OLD toys and vintage records produced spirited bidding at two specialist sales held by 1818 Auctioneers at the J36 Salerooms at Crooklands, near Kendal.

A rather battered tin plate model car with a missing wheel looked like a reasonable buy with a pre-sale estimate of £50 to £80 but quickly raced away to a high price.

There was world-wide interest in the 1930s friction-driven John Distler racing car before it sold to a UK buyer for £1,200.

A private collector’s well-chosen accumulation of at least 750 vinyl records sold for a combined sum in excess of £25,000 on September 19.

Highlights included a collection of Nick Drake LP’s and ephemera which made £650 and a demo copy of Paper Back Writer by the Beatles which sold for £550.

A group of 11 classical albums on the Columbia, Decca and EMI Labels made £450 and £340 was paid for the Rolling Stones recording of Let it Bleed.

Expert, Sean Eatherden who catalogued the items said: “It has been a privilege of a life-time to handle each and every one of these records in this amazing private collector’s collection.

“It contained the Holy Grails of the vinyl world which music lovers could spend a life time searching out.

“Desirable artists included Harvest, Vertigo, Motown, Queen, Zeppelin, The Who, Beatles, Nick Drake, Hendrix, Floyd, Elvis, and many from the late 1960s and early 1970s.

“There were also early Sun Recordings singles and London American Recordings with intact black triangle centres, plus and Elvis HMV purple label with gold print.

“There is barely any item that does not appear in the Record Collector’s Rare Record Price Guide.

“We feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to offer it for sale and it has far exceeded our expectations.”

Earlier in the year the saleroom had a vinyl collection which sold for more than £6,000 and in 2014 a Patrick Eggle electric guitar, made for Irish blues and rock legend Rory Gallagher, was sold for £30,000.