Bangers and Cash

MINI BRIAN, BANGERS & CASH

Brian is a 1961 Austin Seven Mini that I owned for 25 years. It took part in SEC events in a North Yorkshire coal yard in the early 2000s when Members tried their hands at driving it in and out of sheds, drives and other spaces on a sunny summer afternoon. It was bought as a renovation project intended to be completed by the time my youngest daughter was ready to learn to drive. Alas, or perhaps fortunately, other cars appeared and got priority treatment. So it has taken all that time to complete the work. You can see the picture of it in its worst condition and another as it was when ready for sale.

I have been a fan of Bangers and Cash and when the time came to sell Brian I approached Mathewsons, who are the force behind Bangers and Cash. I sent them Brian’s history and a set of photographs. They said they would be happy to sell the “Delightful” little car and so I set about getting Brian to Thornton Le dale in North Yorkshire.

Initially Mathewsons offered to get their contractors to pick Brian up as a back load but that was not, in the event, possible and I sought other means of transporting Brian. It proved to be impossible to get anyone to give me a specific date and time at which they could pick Brian up before the deadline at the end of March. I considered getting a trailer and taking Brian up to Yorkshire myself. However, it was a round trip of 500 miles and beyond my driving capacity. Fortunately I have very good neighbour and in the end we shared the driving.

Once the car was in their hands, Mathewsons shot a video of Brian and put it on their auction site. I was less than happy about the video because it concentrated on the faults in the car and said very little about the good bits. They agreed to re-shoot it and the result showed more of the positive features of the car. At the same time they agree a reserve of £7,500 would be applied to the car.

Watching the website over a few days I saw that people were making bids in advance of the auction but a week before the date the information about bids disappeared.

Mathewsons’ auctions were online only at that time because of the covid restrictions. I tuned in on the day and watched the bidding. The car was sold for the reserve price.

The personnel at Mathewsons were friendly and polite and considerate in handling my requests. It was an experience I did not think I would have, so it has gone down as a completed item on my bucket list. Ray Hill