Vintage View: Car boot sales

CAR boot sales are stepping it out again as the weather stutters into spring, but not every one of them seems worth the car or foot miles. Many sales do disappoint and are consistently overwhelmed by inexplicable dross from the back of someone’s garage, children’s battered toys, bulging boxes of pulp fiction, scratched CDs by the thousands, and cheap new goods. However, regular attendance is key, and for €2-€5 for a wander and a fist full of chips, well worth an hour on a Sunday morning. Sales are by their nature transitory and each one is unique as private sellers doing a clear out and traders on the move come and go week by week.

Together with the smaller bargains, there have been legendary buys at car boot sales including a Lalique vase bought in Dumfries in Scotland in 2009 for £1 that went on to fetch £32,450 at auction at Christie’s in London. You can be certain, the buyer trod thousands of miles before alighting on that jewel, and the merest chance of a lifetime find is enough to get collectors out at dawn on their precious weekend mornings. The UK has a thriving boot sale culture dating to the 1970s, so if you’re over the pond check out weekend sales in the nearest village hall car-park or pitch.

Dress comfortably, secure your money out of sight (cash in small notes and coins) and arrive early. Be prepared to wait for new arrivals to unpack their cars and vans as it can take a couple of hours for the full compliment of sellers to appear. Drift closer to cars as they are being unloaded as sometimes the real gems can be snapped up even before the tables are up. It’s often worth being a borderline nuisance and cheekily reaching into an unpacked box. If you’re parking on the field, point the horses for home and ensure you are close enough to make it back to a graveled path if the going gets heavy. Bring plastic bags to carry goods, and a fold up umbrella — essential in our bogy little country if all the pitches are outdoors.