £23,000 it was
"going, going, gone" time. Phew - spontaneous
applause broke out. Sold to someone on a phone.
Auctions are not for the weak willed. |
| Classic
Vehicle Auction |
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| All photos
taken in September 2003. Click to enlarge. |
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