Dream wreckers
Page 21
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
w hat can you buy for £20,000
these days? Many top-of-therange motor cars fetch more than that and certainly £20k won't cough for more than a coalshed in the property market (unless, of course, you're viewing the Hawk's humble hovel which is unlikely to fetch more today than its pre-war tag of £750). Earlier this month, however, a lucky bargain hunter snapped up a rare American-built Autocar wrecker for just £20,000 at auction in Somerset. The machine belonged to collector and recovery-vehicle builder Ivan Chant, who claims it's the only one of its kind in Europe. Fitted with Holmes twin-boom recovery gear, it lifts 40 tonnes, can pull up to 160 tonnes and has won truck show awards in the US and the UK. However, auctioneer Cooper & Tanner expressed disappointment at the selling price: spokesman Chris Weeks says that an expected £30,000 was not reached because the Autocar is "just a show vehicle really". By contrast, a 1971 Scammel Crusader recovery unit fetched £28,000, just £2,000 short of its expected minimum price.