A Volkswagen Golf GTI kept in storage from new without turning a wheel in almost 20 years has sold for a profit with bidders duking it out until a winning bid of £38,250 was made to secure the keys to the little-used hot hatch this weekend.
The 2002 VW, a 25th Anniversary Edition of the Mk4 Golf GTI, is one of 1,800 special versions sold in the UK, though isn't considered the most collectible model.
It's for that reason the decision to hide it away from new with just eight miles on the clock raised eyebrows since Silverstone Auctions revealed it was to go under the hammer having barely had its tyres scrubbed in.
However, the sale price - which was £10,000 higher than what experts predicted it would make - has gone some way to verify the choice to stow it away for the best part of two decades.
Costing £18,660 when new some 19 years ago, the unused Golf GTI was sold by the auction house with no reserve.
When pressed by This is Money to give a 'ballpark figure' for a sale figure it might achieve ahead of the event, a Silverstone Auctions spokesperson said: 'As it's offered without reserve, it could sell for anything.'
To get an idea of what its value ahead of Saturday's auction, we asked John Mayhead at classic-car valuations company Hagerty to put a price on the little-used Golf.
He told us last week: 'The Golf is a really special car. The 25th Anniversary models are already becoming collectible with "normal" mileage examples selling for up to £9,000. This one though is effectively a new car and Hagerty would not be surprised if it reached £20,000 and could even exceed the top Hagerty Price Guide value for the Mk1 Golf GTI which stands at £27,900.'
Factor in the impact of inflation and the original 2002 purchase price equates to £27,804 today.
That means the winning bid needed to be well above the higher-end Mk1 Golf GTI value for the vendor to make anything but a loss - and it was.
Bidding opened at £10,000, with a combination of bids on the phone, online and in the sale room seeing the price escalate dramatically.
Over three minutes of frantic back and forth eventually saw the winning bid placed in the room.
Selling for £38,250, it is undoubtedly the most expensive Golf GTI 25th Anniversary car ever, eclipsing even the ultra-collectible Mk1 Golf GTI's current average sale value by over £10,000.
Even taking into account 19 years of inflation, the first owner is walking away with a profit of £10,446.
Silverstone Auctions sales controller, Gary Dunne, told This is Money: 'We are thrilled with the result of the 2002 Volkswagen Golf GTi 25th Anniversary. The car was simply unrepeatable with delivery mileage, and in the run up to the auction day it had a substantial amount of interest.
'This is yet another modern classic example that Silverstone Auctions has achieved a standout result for, on behalf of our vendor.'
Also commenting after the sale, Hagerty's expert, John Mayhead said: 'Examples of this model with reasonable mileage of around 80,000 are advertised for close to £5,000 and ‘low’ mileage cars anything up to £9,500. But this was something altogether different: it had just eight miles from new and has just been recommissioned, including receiving its first pre-delivery inspection by a VW dealer. To all intents and purposes, it’s a brand-new car.
'I suggested that £20,000 would be a good target but that if it exceeded our top value of a Mk I GTi it would be having a very good day. I was very wrong.'
He added: 'Interestingly, the enthusiasts may have spotted something here: the Mk 4 Golf is situated in that sweet spot that has also made other cars like the Porsche 911 (964) so desirable: it has a mix of classic styling with performance and handling that makes it still feel sporty even amongst modern traffic. Plus, the 25th Anniversary model has two elements that Hagerty always look for in a collectable car: exclusivity and special trim that immediately identifies it as something very unusual.'
The car caused a stir in the lead up to the weekend's sale when the incredibly low mileage and decision to keep it locked in a garage for almost two decades was revealed.
Serious motor collectors are incredibly savvy, purchasing limited-edition models from new, immediately putting them into storage and not letting them see the light of day until their value has sky-rocketed and they can provide a pocket-busting return.
However, it's rare for a car with such little fanfare or cult following to receive this sort of treatment.
Volkswagen celebrated the 25th birthday of its iconic Golf GTI in 2001 by producing a small run of special edition versions of the Mk4 generation that was on sale at the time.
#VWGolf #GTI #25thAnniversary
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