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Record-breaking online bid for Porsche 962

29 May, 2015

The most valuable lot ever sold to an online bidder was the top lot at Bonhams’ recent Spa Classic Sale. The ex-Jürgen Oppermann/Otto Altenbach/Loris Kessel Obermaier Racing 1990–’93 Porsche Type 962 C Endurance Racing Competition Coupe (how’s that for a name) was eventually sold for €1,495,000 (NZ$2.28M).

Sold directly from the factory, the Porsche 962 had been carefully maintained by the same private owner for the past 25 years — unsurprisingly, the car provoked much interest with those possessing an eye for historic competition cars.

The fact that this Porsche was sold to an online bidder underscores the continuing growth of the internet as a trusted method of purchasing valuable collector’s cars. 

Elsewhere, Porsches continued to prove popular, with a 1988 Porsche 959 coupé achieving the second-highest result, selling for just over one million New Zealand dollars to a telephone bidder from the UK, while a 1992 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Type 964 coupé sold to a bidder at the sale for €224,250 (NZ$342,370).

As you’d expect, classic Ferraris continue to record strong prices, with a 1970 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ Berlinetta going for €667,000 (NZ$1.1M), and the 1976 Ferrari 308 GT Berlinetta Vetroresina achieving an excellent price of €253,000 (NZ$386,264).

Further highlights of the sale include a pair of S1 3.8 Jaguar E-Type roadsters, both from 1962, which were sold for €172,500 (NZ$263,362) and €170,200 (NZ$269,850) respectively, with a slightly later 1965 Jaguar E-Type 4.2 roadster finding a new owner at €138,00 (NZ$210,690).

Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.