‘I prefer to sell cars that have an interesting history. I’m quite picky about that,’ says Robert Glover, who specialises in the sale of mostly pre-war historic sports, competition and touring motor cars. Formerly of Bonhams, where he managed the sale of veteran, Edwardian and post-vintage thoroughbreds as well as sports-racing and grand prix cars, he set up on his own at Bicester Heritage in 2013.
While the modern classics often languish in storage, pre-war cars tend to be driven, says Glover, so while there is an eye to investment they tend to be purchased by a savvier, older-money crowd who keep the cars for a long time. ‘In four years I’ve only sold the same car twice,’ he says. A notable recent sale was an ex-Malcolm Campbell 1929 Sunbeam three-litre super sports which competed at the first Irish Grand Prix.
Few are better connected or informed than Glover, who has been attending motoring events in his family’s vintage cars practically since birth. An Alfa Romeo fanatic, he covets the 1930s eight-cylinder supercharged Alfas above all else. ‘It’s pretty much the ultimate pre-war sports car,’ he says. ‘It was amazing to drive something of that age that can so comfortably exceed 100mph and get there so rapidly.’
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