There was considerable interest in this sale and the little village of Cropredy was inundated with motoring enthusiasts ready to bid for the huge range of Automobilia of which there were 700 lots. The problem with sales "on site" is that there is never enough space to display the lots or accommodate the bidders and this was no exception and the weather made matters worse. The cars were displayed in front of the house, but by Saturday morning were covered in snow. There was a small marquee adjoining the garages from which the sale was conducted, but it was almost impossible to place a bid because the auctioneer could only see a handful of bidders. It was very cold, but this did not seem to deter the punters two of whom bid an old petrol pump up to £5,000 for which the estimate was only £300. The general consensus, from those who retired to the local pub, was that prices were at least three times above what was expected!

To quote John Atkins :
"I was given my first motoring book at the age of seven and started making model cars at eight, but going to race meetings at Goodwood probably started the problem. By my
late teens I realized that collecting was an incurable disease.
I tried to be a surveyor and auctioneer but cars got in the way of exams. In the mid 60's I joined Castrol to get into the Competitions Department where I spent four marvellous years making many long-standing friends and contacts. A combination of my blossoming cherished number business and the introduction of the impossible 50mph speed limits finally lost me my job.
I started on my own as Jamesigns in 1972, not only selling cherished numbers, but also manufacturing plates. I introduced the Perspex number plate to London and the South. We started with small premises in Tooting then moved to a factory in Chessington.
I sold the manufacturing business in 1982 and carried on with the cherished numbers but added Classic Cars.
My collection became rather eclectic as the years went on. The final problem was when we moved to Cropredy seventeen years ago, when not only had I got the space to display and enjoy the "stuff" I already had, but, I had space for more!
A life changing decision to move to South Africa has resulted in me deciding I have had my fun with this collection and now it's your turn".

Whether the high prices achieved were due to the quality of the items on offer or to John Atkins' colourful past was not clear.

For the car enthusiast there was a collection of modest English family saloons, all of which were relatively low mileage examples, but their condition could only b described as un-restored. The most interesting was probably the Austin/Morris A60 pick-up fitted with an MGB 1,800 cc engine, overdrive gearbox and centre lock wire wheels.