The amazing David and Peter Ingall downsizing sale

We report from the second David and Peter Ingall downsizing sale, which took place on June 29th in Lincolnshire, run by Cheffins.

It was a pleasure to attend the second David and Peter Ingall preservation downsizing sale on Saturday 29th June, staged by Cheffins at Manor Park Farms, Rand, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. We have been here before and that was 12 years ago now! Time does fly when you are having fun!

These very down-to-earth people, who have a natural ability to be popular, have been very successful in business through hard work and they started off farm contracting before eventually setting up as civil engineering contractors. They have always farmed and still have 2,500 acres today.

They decided that they could not continue to look after their extensive hobby collection so they have decided to downsize it as they need the building for other things. One must not forget they still have their wonderful private museum, which I was honoured to walk around on the Friday afternoon before the sale, which groups and school children regularly visit giving them a good education to how things were in the past, from construction to farming.

There was an excellent atmosphere to this well-conducted sale, held in just about the right weather conditions being not overly hot with the sun peeping through the clouds at times. The stock featured an eclectic mix of just about everything and the Manor Park Farms team had things laid out well for Cheffins’ auctioneers.

Three miniature steamers were offered, the first from their own collection was a very nice 4in Burrell SCC road locomotive crane engine called Samson. It looked just the part painted in Burrell green and sold for £18,000. The next two were by kind permission and did not make it price-wise, with the wonderful and very desirable 6in Chris Lord-designed Burrell SCC Devonshire Merlin stopped at £44,000. As for the 6in Burrell SCC showman’s Pegasus, it got to £60,000 and that wasn’t enough to see it moved on apparently, please talk to Cheffins about these fine miniatures.

There were overseas buyers here, attracted by the 1918 Latil TAR four-wheel drive WW1 lorry No. 131394 which had come from the 2016 Cheffins Keeley sale (£27,000). Some work has been done on it, it sold for a cracking £60,000 and is going back to its country of origin.

The Ford AA hand tipper which had come from a 2004 Cheffins sale, YRX14, looked a gem and was got away at £8,500, while the 1931 Dennis fire tender with Dennis rotary pump, an older restoration, was moved on at £20,500. We just loved the 1963 Rover P4 110 with 10,493 miles, it was so immaculate and the doors were perfect as was the interior and under the bonnet and was yours at £14,000. The Mason Brothers-owned 1974 ERF A series OER 875M in Eric Riggall colours has been in a number of sales and was finally sold here at £13,500 looking superb.

Robert Coles bought back some rare early original style Marshall motor road rollers that he had sold the Ingall’s in the first place! This included the 1939 tandem No. 92861 NND507 at £1,900, which features a Perkins P4 rather than a Leopard engine and is said to be one of three known to exist.

The JCB 110B/112/114 loading shovels were something else. This type was introduced in 1972 and was an award winner for design innovation at the time. In practice the hydraulics were not powerful enough, however the team here got on well with them and had the knack of driving them as well. David Ingall said to me they were a contractors’ machine, not for the plant hire operator. Things are very ‘hot’ when it comes to old tracked JCB plant tackle at the moment and they sold very well here at £38,500 for the four.

The tractors flew out the door with strong prices throughout the sale and the crawlers featured here were some lovely clean machines that’s for sure. The 1936 McCormick-Deering TracTracTor T20 No. ST8439 sold at £3,200 was just one example as was the 1930 (not 1932) Caterpillar Ten No. PT4221 that also ran well, which sold for £5,500. The 1959 David Brown Trackmaster 50TD 20254 with its cab and more in full patina’d condition was a gem and sold for £6,000.

The so-so Roadless DG4 half-track did well here at £10,000 and the Ford and Fordsons were just hot, particularly the Dextas which have been very much up and down over the last few years, the last two here averaging £10,000 each.

The best in the line of 10-series tractors was the 1988 7610 Series II four-wheel drive, E478FWC with Super Q cab at £31,000 in clean original style. But the top prices went to the Massey Fergusons with the 1996 372 four-wheel drive N446TJS with Trima 1090 Pro front loader and 1,934 hours selling for £34,000. As for the 1995 390T two-wheel drive M652TAJ with 18-speed transmission and 2,692 hours in mint condition, it sold for £50,000 that’s £22,000 more than the last one in this condition sold for!

On to the horticultural tractors and the very late Ransomes MG40 crawler with fibreglass bonnet and Sachs engine No. 15243, looking superb with a great patina to it, was sold for a record £3,400 to the Haylock’s. The MG6 with front blade and rear linkage looking in similar condition was knocked down at a good £1,900.

The superb Fowler BB ploughing engines Nos. 13776/7 Heroine and Hero didn’t make the required £270,000 which they so deserve. They have been meticulously restored with no expense spared, with new boilers, tenders and fireboxes and so much more and all to a very high standard indeed. They are still available and need snapping up. They would make a very good investment indeed as these are the best of the breed, so do speak to Oliver Godfrey of Cheffins. The sale was a big hit and just proves our sector of the preservation movement is still as strong as ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This auction report comes from a recent issue of Old Glory, and you can get a money-saving subscription to this magazine simply by clicking HERE