There was plenty of interest in the 120 classic cars that went under the hammer at Pakaraka, in the Far North, on Sunday.
It was a barn-find auction for the ages and over two days on a Far North property hundreds of classic cars, machinery and parts went under the hammer to the delight of hundreds of collectors.
Up to 400 people turned up to auctions on Saturday and Sunday at a Pakaraka farm – with a similar number online – where hundreds of classic cars and parts and items of machinery were auctioned off with plenty of interest in both, auctioneer Brad Jackson from Northland Auctions said.
“There were more people for the Saturday auction than Sunday, but everything went,” Jackson said.
Jackson was blown away when he was invited to view the massive barn find.
“I’ve been doing auctions for about 22 years and this is by far the best find I’ve ever come across. I watch American Pickers [US TV show that follows a team as they scour the country for hidden gems in junkyards, basements, garages and barns] and have always dreamed I’d one day find something similar, and here it is.”
Jackson said it’s not often he laughs when he sees items for the auction, but he did when he went to the Bay of Islands property where the items were contained in a 1000sq m workshop.
The find includes old Jaguars and Daimlers; Mercedes-Benz; Peugeots; Austins; a Model T Ford more than 100 years old and a bright red Morris Minor.
He said the elderly collector had a love of automobiles and aeroplanes and had collected them over the years, along with many spare parts, many of which can no longer be sourced in New Zealand. He did all the work on everything himself so it’s all well looked after.
The first auction on Saturday was tools and machinery, including diggers, bulldozers, ride-on lawnmowers and trucks, while Sunday’s sold all the vehicles and parts.
Top prices from the weekend included a bulldozer that went for around $26,000, while a 1918 Model T Ford – that was made up from three different model Ts – went for almost $17,000.
Jackson said it was one of the largest auctions he’d done in Northland, with huge interest in the two auctions from right around the country.
And there were plenty of satisfied buyers, he said, who walked away with some great examples of classic vehicles.
“He had a collection of great quality mobility scooters and we’ve sold all those, while we had 500 different lots of his model cars and planes, and they’ve all gone in the Auckland auctions... there was just so much great stuff in there.”