Statistically rare Motorsport 286bhp M635 CSi manual driven 15,300 miles by two owners from new in 1985 - one of an unprecedented 25 BMWs consigned by CCA for their two-day sale in Birmingham - had been guided at £40,000-50,000, but fetched a record £100,100 with premium.

A 1985 BMW 635 E24 CSI auto with 28 MOT certificates meanwhile also went for more than double the £14,000 lower estimate, selling for £31,900, as did a 1989 635 CSI Highline auto with a forecast £8,000-10,000 on the screen, which sold for £19,250 during the two day auction at the Practical Classics and Classic Car mags backed exhibition at the NEC.

One of the last Austin-Healey 3000 Mk3 BJ8s to leave the BMC production line in 1967, when it was first registered to the Donald Healey Motor Co, had been freshly restored and motored strongly to achieve a £96,800 result in Brum, where buyers spent £2.45m including 10% premium (CCA’s highest sale total yet) on 145 access-able classics, 73% of the 198 that packed the CCA show stand.

Among headliner valuations, a just over top estimate £68,200 was needed to bag a Sahara-traversing 1965 Citroen 2CV Sahara with twin 425cc twins driving all four wheels. Up to £60,000 had been suggested for a right-hand drive 1973 Porsche 911 2.4E Targa with £22k’s worth of Tuthill bills on file that realised an air-cool £95,150 – while a forecast £49,500 was forthcoming for a right-winged 1990 Porsche 928 GT manual with less than 26,000 mileage. A one family owned 2009 Ford Focus RS with just 45 miles of depreciation in seven years beat the auctioneers’ top estimate figure by £5000 to sell for £40,920.

Such was the magnetic force of a £20,000-25,000 1960 190SL Merc left hooker for restoration that 24 telephone bidders contested the position of project manager, a post that was only filled when Jonathan Humbert’s very active gavel fell at £67,000 and the winner paid £73,700 with premium.

The mortal remains of a brace of E Type Jags were also much picked over by fans of the Garage Found who had come to the NEC show to salivate over such challenges. No dreamer however was prepared to match the £38,000-44,000 being sought for a very early 1962 S1 3.8 RHD FHC without chassis plate, but with Heritage Certificate confirmed number. Although even with the triple negatives of being an auto, a 2+2 and a lefty, a said to be (mostly) complete and rust-scabby 1968 Series 1½ 4.2 Coupe did still collect £13,750 with premium from one brave investor.

Among technically interesting rare breeds to come to auction market at the show, a 797 miles since 1992 Panther Solo S2 Coupe with Sierra Cosworth motor and four-wheel drive, one of only around 25 built, sold for £18,700 and £14,300 was accepted for the believed to be 1988 Cirrus prototype of only three of the Gold Motor Company’s space-framed GTs with 200bhp Rover V8 and Ferguson 4WD.

More contemporary ‘Modern Classics’ also changed registered keepers here. A 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX-STI with high rise rear spoiler and calipers in gold, driven only 12,000 speed camera dodging miles by one ‘self restrained private owner’ apparently, raised the necessary £15,500. A 2000 vintage Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI Tommi Makinen Edition with 66k on the trip meanwhile had been only Traffic Lights GP raced in Japan until 2015 before selling on a Saturday afternoon in Birmingham for £13,970. And finally, Ferrari 1 teamster Kimi Raikkonen’s first single seater, a Formula Renault run by Haywood Racing in the winter of 1999, was auctioned again, this time selling for a more than top estimate £29,700.

Although most of the latest HAGI Indices, which monitor transactions of all kinds, recorded falls by the end of March trading with their Ferrari, Porsche and Top Car Prices Indices therefore all being in negative territory for the first quarter of 2017, there were still buyers for three quarters of all classics auctioned at the CCA PC CC Resto Show sale, where some mega-prices were paid and a record gross was achieved for the house and fixture.

On the new car side of the forecourt meanwhile, the SMMT have also logged their largest stat for a single month’s yet with new car sales in the UK up by 8.5% in March, when Jaguar Land Rover sold 31,767 vehicles, one every 30 seconds, and JLR sales were up by 26% on those achieved in March 2016 pre-Brexit!