Matthewsons Auctions.

[R Lutz]

I went down to drop some memorabilia in today. I cannot believe the size of the operation now. It's half an industrial estate. About a decade ago, I used to cover their auctions for CCW or CCB and use the stories elsewhere such as AROnline or Car Mechanics. This was when virtually nobody knew of their existence.  

Then in 2020/21 I dropped a car in for them to sell. It subsequently made a brief appearance on their TV show, but I could tell then the days of them being a small outfit were over. I dropped it off and the old man was being asked for selfies, which didn't amuse me as we were trying to work.

Fair play to them, they must be doing something right. I entered my stuff online on Tuesday and it's only just been accepted for the October auction. The September sale is full subscribed. 

[tooSavvy]

Yes..... Milked the cow dry, I reckon.

The old man has, err, shuffled his underwear drawer and the *Kids are chasing the £££...

Share Investment = past performance is no guarantee of future returns 🤔

🚙💨

[High Jetter]

I only knew about them from Bangers & Cash. Had planned a weekend up there to attend an auction and play with steam trains and Scalextric. Sadly Covid put a stop to that.

[R Lutz]

The article which I wrote about them which got the most traction was about 2 Rover Mini 30s which had been entered by brother and sister. One was black and automatic, one was cherry red and manual. Both had been bought for investment purposes. But time had not been that kind to them. They still did good money. That was a bitter cold Saturday, it kept snowing. The girl I chatted to was Sarah Crabtree. She was  a genuine personality even then. 

[wesacosa]

if you catch one of the early series the auctions are in what looks like a church hall. I'd say the TV show has transformed their business. They can't even be bothered dealing with having plebs in the hall for auction day anymore, all online or phone 

[R Lutz]

Just now, wesacosa said:

if you catch one of the early series the auctions are in what looks like a church hall. I'd say the TV show has transformed their business. They can't even be bothered dealing with having plebs in the hall for auction day anymore, all online or phone 

It was the church hall, over the road from the garage. 

I had a customer buy a MG Metro from them, 1989, BRG and in delivery miles. £3,500. It felt like a lot in 2008. 

[High Jetter]

2 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

if you catch one of the early series the auctions are in what looks like a church hall. I'd say the TV show has transformed their business. They can't even be bothered dealing with having plebs in the hall for auction day anymore, all online or phone 

I agree, think they just had the one site then. Fair play, all power to them - I just hope the business doesn't extend too far without the proper support.

[Schaefft]

I accidentally* won my Z3 on their auction in 2024 iirc. They had 3 warehouses full of cars already then, I think they cleared more space outside since. The problem is that now that they auction off hundreds of cars every month pretty much all faults or misleading info completely gets missed in their video tours and descriptions (the latter come from the seller). That doesn't necessarily make them a dependable source of information for what you buy, they basically only clean and present the cars. All the liability is completely on you, they aren't any better than any other place to buy a used car.

Sometimes it works both ways though. They couldn't figure out how to open the electric top on the Z3, probably why I got such a good deal on it lol.

[High Jetter]

25 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

All the liability is completely on you,

Isn't that like any other auction? Shoreham used to give something like a 20 minute warranty, 40 years ago.

[Schaefft]

10 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Isn't that like any other auction? Shoreham used to give something like a 20 minute warranty, 40 years ago.

Yes, but I have the feeling Mathewson is so popular because of their shows and expertise. None of which actually matters in the auctions as they are usually clueless about what they are selling.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Schaefft said:

as they are usually clueless about what they are selling.

I'm  not sure that's right all the time

[Schaefft]

1 minute ago, High Jetter said:

I'm  not sure that's right all the time

Nope, but usually. When you dont know how to open a Z3 top (which they have sold dozens of) or don't know what an ABC warning message on a Mercedes is then you basically reduce your expertise to basic general knowledge (i.e. Italian cars and jaguars like to rot, cheap luxury cars are "a lot of car for your money") or completely superficial observation only stating the blatantly obvious in front of your eyes. Their tours hardly ever go beyond the latter.

[R Lutz]

WB & Sons seems decently honest. 

[N Dentressangle]

16 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Nope, but usually. When you dont know how to open a Z3 top (which they have sold dozens of) or don't know what an ABC warning message on a Mercedes is then you basically reduce your expertise to basic general knowledge (i.e. Italian cars and jaguars like to rot, cheap luxury cars are "a lot of car for your money") or completely superficial observation only stating the blatantly obvious in front of your eyes. Their tours hardly ever go beyond the latter.

I've seen Derek M'son get interviewed a few times, and he doesn't seem to know much about cars as you say.

He knows how to make money selling cars, which is a different thing altogether.

[Schaefft]

52 minutes ago, R Lutz said:

WB & Sons seems decently honest. 

Yes, much better video walk arounds, and they are very local. As a buyer they usually have pretty low bids on a lot of interesting stuff since they aren't nearly as well known. It's a miracle that I haven't bought anything there yet.

[Jerzy Woking]

20 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Yes, but I have the feeling Mathewson is so popular because of their shows and expertise. None of which actually matters in the auctions as they are usually clueless about what they are selling.

Saw this review for Hampsons (there is a  can of worms) on Trustpilot.

Even their sellers seem absolutely clueless.

[R Lutz]

Aren't Hamptons suing some YouTuber or Blogger?

[bigfella2]

21 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Yes, but I have the feeling Mathewson is so popular because of their shows and expertise. None of which actually matters in the auctions as they are usually clueless about what they are selling.

When I went to look at a car there, a car that I subsequently bought, it took over an hour to find it, as they they had that much stock they didn't know which site it was on,  or even where it was on that site.

[Bmwdumptruck]

22 hours ago, N Dentressangle said:

I've seen Derek M'son get interviewed a few times, and he doesn't seem to know much about cars as you say.

He knows how to make money selling cars, which is a different thing altogether.

I think there are specific areas of Transport that he has good knowledge of. He likes the old motors and Bedford commercials.  I’d say his boys have better knowledge of later 80s and 90s stuff and in time the grandsons will know the 00s and onwards.  No one could really expect one person to know everything and since the operation has expanded to selling literally anything , it’s even more unlikely. 

[SiC]

1 hour ago, Bmwdumptruck said:

No one could really expect one person to know everything

They obviously haven't been on here!

[I_am_Diesel]

2 hours ago, SiC said:

They obviously haven't been on here!

Please see ‘Politics and Similar’ section.

[panhard65]

I certainly wouldn't sell via Mattewsons as they don't get anywhere near decent money on RR or Bentley's. Selling on car and classic auctions brings in much better results than them. I did however buy a Citroen SM from them that was pretty reasonably described as it is pretty sound mechanically and relatively cheap at 10k for a running driving SM. The description did go into a load of bollocks about the car being in a Bond film which it wasn't. They had been doing a load of filming with it and Wanted to come down and film it with me which I declined. My mate went to collect it and the tart that he is spent about an hour with the film crew.  I would expect them to get much better prices with all the TV work but there are some bargains to be had as they are only interested in shifting stock and not getting the best price for sellers. My SM was 2k below the lowest estimate.

[Cavcraft]

On 28/08/2026 at 19:26, wesacosa said:

if you catch one of the early series the auctions are in what looks like a church hall. I'd say the TV show has transformed their business. They can't even be bothered dealing with having plebs in the hall for auction day anymore, all online or phone 

You'd think they'd move into an olympic squash court really, what with all the bids bouncing off the walls. I suppose the empty rooms have saved Derek's shoes and Dave's RS valve caps from buying stuff though.

[Mally]

On 29/08/2026 at 19:37, R Lutz said:

Aren't Hamptons suing some YouTuber or Blogger?

They seemingly lost one action against him recently in the High Court, but are maybe still pursuing  other avenues against him.

His evidence against them is from many sources and seems to stand up.

[morrisoxide]

I don't watch normal TV, but I've known about the old cars near Pickering since I was a nipper. 

I always wonder what they are doing with these buildings/cars. More cars at the front and loads more around the back too.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, morrisoxide said:

I don't watch normal TV, but I've known about the old cars near Pickering since I was a nipper. 

I always wonder what they are doing with these buildings/cars. More cars at the front and loads more around the back too.

Only one T. Different place.

[captain_70s]

8 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Only one T. Different place.

The thread title is a typo, only one T is correct.

[High Jetter]

27 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

The thread title is a typo, only one T is correct.

Oops! That's me in detention, then.

[ruffgeezer]

11 hours ago, morrisoxide said:

I don't watch normal TV, but I've known about the old cars near Pickering since I was a nipper. 

I always wonder what they are doing with these buildings/cars. More cars at the front and loads more around the back too.

Yours for £350,000

https://www.mcbeathproperty.co.uk/listings/rillington-westgate/

[wesacosa]

I remember going to Manor Park Classic auctions not long after it opened and been quite impressed, however just looked again as there is a car I was half interested in and the buyers premium now 12.5% but with a minimum of £600+ VAT.   Surely that's going to kill the cheaper/project end of their market ? Maybe that's what they want.