After much hoo-ha and procrastination by customs, and in the midst of a tropical rainstorm, the auction of the mighty Africa Rally steeds finally went ahead on Wednesday 27 August. The crowds gathered, tensions rose, the rain hammered down and the cars girded their loins for a new life in Africa. All that was missing was the auctioneer. As time ticked on and the crowds began to shuffle their feet impatiently, it became clear that the auctioneer had taken fright and was not going to turn up.
More heated discussions ensued and twenty minutes later the first two cars had gone under the hammer of a replacement auctioneer for 460,000 CFA and 430, 000 CFA respectively. The replacement was none other than Ed Hawkins, of the Fairbridge Car, who did a truly marvellous impression of a seasoned professional and sold all but one of the 25 cars in less than three hours. The irony is that the one car not sold was his very own trusty VW.
Despite the rain and the hold-ups the auction was a big success. The top price was fetched by Wrong Way Down's Daihatsu Mira, which went for a whopping 1510000 CFA (£1819.23), the lowest by the Adam's Brothers' Nova Merit, which went for 180,000 CFA (£216.86). The total given to CWAF, our chosen beneficiary of the sales, was 7964689 CFA (£9596). They are going to use the money to build a much needed new quarantine at their forest site in Mefou, near Yaounde. So a very big thank you to all the teams for not only doing the rally but for giving their cars to such a good cause.