As a firm, Reeman Dansie are used to inspecting items over 100 years old on a regular basis, however, it is not every day you get a call you inspect a car over 100 years old and certainly not a lifetimes collection of classic cars.
03/09/2021
That is exactly what happened though, one day in 2020, when our Managing Director James Grinter was called to Halstead in Essex to inspect the collection of the late Mr George Allen of Chapel Hill.
Mr Allen who passed away aged 94, was Halstead born and bred. As a young man during the Second World War, Mr Allen worked as a labourer at RAF Ridgewell helping to construct hangers for the American servicemen based there. As the war ended Mr Allen moved to work for his family's scrap metal business, based behind his Chapel Hill home in the town.
It was during this time that Mr Allen began to indulge in his passion for classic and veteran cars, affectionately known as ‘Chips’ to his friends, over the next decades he amassed a collection of 1910’s and 1920’s Ford Model T’s, Mini’s and other classic cars, regularly attending local shows in and around the Colchester and Halstead areas. Many generations of families would have seen and enjoyed his Model T’s proudly displaying the Chips name plate.
As the years advanced, Mr Allen carefully stored all his cars away into barns and garages on his property, not seeing the light of day until James Grinter visited the property as part of a routine valuation. ‘To see one Model T is unusual, but to see four at one house is unheard of’ commented James, ‘the thing that really struck me was how well they were stored, not simply left, but very carefully covered, placed onto stands and preserved. Clearly the actions of a true enthusiast’ he added.
The late Mr Allen’s diverse car collection comprising of four Ford Model T’s, two Mini’s and a Ford Sierra will be sold in Reeman Dansie’s Specialist Classic Car sale on September 16th along with a range of 14 other vehicles to suit all tastes and pockets, with everything from a 2006 Bentley Continental GT to a 1961 MK II Jaguar.
Featuring in our summer Specialist Collectors' Auction Tuesday 27th - Thursday 29th August | 10am.
A fine collection of antique Tiger and leopard skins feature in our August Fine Art sale, by direct family descent from the legendary huntsman Sir Archie William (Ibby) Ibbotson.
25/07/2024
Starring in our forthcoming Fine Art sale on the 6th and 7th of August is this evocative print by renown artist and printmaker Charles William Bartlett (1860-1940).
11/07/2024