'Best of British' at Shannon's spring auction

Shannon's spring auction for Melbourne is offering over a dozen classic and collectible British cars.

The pick of the bunch is a 1955 Jaguar XK 140 SE fixed head coupe. Finished in Cotswold Blue with contrasting red leather upholstery, this is an original 'Special Equipment' model, which means this XK 140 has a higher top speed and gets the cylinder head from Jaguar's famed race car, the C-type. There is no reserve on the car and auctioneers are quoting a price range from $120,000 - $130,000.

Other great British cars available at the auction include a rare 1947 Jaguar Mk IV 2.5Lt Saloon (guiding price range estimated to be $60,000 - $68,000), a 1963 Austin-Healey 3000 BJ7 MkII convertible ($70,000 - $78,000), a 1960 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II Saloon ($35,000 - $45,000) and a 1950 Daimler Special Sports Drophead ($36,000 - $42,000).

The auction isn't all about British makes though; there are a couple of choice Australian-made cars, including a 1970 Ford Falcon XY GT Sedan ($80,000 - $100,000) and a 1970 Holden HG Monaro GTS 186S Coupe ($70,000 - $80,000).

Another exciting and very rare car at the spring auction is a 1995 Mazda RX-7 SP Coupe. The SP was a homologation special commissioned by Mazda Australia so the RX-7 could compete in the 1995 Eastern Creek 12-Hour race. Just 25 SP's were made and they were vastly different from the standard RX-7. The SP was given a different intercooler, upgraded exhaust and a completely new ECU that gave the SP a significant power upgrade (204 KW and 357 Nm).

The car was also much lighter thanks to composite-backed Recaro race seats, lightweight bonnet, carbon fibre nose and a carbon fibre spoiler. Driven by John Bowe and Dick Johnson, it won the 12 Hours of Eastern Creek in 1995, beating Porsche, and went on to the podium at Targa Tasmania in the same year. This particular SP has had one owner since new and has only travelled 22,700 kilometres. The RX-7 is unreserved and the guiding price range according to Shannon's is $45,000 - $55,000.

Also at Shannon's spring auction is one of Australia's most notable sports cars, a 1959 Ausca Roadster. The Australian roadster, originally designed by then Repco engineer Paul England in association with his friend Bill Hickey, takes styling cues from Maserati's beautiful AG GCS/53 race car. This particular model's original running gear has been restored and the MGA motor that came with the car has been replaced by a later model MGB motor. The Ausca is an important piece of Australian automotive history and one of a just a few original examples left. Shannon's is estimating a price range of $36,000 - $42,000.

The auction will be at Shannon's Melbourne premises on Monday, September 19, from 7pm.