Other notable sales included a scarlet 1961 Chrysler 300G. This had been bought and restored in 1997 by Chrysler UK, who displayed it in their head office and used it for promotion and advertising. It reached £20.730. Showing the strange world of classic cars, almost the same amount (£20,720) was paid by a telephone bidder for the registration number ‘TOP 10’. Who do you reckon? Pop star, record producer or just rich wannabe?

Perhaps the cutest car on sale was the little Riley Elf, which went for the tempting price of just £2,812. The Elf was basically a Mini with a little boot, turning it into a baby saloon car. In the weird world of 1960s suburban snobbery, the Mini was felt to be a bit “common”, whereas the wood and leather Elf suggested the owner’s other car was a Rover (not a Jaguar – in the 60s Jaguar was a bit nouveau riche). This particular example was a one-owner car that had once been stolen from outside its owner’s home and used as the getaway car in an armed robbery. We certainly don’t remember one of these featuring in a Sweeney car chase – with 38 bhp, it would not have made for riveting TV.