A 1963 Holden EH Special Station Wagon that a team of disadvantaged young people restored with the encouragement of the late Peter Brock, has achieved an impressive auction result at the Shannons Melbourne Winter Classic Auction on 2 June when over $600,000 was paid out for classic vehicles.

An enthusiastic crowd looked on as the grey wagon, with a white roof, sun-shade and red vinyl interior sold for $19,750, about twice the estimate, evidence of the skills of the young members of the Whitelion EH project, launched in 2006 by Peter Brock only a few months before he was killed. The project took almost two years to complete, with the help of volunteer mentors at Penfold City Holden.

Whitelion supports young people leaving custody and the out-of-home care system by helping them develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on training in practical skills. All proceeds of the sale went to support this organisation.

Also attracting plenty of attention was the Acapulco Blue Shelby GT500 Fastback Coupe, one of the last of the coveted 1960s Shelby Mustangs, which sold for $145,000. Identified as number 508 of the 1,534 GT500s built from 1969-1970, the car is fitted with a Ford 428-cid big block V8 and the optional C4 three-speed automatic transmission. The car spent most of its life in California, but its current Melbourne owner recently gave it an excellent restoration, and even asked Carroll Shelby to autograph the glove box lid while he was in America sourcing parts.

Other special sales were two quite different Porsche vehicles. Neither model was ever sold in Australia. Porsche CEO Dr Wendelin Wiedeking once owned the bright red 1958 Porsche Junior Type 108 Short Tractor, one of more than 125,000 single, two, three and four-cylinder diesel-engined Porsche tractors built from the mid-1950s until the early 1960s. It has single cylinder air-cooled 822cc engine and received a comprehensive restoration before its present owner privately imported it into Australia in late 2006. Although most Porsche tractors disappeared after tough working lives on farms across Europe, a private collector picked up this rare vehicle for $22,000, slightly above the expected price.

The other rare Porsche was a Porsche 914, upgraded from the four-cylinder to the more powerful 914/6 specification, sold for $24,000. The car was professionally rebuilt to 914/6 specification with a six-cylinder Porsche engine, a 5-speed Type-901 gearbox and was converted to right-hand drive for its Sydney owner before it was shipped to Australia.

An unreserved 1970 Falcon XW GT with a 351 4V Cleveland motor presented in Brambles Red with Black trim reached $35,500, and an Alfa Romeo 2000 Veloce Spider also sold unreserved for $11,500. Two expertly restored mini-bikes, a 1971 Honda SL70 KO and a 1973 Honda XR75 KO, also sold well for $4,500 and 6,000 respectively. Number plate ‘VIC 543’ broughtr $75,000, and other memorabilia items proved very popular, particularly the old petrol bowsers which sold for up to $5,750.