A County 1471 has become the most expensive modern classic tractor sold.
At Cheffins' first collective vintage sale of 2022 a 1982 County 1474 ‘Short Nose’ tractor sold for a colossal £214,400 - smashing its presale estimate of £120,000-140,000.
Having been fully restored, the tractor saw significant presale interest and now holds the record for the most expensive modern classic tractor sold to date.
The auctioneers are seeing that buyers are becoming younger and nostalgia is fuelling their investments.
More than £2million-worth of classic machinery and collectors’ items sold at the sale on April 22 and 23 near Ely in more than 2,800 lots.
The highest price paid on the day was for the County 1474 but there were strong prices across the board.
A1956 Fowler VF Crawler had an interesting story. It had been found in its original condition having been used on the Landwade Hall Estate, near Newmarket, since new.
At the sale it sold for £16,080 - £10,000 more than its estimate - and setting a new record price for this particular model.
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Oliver Godfrey, head of the machinery department at Cheffins said: “We knew the April sale was going to be a record breaker, with a strong catalogue of varied items, however, to sell over £2million-worth is bonkers.
"The market is alive and well, in fact it is thriving, as collectors still have cash in the bank which they want to invest in something tangible - something they can see and use and enjoy.
"Collectors are becoming younger, so the focus in the market is really on tractors and machinery from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s as they look to buy up a part of their youth.
"It is impossible to put a price on the value of nostalgia.
"Many buyers are also looking for tractors which they believe will become the next collector’s piece and an investment which will pay dividends.
"It appears that at the moment, the market’s bets are mainly focussed on Ford variants, such as County and Roadless, which are seeing double digit price growth year-on-year.”
The sale also saw Cheffins largest motorbike consignment to date, with several strong prices achieved across the 80 lots offered.
A highly collectable 1923 980cc Morgan-Darmont Sports Model three-wheeler sold for £21,920 whilst a P&M ‘Rob North’ Triumph T150 racing motorbike made £10,412.
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