Remarkable: an Unused, boxed, Mint 1951 Webley Mk 3

[ashf9999]

wonder what erichtfisherman would have had it down for...?

[erichtfisherman]

wonder what erichtfisherman would have had it down for...?

You'll find out when I put my boxed one up for sale not as much as those two anyway ......see it at Kempton !

[andrewM]

Wonder if this was stoked by discussion on this forum...?

http://https://auctions.holtsauction...6560&saletype=

Later (1974) and with an older box, but still mint.

I could not get into the link you provided but I don't think they come out properly on the bbs site. What was the date of the auction, if you know it, and I will see if I can find the catalogue online, out of curiosity? Was it a 177 target model, do you know?

I should have taken a photograph at Westons - did not think of it.

Rgds
A

[harvey_s]

I confess I don't understand the compulsion to possess at any price.
Especially as you can never use it or the value and rarity goes up in smoke.
It's a bit like a story I read of an RD400 Daytona still in original sealed shipping box that sold for $21,000...and the new owner can never open it without it probably costing him at least $11,000 of that!

[coristan]

The one sold by Holts fetched £1,100..

[ashf9999]

I could not get into the link you provided but I don't think they come out properly on the bbs site. What was the date of the auction, if you know it, and I will see if I can find the catalogue online, out of curiosity? Was it a 177 target model, do you know?

I should have taken a photograph at Westons - did not think of it.

Rgds
A

Bog standard one from their auction over the last couple of days. Go onto Holts site, it was lot 4 from sale A1122 21 November 2022. It's serial number B8839. Link now working (I made a mistake pasting it) https://auctions.holtsauctioneers.co...6560&saletype=

I also see a mint-ish (not perfect though) boxed 1951 model lot 6 from sale A0921 September 2021 - wonder if it's the same one as you saw. It's serial number 11169.
Now if it is the same one, Holts describe it as little used (not unused), and looking at the photos the tap screw looks possibly messed with and there seems to be a rub line down the cylinder from the stock being fitted? Estimate £800-1200, sold for £900 https://auctions.holtsauctioneers.co...166962&image=6 and price here https://auctions.holtsauctioneers.co...o=A0921++&pg=1 (scroll down to lot 6)

[hwtyger]

Love these MK3s. Despite their prices. Pitty exporting has become nearly impossible after Brexit. So no more nice UK guns for us.

[ashf9999]

I confess I don't understand the compulsion to possess at any price.
Especially as you can never use it or the value and rarity goes up in smoke....

If it is the one from this earlier Holts auction, i don't think it is unused...

[harvey_s]

If it is the one from this earlier Holts auction, i don't think it is unused...

I went by the OP's post that said it came from a collection and that it was unused... I think Holts record serial numbers, so should be pretty easy to establish if it's the same one.

[junglie]

Crazy price but if its a ‘must have’ at any price then someone somewhere is waiting for this

For me there is a specific old motorcycle that if it ever reappeared id buy it pretty much at any price…i learned to ride on it and travelled all over with it before selling it in 1984…zero chance I’ll ever find it but…

Thats the scenario the seller is hoping for….a motivated buyer

What's the bike then gis a clue? have you checked the reg with dvlc for tax/test? As for that mk3 price, that'll be small change for one of the dodgy ppe suppliers.

[junglie]

I confess I don't understand the compulsion to possess at any price.
Especially as you can never use it or the value and rarity goes up in smoke.
It's a bit like a story I read of an RD400 Daytona still in original sealed shipping box that sold for $21,000...and the new owner can never open it without it probably costing him at least $11,000 of that!

Probably find a rats nest in there & chewed wiring by now....seen a few like that opened. It's like a shrodingers RD.

[Jerry Cornelius]

The reason I think for the high price, apart of course because there must have been at least two serious bidders, is the fact that the Mk.3 was allegedly mint unused. As I am fond of saying there seems to be a huge difference in value between items where one might be in very good/excellent condition and the other is as new/boxed etc.

With the premium the Mk.3 cost someone £1430.

If the Weston's gun is as good as has been described then I wouldn't be that surprised if that ends up being sold in the not too distant? As they say, 'Find Another'?

The trouble with “find another” as a justification for high prices is its evil twin “thanks mate I’ll pass”.

With a few exceptions, the mk3 being the most obvious, I thought the most recent Holts prices were fairly subdued. Quite a few didn’t make the low estimate

[junglie]

i wish i had kept my rd250,several of us had those but a mate had a nice kh 250,he also had a very rapid ypvs350.we should have stored them in the garage.

My mate has a ypvs Rd 350, popped a wheelie at 60 mph going down the sliproad out of birtley services to impress the lads watching with me on the back without warning when i just had my hands resting on my knees as pillion. I'll never forget the upside down view of the car we'd pulled of in front of at 70+. Mint bikes. The '88 TZR 250 i had to look after for a mate was better though, so addictive & they couldn't wipe the smile off my face everytime i got off it. If i'd been a lot shorter I'd have sold my mrs for one but for a 6 footer just a bit too cramped to ride all day.

[ashf9999]

Chatting with Martin Perkin at Perkins Guns the other day he said Webley are trying to buy back their heritage that was lost when the museum closed (that mostly got dispersed by Wallis & Wallis) - who knows, maybe a mint & unused early MK3 is what they'd want back in their collection.

[slug-gun]

Webley as a company of course no longer exist, only the brand name survives, which is applied to various guns of mainly Turkish extraction. But perhaps the owners of the name, Highland Outdoors, are seeking to bolster their Turkish Webley's with some originals?
Sounds unlikely to me but who knows?