The majority of the world’s motoring press might be fixated on Monterey Car Week, but in the UK all eyes will be on the Iconic Auctioneers Silverstone Festival 2025 sale.
It’s always one of the biggest sales of the year for the auctioneer, but this year the offering has swelled further. The 42-strong competition car sale takes place of Friday August 22, 2025, while the road car sales begin with the Collectors’ Cars sale on Saturday August 23, with 126 entries. The day after, the Classic Sale offers 176 entries. All of these sales take place in the Silverstone Wing complex during the Silverstone Festival, which you can read more about here.
The competition car lots at the Iconic Auctioneers Silverstone Festival 2025 sale are spread over classic endurance, rally cars and single seaters, but touring cars are always a big draw. The race-winning 1990 Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth built and raced by Andy Rouse, as pictured above, is estimated at £250k to £300k, while another Rouse-prepared car, the 1988 Guy Edwards Kaliber car, is estimated at £180k-£220k. For would-be touring car racers on a (slightly) tighter budget, Barry Sheene’s 1985 Toyota Supra touring car is estimated at between £70k and £80k. Further highlights include an ex-Carlos Sainz 1997 Ford Escort WRC (est £250k-£350k) and an ex-Mikko Hirvonen 2004 Subaru Impreza S10 WRC (est £280k-£320k).
However, for this preview we’re going to focus on the Collector Cars – and it kicks off with something very special indeed…
The Iconic Auctioneers Silverstone Festival 2025 sale is led by the above 1975 Lamborghini Countach LP400 Periscopio. Of the 157 LP400s built, this is one of 19 right-hand-drive cars built, and one of ten originally supplied to the UK. Chassis no. 1120094 is the third of ten cars and was dispatched from the factory on May 14, 1975, before being delivered to Lamborghini’s UK agent, Maltin Car Concessionaires in Henley-on-Thames. It was first registered LGF 849N on May 22. Original records show the Countach was finished in Tahiti Blue Metallic with a Senape tan interior, and that it was purchased by Dan Horrocks, a property developer from Bolton, for £18,295.
In 2014, after 15 years in long-term storage at Carrera Sport, the car, by then finished in silver, was acquired by a new owner who commissioned Furlonger and Carrera Sport to carry out a full restoration, completed in 2016. The work included a full suspension rebuild, overhaul of the braking system, full engine rebuild, new air-conditioning system, plus overhauls of the gearbox and differential. The restoration also included cosmetic enhancements, with the car repainted Rosso Miura with Nero Pella trim, and fitted with new glass and rubbers. The Periscopio has been part of the vendor’s collection since late 2018, and has been displayed on the Cartier Style et Luxe concours at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the London Concours. No estimate has been made available.
Iconic Auctioneers is well known for bringing a vast selection of Porsches along, and this year is no different. Leading the Stuttgart seduction for 2025 is this 1973 911 Carrera 2.7 RS Touring. The car was supplied to its first owner through Porsche’s Italian importer, Germana of Bologna, and registered locally as BO534303. In 1978, it moved to nearby Modena and was registered as MO422456 under the ownership of Enzo Brandoli and P Luigi Pantaleoni, before relocating to Southern Sicily. There, 26-year-old Pietro Cotonzoro kept the car for four years before exporting it to the UK in 1982 through Gregorio Giaimo. In 1983, a Rugby dentist, Anthony Morse, imported the 911 and quickly sold it to long-term owner Nick Doczi, later Porsche Club GB’s IT Director, who kept it until 1996.
One of the first examples built after the original homologation car run, it used several leftover lightweight production parts from the first 500 cars, such as a thin-gauge steel roof, aluminium front axle truss and aluminium engine cover frame with the original ducktail. It’s covered 129,000km (79,000 miles) from new and is fresh from a £189k, four-year, jig-mounted, bare-shell rebuild and rotisserie repaint to Touring specification by Autofarm.
It comes with its original numbered magnesium crankcase, which was replaced in 1987. The engine was rebuilt by Addspeed between 2012 and 2015 using the genuine ’87 replacement magnesium crankcase. The gearbox was stripped, refinished and rebuilt by Autofarm in 2020. The Porsche is estimated at between £480k and £550k.
This 1958 AC Ace Bristol is being offered at the Iconic Auctioneers Silverstone Festival 2025 sale after nearly 60 years of continuous ownership. Chassis no. BE435 was supplied new in May 1958 to its first keeper, FD Parry, the High Sheriff of Bristol. He is understood to have raced the car occasionally, with evidence of an entry at the Goram Fair Race Meeting at Whitchurch Aerodrome in 1959. In May 1968, the current owner purchased the car from the Gold Seal Car Company in London for £440, registering it in Leamington Spa.
The Bristol engine currently fitted is not the original unit but is of the correct type, and this change is believed to be recorded by the AC Ace Registrar. Hand-written notes also point to a chassis restoration some time ago, as well as lengthy correspondence between the owner and AC at Thames Ditton and to Bristol Car Services. It’s estimated at between £100k and £140k.
This 1949 Bentley Le Mans ‘Speed 8’ by Racing Green Engineering was originally a MkVI saloon (chassis no. B37EW), and was converted to Speed 8 specification in 2009. Its current owner acquired the car after seeing it on Racing Green’s Goodwood Revival stand that year, and has owned it ever since, notching up minimal miles. It’s estimated at between £170k and £200k.
Another of the most desirable Porsches at the Iconic Auctioneers Silverstone Festival 2025 sale is this 1995 993 Carrera RS. It was first delivered to Japan, and was later fitted with the aerokit from an RS Clubsport and Recaro seats, although a new set of original seats come with the car. It first came to the UK in 2023, and was serviced in May 2025 by Canford Classics. New distributor caps and leads were fitted, all brake discs, pads and sensors replaced, the brake fluid changed, the transmission oil renewed, the front A-arms and drop links replaced, and the shifter bushes reset. In addition, four brand-new Michelin Pilot 5 tyres were fitted. It’s estimated at between £240k and £280k.
With TVRs now becoming of interest to American audiences, here’s one to buy before the 25-year-rule for importation tax starts to be applied. It’s the only fully production-specification T440R built by TVR. Built to homologate racing TVRs for Le Mans, the T440R was hand-built from seamless tubular steel, and featured a fully integrated leather-trimmed rollcage. It was constructed on the same jigs as the GT race cars that competed at Spa, Sebring and Le Mans. TVR bonded a resin-filled aluminium honeycomb floor to a separate carbonfibre tub before adding the sculpted carbonfibre bodywork, resulting in a kerbweight of 1100kg.
Unlike the Typhon models, which were planned with 4.0-litre supercharged engines and sequential gearboxes, the T440R was fitted with a naturally aspirated race-derived 4.2-litre dry-sump straight-six mated to a five-speed gearbox. It used a gas-flowed cylinder head, steel crank and rods, a carbonfibre air box with 12 injectors and bespoke exhaust headers. Most components came from TVR’s race programme, they were although detuned for road use and reliability, still producing 440bhp. The T440R is said to hit 0-60mph in less than four seconds and more than 200mph – and without ABS, traction control, airbags or stability control. This is the only T440R completed to full FIA specification, homologated and registered for the road; it was built for Lawrence Tomlinson, owner of LNT Racing and Ginetta Cars. After Tomlinson sold it, a minor accident led to remedial work by marque specialists, including a bare-shell glass-out respray in Spectraflair Titanium.
The car has had just two owners from new, has covered under 27,000 miles and has spent 19 years in long-term ownership. It’s recently had £5000 spent on it at TVR Ecosse, and is estimated at between £160k and £190k.
The Countach isn’t the only special Lamborghini at the Iconic Auctioneers Silverstone Festival 2025 sale. This 1967 Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 is chassis no. 01225 and was imported by the marque’s UK concessionaire, Mitchell & Britten and given to Hooper & Co for conversion from left- to right-hand drive. Chassis 01225 was first registered as SUC 683F and is believed to have been delivered new to engineer Brian Morgan, grandson of the man who built Blackpool Tower and father of Paul Morgan, co-founder of Ilmor Engineering. At the time, Brian Morgan was managing director of Benton & Stone. He is believed to have sold the 400 GT 2+2 to Derbyshire construction magnate Ivan Davis in 1971. Re-registered as DFG 9, the car was taken off the road around 1982 and stored.
The earliest service record dates to September 1971 at 6920 miles, and the current odometer reading of 28,710 miles is thought to be the total mileage from new. DFG 9 has been largely static in the present owner’s collection for 26 years. Aside from a bare-metal respray around 30 years ago, its Borrani wire wheels have been refurbished and minor brightwork refreshed. It’s estimated at between £330k and £380k.
This 1966 Aston Martin DB6 Mk1 Vantage manual was originally finished in Silver Birch over a black leather interior. Chassis DB6/2475/R was sold by WH Benjam in Plymouth. In 1990 the Aston was bought by the previous owner from Pugsley & Lewis. It underwent a full restoration between 2008 and 2010 with a colour change to Slate Grey and, more recently, the ZF gearbox was overhauled; it was even used in the development of a new gearset. It was acquired by the current owner from Aston Workshop in October 2017.
Recent work includes a full service by Hilton and Moss in July 2023 costing £10,000, covering rear seals, new hubs, electric window refurbishment and new tyres. In February 2025 Farringtons of Knutsford carried out another full service, and also ice-blasted and retreated the wheelarches and underbody. It’s estimated at between £200k and £225k.
This 1955 Porsche 356 Pre-A 1500 Speedster was discovered on a smallholding in Ohio, where it is believed to have spent 70 years with the same family. The Speedster is said to have been used regularly only until 1962, covering around 60,000 miles before being stored in a barn in which it was later found. Early in its life it was repainted silver, likely by the supplying dealer. According to the auction notes, faint remnants of this finish are still visible on the bodywork today.
It was discovered by European Collectibles after a tip-off, and taken back to the firm’s Californian HQ. It was then restored with an eye on keeping the original patina, although the engine has been rebuilt, as has the gearbox and fuel system. Inside, carpets and seat coverings were replaced as they could not be preserved. The seats were retrimmed in aged leather to match the car’s original character. The door cards, dashboard, steering wheel and gauges remain original. The hood frame still carries its factory paint and is fitted with a period-correct but non-original blue hood. The Speedster is estimated at between £350k and £400k when it comes up at the Iconic Auctioneers Silverstone Festival 2025 sale.
This 1978 Lotus Esprit S2 World Championship Commemorative JPS Edition was the very example of the breed to be built, and it was displayed at the 1978 Earls Court Motor Show. Lotus intended to produce 200 cars, but only 185 are thought to have been made, with 100 for the UK, 55 for the US and 30 for Europe. The Esprit was supplied by a Dublin dealer to the owner of the Reuter’s Restaurant of Westmoreland Street, Dublin in August 1979. The auctioneer says that although liveried at the motor show as car no. 001 and confirmed as the first production example, the model was later re-renumbered by the selling agent in period, and another car was sold with a no. 001 livery. However a letter from Lotus Cars confirms this is indeed the Earls Court car.
The Esprit first came to Britain via a previous owner, who then had the car restored over a six-year period, during which the odometer was turned to zero. It was acquired by the current owner in 2006, and the odometer reads 1840 miles. It’s estimated at between £50k and £60k at the Iconic Auctioneers Silverstone Festival 2025 sale.
Further details
For more information on the Iconic Auctioneers Silverstone Festival 2025 sale weekend, head here.
