Mathewsons Auction

Mathewsons is a family-run auction house in Pickering, North Yorkshire, selling classic vehicles and memorabilia from Unit 10, Enterprise Way, Thornton Road (YO18 7NA). Sales run Wednesday to Friday and carry up to 900 lots, numbered 1–300, 301–600 and 601–900 with one block a day; recent catalogues have held 817 to 900 lots and the calendar runs eight sales a year, roughly five weeks apart. Stock is consigned by private owners and collectors through the firm's vehicle, memorabilia and registration-plate enquiry forms; the family is familiar from the TV series Bangers & Cash.

What you can buy

• Classic and older cars: the biggest category, 511 of the 817 lots in the September 2026 catalogue. British marques carry it – Jaguar, Land Rover, MG, Triumph, Austin and Morris – alongside Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Citroen and Peugeot, plus Japanese classics from Honda and Toyota.
• Motorcycles and scooters: Harley-Davidson, Ducati, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Honda, with Vespa and Lambretta scooters, catalogued as their own lots.
• Motoring memorabilia and automobilia: close to 300 lots a sale, mostly enamel and illuminated advertising signs, plus wall clocks, petrol pumps and glass globes, garage lamps, thermometers and jukeboxes.
• Registration numbers: cherished plates sold as separate lots – eight of them in the September 2026 sale.
• Trailers and bicycles: occasional entries, each with its own commission band.

How the bidding works

Auction days are held behind closed doors, closed to public and trade alike, so bidding is online through the house's own Bidpath-powered platform, by telephone, or by commission bid left in advance. Anyone can take part: open an account, pass ID verification and pre-register for each sale. New accounts get a bid limit that rises as invoices are settled; raising it needs a call to the office and a 10% part-payment of your intended spend. Each day starts at 10:00, and commission bids close at 5pm the day before the relevant session. Viewing is the part you attend in person – a six-day period from the Wednesday before the sale to the Tuesday, closed Sunday, Monday to Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 9am–12pm, at £5 per person per day, with a free weekday shuttle bus between Thornton-le-Dale and the Pickering site. Once the hammer falls the contract is binding: 20% part-payment on the day, balance within 48 hours, debit card or bank transfer only. Collection is expected within 14 days, booked 48 hours ahead against a release code, and storage after that costs £10 + VAT a day. Lots that do not sell reappear in an online timed sale the week after.

What to check before you bid

Commission is tiered. Vehicles, motorbikes and trailers cost 10% + VAT up to £2,000, 7.5% + VAT from £2,001 to £20,000, then 7.5% on the first £20,000 and 5% on the balance. Registration numbers are 10% + VAT; memorabilia and bicycles 15% + VAT, minimum £5. Bidding online adds another 1%. VAT falls on the commission, so read each lot description to see whether VAT also sits on the hammer price. Everything is sold strictly as seen with no warranty, which makes the viewing period the real due diligence: inspect the car, ask for paperwork, or book a private appointment for dates outside it. Under-16s, pets and handbags are not allowed in the showrooms, and the Pickering site is closed to general browsing. Overseas buyers must lodge a deposit before bidding is authorised. The firm runs its own transporters and works with contractors seven days a week and can help move a purchase, but memorabilia is never shipped and has to be collected in person. Past prices sit in the site's own Auction Results section and in the Glenmarch database. Vehicles bought at the Mathewsons Live event at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate come back to Pickering for collection.