Sold: to the geezer with the slick-back hair wearing a leather jacket

A trip back in time to the 1980s may only seem possible in a Delorean DMC-12  or the Tardis, however if you go down to Paddock Wood car auction house today, you'll be in for a big surprise. From the concrete buildings to the Caf where a healthy menu with options of a Full English or a plate of bacon, fried eggs, sausage, black pudding, mushrooms, beans and toast are available. I would recommend either meal with a bottle of their finest HP. It was while I ate my plat au cholestérol I realised we were surrounded by what could only be described as an Only Fools and Horses lookalike convention. These peculiar gentlemen did this for a living, they are the pilgrims of the car auctions huddled around clutching The Book of the motoring faith; The Glass's Guide to car valuation. 

Now to the cars. There were many beautiful Audi A4s up for sale. The one problem with car auctions is the risky business of only being able to inspect the outside. I apologise for another pun, but the prospective owners had their faces glued to windows like a scene from the film Shaun of the Dead, except this time there were no zombies, only Polish, Turkish and Chavs. 

You do get a few minutes to see if the car works whilst it is ferried to the auction shed. This gives the sensible people time to check for blown head gaskets, engine noises and bodies in the boot. Car auctions are a great opportunity for people to get a real bargain. However, since most people are keeping their old cars in the hope they'll be worth an extra 50p in six months time, the only real bargains were the damaged repairable cars. Auctioning your old car may seem a profitable option if you fit into one of the following categories: an Audi driving sales rep, a taxi driver or someone who likes to make illegal cut 'n shut vehicles in your spare time. 

So is it worth the effort making a journey to your nearest auction room to buy a car that you've only seen for five minutes? No. If only there was a way of auctioning using the internet so we wouldn't have to leave the comfort of our homes to purchase motorcars?

Franco