The former Facel 11 demonstrator, chassis number HK2 A114, sold for £50,000 plus £7,500 buyer’s premium at Hendon on December 10. This was in spite of a reserve of £60-70,000, but it still sold.

As you will see in the description below, the car needed quite a lot of work, in fact a full restoration and if it is to be put back into original condition, it will need a different engine and a new set of wheels – Borrani wires would be the easiest way to go.

However, a full restoration is going to be needed whatever happens, including restoration to the original body specification – the car currently has wide wheel arches, for instance, but spares are available. However, a full restoration is almost certainly going to cost in the region of £100,000 and given that the most recent rhd Facel 11 sold for £180,000, then a £50k buying price makes the investment feasible. As I mentioned in my article, both former registration numbers for this car are currently available. The only thing that might be missing is George Abecassis’s BRDC badge which adorned the front bumper.

I had actually been listening to the auction and was interested that many cars were just making their low estimates or below, so the market is still pretty quiet. Like many of the cars that came up for auction, there was an amendment to the car’s description in that they couldn’t find the engine number, which is a non-original Chrysler New Yorker 7.2 litre unit.

Anyway, while I was listening to the auction, I reckoned that I had time for a quick walk, then returning to find the car’s auction in full swing, but as far as I could see, the car went to a phone or internet buyer, even though there was one trade dealer from Tonbridge Wells present in the room.

Talking of which, both Justin Banks’s Facels are still for sale (Excellence and Facellia Coupe, not Facel 111 as mentioned below) but I did mention in my story below that there are two HK500s up for sale, also in need of restoration, and one of these has now been bought.