450 cars for £100m
TRANSCRIPT
Dentistwhohassomanycarshekeepstheminenormouswarehousesissellinghis450classicvehiclesfor£100MILLION
o James Hull has built up collection of unusual and valuable
cars, from Elton John's old Bentley to rare Jaguar KXSS o Multi-millionaire Dr Hull, 53, of Kensington, west London,
keeps all his precious cars in warehouses in Herefordshire o Having fought off cancer three times, he now wants to sell the
collection, and is determined to sell it as a whole o The founder of cosmetic dentistry pioneers James Hull
Associates hopes to find a buyer with £100 million in Britain o Collection includes a rare Jaguar D-Type worth at least £4
million, old pedal cars, and a Sinclair C5 from the 1980s
ByHarrietArkell Published:16:16GMT,16May2014|Updated:08:26GMT,17May2014
A car-obsesseddentistwhohas amassedBritain ’s biggestprivate car collection issellingthewholelotfor£100million. JamesHull,53,whofoundedtheJamesHullAssociateschainofdentists,ownsmorethan 450 rare and classic cars, ranging from multi-million pound rare Jaguars toWinstonChurchill'sAustin,andaBentleyonceownedbyEltonJohn. With no room to park them all near his home in Kensington, west London, hegarages them invastwarehouses inHerefordshire,buthasnowdecidedtosellupbecauseofhealthreasons.
Britain'slargestprivatecarcollection,builtupbycosmeticdentistrymillionaireJamesHull,53,isforsaleasawholefor£100million
Allyours...ifyou'vegotdeeppockets:DrHull's457-strongcarcollectioniscurrentlykeptinwarehousesinHerefordshire
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DrHull'scollectionincludesthisclassicTriumphTR5,left,builtinCoventryinthelate1960s,andthisclassicracingcar,right,driveninthispicturebyStirlingMoss
Planes(notrains)andautomobiles:DrHullhascollectedBentleys,RollsRoycesandJaguars,aswellassomeaircraftfromtheFirstandSecondWorldWars
None of the cars is cheap, but a buyer with particularly deep pockets is needed,becauseDrHullsaysheisdeterminedtosellthe457-strongcollectionasawhole. Heishopingabuyerwillcomeinwitha£100million-plusoffer,makingitthehighestvaluecarsaleinBritain. Withcarsrepresentedfromeverydecadesincethe1930s,thecollectionincludesaJaguarD-Type,worthinexcessof£4million,asimilarlyvaluableJaguarC-Type,andLordMountbatten'sMiniTraveller,aswellasasuper-rare1950sJaguarKXSS. ThecollectionalsoincludesaHumberwhichwasownedbythejudgepresidingoverthe Profumo Affair and a 1961 Jaguar E-Type which belonged to Britain ’s worldmotorcyclechampionMikeHailwood. DrHull,whomadehisfortunepioneeringcosmeticdentistryintheUK,hasbattledcancer three times in the past four years, earning him the nickname Lazarus tofriends.Hetravelledaroundtheworldtotrackdownsomeoftherarermodelsinhiscollection,shippingthembacktoBritainandthenhavingthemstrippeddownbeforerebuildingthem.
ThisclassicBentleyisamongDrHull'scollection-hetravelledtheworldfindingrarecarsbeforeshippingthembacktoBritainandhavingthemrestored
Aswellasfull-sizecars,thecollectionincludesmorethan300miniaturepedalcars,seenattheback
ThisbottlegreenMorrisMinorformspartofthecollection,whichboastscarsfromeverydecadesincethe1930s Hesaid:'It'stheculminationofalife-longhobby.EachcarhasitsownstoryandallhaveplayedapartinthehistoryofBritishmotoring.It'spartofourheritage. 'I'mmerely a passionate custodian of this hugely significant part of British historyand,with luck, Iwill succeed in finding a home that can not only be enjoyed andtreasuredbytheBritishpublicbutalsobeadmiredbyvisitorsfromacrosstheworld.' A number of Dr Hull's cars have appeared at motor shows around the world,competedintheMilleMigliaItalianroad-race,andevenbeenusedfortheQueen’s80thbirthdayparade.
Therearealsodozensofcarswhichhavewonconcoursawards,andacollectionofBritishcampervansfromthe1940s,50sand60s,aswellasearlyLandRovers,classicRangeRovers,andaSinclairC5fromthe1980s.The collection, which is being sold privately, has already had a 'huge amount ofinterest' from private buyers and consortia, from overseas as well as nearer tohome,butDrHullhopesitwillremaininBritain.Graham Searle, from the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club, said: 'Dr Hull is a well knownJaguarEnthusiasts’ClubmemberwithanimmensepassionforJaguarcars.
Mintcondition:ThisshiningredMiniTravellerwasonceownedbyLordMountbatten,andisnowforsaleaspartofajoblotgoingforatleast£100milion
DrHullmadehisfortunebypioneeringcosmeticdentistryinBritainwithhisJamesHullAssociateschain-hethenspentitontheseclassicmotorcars
Stamp-collectingnext?Oncehehassoldhiscars,includingthisclassicJaguarXK,DrHullsayshewillneedanewhobby,buthehasn'tpickedoneyet 'Most of his cars are very original or restored to original specification with greatattention to detail, and over the years hemust havewonmore concours awardsthananyotherJaguarcollector. 'Hedoesimmenseservicetotheclassiccarmovementinkeepingthesecarsintopcondition,andthesaleofthecollectionwillattractenormousinterestfromaroundtheworld. 'Weofcoursehopethatwhoeverbuysthemallowsthemtobeseenandenjoyedbyenthusiastsforyearstocome.' JamesHullmadehismoneyafterfoundingJamesHullAssociatesin1987,becomingthemarketleaderincosmeticdentistry,specialisinginteethwhitening,veneersandimplants. Hewasdevastatedin2006whenvandalsbrokeintooneofhiswarehouses,beforehotwiring the Jaguars and crashing dozens of them. Police later said they had'treatedthecarslikedodgems'. Overthepastdecade,pricesforclassiccarshaveshotup,outperformingeveryotherinvestmentandsendingthevalueofthecollectionsoaring. Ifhefindsasuitablebuyer,DrHullwillneedanewhobby,buthe'snotyetsurewhatitwillbe. Hesaid:'I’macollector,sowhoknowswhatwillturnupnext.Mywifehopesitwillbesomethingsmallerlikestamps.'