Judas Priest star KK Downing's cars spark bidding fury

Two cars owned by former Judas Priest lead guitarist KK Downing have gone under the hammer for a total of nearly £63,000.

The vehicles owned by Mr Downing, who lives near Bridgnorth, were two of 67 cars sold at the auction.

Auctioneers Brightwells said the musician's 'highly original 1966 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII sparking an intense bidding war before finally going to a Belgian buyer for £35,750'.

They said: "While his somewhat scruffy 1959 Jensen 541R made a huge £26,950, almost twice the pre-sale estimate and showing what great gains this rare model has made in recent years."

The auction was held at Brightwells in Leominster. The car park was packed, with many visitors having to park on the field at the far end of the 10-acre auction site.

Top seller on the day was a 1923 Rolls-Royce 20hp Barrel-sided Tourer, restored and rebodied in the 1960s, which made £41,900.

A 1933 Sunbeam Limousine that had reputedly carried the Queen Mother on several occasions made £15,850.

Brightwells consultant James Dennison said: "With other auctions struggling to sell more than half their entries at recent sales, we were very happy with our 74 per cent clearance rate.

"The market for classic vehicles appears to have held up well throughout the year, despite the somewhat depressing turn of events in other areas of the economy.

"However, buyers have definitely been getting more choosy and condition and provenance are now more important than ever. While good or historically interesting cars continue to fetch ever higher prices, lesser cars need to be very realistically priced to attract interest."