I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but the lockdowns have left a lot of people at home with time on their hands and pretty much all classic and specialist cars have skyrocketed in price, possibly because there are now lots of people who are looking to finally buy the car/project of their dreams to keep them occupied and/or before it's too late...
Three years ago I was considering buying myself a Lancia Fulvia as a winter classic. There were plenty on the market - decent but rusty projects for around £2k, solid Series 3's with MOT for around £5k and I found a fully restored and pristine Series 1 (lwhich is what I wanted) for £11k. Scroll forward to 2021 and, not only are there hardly any around, but rot boxes are now £5k, solid projects are £8-£9k and restored cars are £18-£22k.
It's the same story with a host of other bread and butter classics - Sunbeam Alpines, TR's 4 and 6, MGA's, Scimitars and even Chrysler/Talbot Sunbeams have all more than doubled in price over the last two to three years.
It's a shame your desired Dutton went over your limit, but it's a sign of the times, I'm afraid.
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