Lifetime collection gets half crushed, half sold

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What happens when a 59-year old classic car collector with hundreds of cars stashed away suddenly dies from a heart attack and his three daughters are left behind without really having an idea of their father’s collection? Well, it can end up in the crusher or can be auctioned, or so it seems. For the Holden collection of south Australian panel beater Terrence ‘Skippy’ Skipworth both happened.

Skipworth’s sudden death came unexpedtedly to his three daughters Rebecca, Simone and Jenna. But they also didn’t know what his gathering of cars and parts really consisted of. They decided to call in the experts to determine what was valuable after already 180 cars (!) had been crushed.

And so, another 1,300 lots went under the hammer last weekend. The collection was a great surprise to even the Holden community in Australia and included another 120 cars and thousands of parts, but also motorbikes, enamel signs and antiques scattered over seven locations. An original grill badge from a 1948 FX Holden — the first model ever made - made top money. There is one FJ Holden that the family wanted to keep, but all of the rest is now gone.

Even the daughters were much surprised by the vast collection of all things Holden. One of them was quoted: “I think it's actually bigger than dad would have known. He'd buy stuff and then hide it away or keep it locked up. He would have not known half the stuff he had. His plan was to have a pair of each series of Holdens, and then he could mesh that together to create a good one." The sale was carried out last weekend by Bennett’s auctions of Australia. “This is the biggest auction that we have ever done numerically over the 35 years we've been doing this," said Bennett's Classic Car Auctions owner Larry Bennett.

(Words editor, picture ABC News Australia)

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