The month that was December | Gavelled!
Maybe winter really is the best time to sell a convertible...
Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster S, 2013, 42.5k miles - sold for £38,000*
Aston Martin has well and truly got its mojo back. The new Vanquish Volante made it onto the PH Favourite Car list in 2025, while the Vantage featured on our roundup the year before. However, only time will tell if either has the longevity of the earlier cars. The Fisker/Callum-era Vantages, for instance, are among the most coveted Astons of the 21st century, and it's not exactly hard to see why. Eight or 12 cylinder power, a delightfully versatile chassis and a design that simply refuses to age.
Handily, Aston Martin shifted a fair few of them back in the day, so you’re never short of options. But finding a smart spec in good condition with stacks of paperwork? That’s much more difficult. This 2013 V8 Vantage S Roadster, however, ticked all the right boxes: a full Aston Martin service history, low miles and a black-on-black colour combo that strikes the perfect balance between subtle and menacing. Obviously, it attracted a fair amount of interest and ultimately sold for £38,000 including the buyer’s fee. Granted, said buyer won’t be making much use of the drop-top for the next couple of months, but they’ll be in the pound seats once spring comes around.
Porsche 911 (993) Carrera 4 Cabriolet, 1995, 41.1k miles - sold for £69,144*
What’s this? Another 993? You betcha. We had a fair few go under the hammer in 2025, from bone-stock Carrera 2s to an outlandish 911 GT evocation (which was actually based on a 964), and it’s not hard to see why. Obviously, any mention of the 993 comes with an obligatory reminder that it’s the last of the air-cooled 911s, but it was also the generation with the shortest lifespan. Porsche only built the 993 for four years, around half the 991's life span, so when one comes up for auction, bidders tend to take notice.
Particularly when said 993 is as tidy as the one you see here. Being a Carrera 4 means 272hp from a 3.6-litre naturally aspirated flat-six, which comes bundled with a six-speed manual on this example. And while you might think December isn’t an ideal time to flog a Cabriolet, a lot of buyers will be using the winter months to find a drop-top in time for spring and summer. It’s clearly worked for the seller of this Cabrio, with the hammer falling at £69,114 including the buyer’s premium, which is the highest value a soft top 993 has achieved on PH auctions. So far, at least…
Glenfrome Portway Range Rover, 1990, 27.8k miles - sold for £28,354*
Independent coachbuilders are responsible for some of the prettiest cars ever made. Most hail from Italy, but Britain isn’t exactly short of design studios. Mulliner played a part in the Bentley R Type’s stunning silhouette in the '50s, while Radford brought Rolls-Royce levels of luxury to the humble Mini a decade later. Of course, there are plenty of lesser-known outfits out there as well, many of which catered to the more obscure corners of the market. A bit like Glenfrome Engineering, which, in the '80s, could do just about anything to a Range Rover if you presented them with enough cash.
Operating out of Bristol, the company created all sorts of weird and wonderful Rangies, including convertibles, six-wheelers and this brilliantly barmy, ultra-long wheelbase variant. Measuring in at a whopping 720mm longer than the long-wheelbase Range Rover, the Glenfrome Portway boasted an extra row of seats, a more lavish interior and lots of retro tech. Cars like this are ripe for auction, because the only way to definitive way to determine its value is to see how high bidders are willing to go. Luckily for the seller, it caused quite a stir, netting nearly 28,000 views, 122 saves, 113 bids and, above all, a sale price of £28,354 including the buyer’s premium. So if you’re one of the few Glenfrome owners looking to shift your '80s oddity, you know where to find us.
Top 10 PistonHeads auction results in December*
- Porsche 911 (993) Carrera 4 Cabriolet - £69,114
- Aston Martin Vantage Roadster S - £38,000
- Bentley Continental W12 GT Speed - £35,912
- Porsche Boxster 718 - £34,572
- Renault Clio V6 (Phase 1) - £33,768
- Mercedes-BMW Z3 M Coupe (S54) - £28,000
- Renaultsport Clio 182 Trophy - £21,440
- Rover Mini Cooper - £20,250
- Aston Martin V8 Vantage - £19,334
- Porsche 911 (997.1) Carrera Cabriolet - £19,000
*Prices shown are inclusive of the buyer’s fee which is 6% of the selling price + VAT, with a minimum of £695 + VAT
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