Boys and their toys, this story will excite many a male reader in Lismore and the Northern Rivers especially if Christmas involved a financial windfall of some kind.

Over 50 of the most expensive, classic, exotic, rare and desirable cars have been listed for auction, featuring as one of the most impressive single vendor collections seen on the market in many years, and will go under the hammer in a live auction event in late January 2023.

The collection reflects the history of the current custodian’s motor vehicle journey starting with his first car, a $100 Ford Prefect through to rare Valiant’s, and then to some of the most desirable and sought after V8 race cars. It features some of the rarest million-dollar Fords and Holdens in existence and ends with his last car purchased, the highly desirable million dollar plus Lamborghini Aventador. 

“This collection is worth tens of millions of dollars and has been hidden away, cherished and preserved but now it is time for the next custodians to prepare to take ownership of one or more of these important cars in our annual Australia Day classic car Auction weekend and we certainly expect to see some records broken come January,” said Mr. Lee Hames, Chief Operations Officer for Lloyds Auctions.

According to the Knight Frank 2022 Wealth Report, classic cars are not hitting the breaks when it comes to passion investments, where they are consistently the second most popular object of luxury investments internationally after fine art.  

Knight Frank’s Luxury Investing Index also reports that classic and luxury cars have returned 193 per cent over the past decade. In fact, it has been reported that certain classics have appreciated by as much as 25 per cent annually, with 10-15 per cent being quite common for vehicles from the nostalgic 90s.

(A 1977 Holden Torana A9X valued at $155,000)

The unnamed custodian of the collection’s first car started at 13 with the Ford Prefect, which he learnt to drive in the bottom paddock of his farm. He attended many car racing meets at Oran where he became fascinated with racing around the track, and in particular with Allan Moffat, being one of the first professional motor car racers in Australia.

At the age of just 14 he decided he wanted to start his own business in hopes of having enough money to race his own cars. This went on to create the mould for this teenage boy’s future, and not only did he go on to become a very successful businessperson, but he also followed his passion in race car driving all the way through to Bathurst, with the pinnacle achieving a top 10 result in Bathurst.

(Gary Rodgers Holden VL Commodore #26)

“When talking with the current custodian he said that the collection had a lot of significance to him and something he dreamt of since a young teenager, but now it’s time for the cars to move onto their next custodian to enjoy them as much as he has, and that ‘these aren’t just cars; they are a representation of his life’,” said Mr. Hames. 

“This collection doesn’t just showcase the incredible cars but tells a story of a young boy with big dreams, and how he turned those dreams into a reality,” said Mr. Lee Hames.

“We are honoured to present the Unreil Collection to the public and to tell the stories that each car holds and that of the current custodian as well,” continued Mr. Hames.

(2017 Ford Mustang GT)

The Unreil Collection will go under the hammer via a LIVE auction event in Sydney on Sunday 29^th January 2023 from 12pm as part of a massive Australia Day Classic Car Weekend at Lloyds Auctions.

You can view the entire collection of vehicles on offer here.