Category: Cars

The Steeple Times loves Cars and Driving.

Fagin’s Bentley

1961 Bentley S2 Continental drophead coupé owned by Golden Globe award winning actor Ron Moody – best known as ‘Fagin’ in ‘Oliver!’ – for sale for 329% more than it sold for in 2014 after restoration

Described on their Instagram page with the quip: “After some time behind the wheel of this beautiful Bentley, you may well find yourself saying: ‘Please, sir, I want some more,’” by acclaimed Bentley and Rolls-Royce dealership Frank Dale & Stepsons, a 1961 Bentley S2 Continental drophead coupé by Park Ward owned by the late actor Ron Moody from 1968 until 2014 is currently for sale for £295,000.

Restored two years ago after having been sold at Bonhams for £68,700 in June 2014, Moody – born Ronald Moodnick (1924 – 2015) – the stunning car offered is one of sixty cars built in right hand drive. Finished in ‘Valentine’s Blue’ with an off-white leather interior and blue everflex hood, the car was clearly much loved by the Oscar nominated actor given he kept it for 46 years.

Of it, Frank Dale & Stepsons comment:

“The current owner began improving the car in 2014 following several years of limited use by Mr Moody.”

“The mechanical works in recent years include but are not limited to the brakes being rebuilt, overhauling the fuel system including the carburettors, a new exhaust system, overhauling the power steering, a new propshaft, restoration of the radiator and overhauling the heating system, restored rear springs as well as general servicing and maintenance.”

“The cosmetics have also been hugely improved with the car benefitting from coachwork structural repairs and a bare metal re-paint in the cars original colour as well as restoration to the chrome. The power hood was also recently retrimmed in blue everflex as per the original specification from 1961.”

“The finished car presents and drives beautifully following these works and is complete with two large binders covering the history, one dedicated to the cars life up until 2014 and one covering the significant improvements over the past few years with invoices and photographs documenting the process. Chassis No BC6CZ comes complete with its original handbook and a wonderful back story having been owned and cherished by Mr Fagin himself for so many years.”

Ron Moody is best remembered as Fagin in Lionel Bart’s stage and film musical ‘Oliver!’ – based on Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’ – and of it commented: My proudest moment was the number ‘Reviewing the Situation.’ I suspect that, because I gave my all to the role, and because I was working with such a fine team of people, it inhibited my future career. I turned down quite a few offers afterwards because I thought the people didn’t come close to those I’d worked with on ‘Oliver!’ –which in retrospect was a mistake.”

Fagin’s Bentley – In January 2014, ‘The Steeple Times featured the sale of another acclaimed actor’s Bentley S2 – this came in the form of a Continental Flying Spur, also produced in 1961, that had been owned by Gregory Peck. At the time it was guided at a price of between £137,000 and £182,000.

The Numbers

May 2021 – Offered for sale by Frank Dale & Stepsons for £295,000 ($413,000, €339,000 or درهم1.5 million).

27^th June 2014 – Sold at auction by Bonhams for £68,700 ($96,000, €79,000 or درهم353,000).

May 9, 2021
A BIG Bugatti

Theodora Ong lusts after a £1.55 million 2013 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport that currently sports the registration plate ‘BIG 3’ – but could become ‘BUG 8’

The Steeples Times’ classic cars columnist Theodora Ong is back on the road after the pandemic lockdowns and is all set for essential-journey test drives – or, in this case, is still dreaming of them.

So, you didn’t get out much during 2020 and you’ve saved a fair bit. Staycation country jaunts sound like the safest plan for no-hassle cruising, so, today, I share with you something a little more modern than my normal automobile offerings.

Ready for you to drive away is this rare Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. One of only 58 produced, it’s a UK-registered supermobile, but you are unlikely to have spotted it running around as it’s clocked up just 2,220 miles (3,574 kms).

Right now, this gleaming pearly white Grand Sport is in a secret location in the custody of classic & supercars specialists Graeme Hunt Ltd. They say it’s definitely for driving now rather than to be swaddled up in storage. Well, who wouldn’t want to get some sunshine bouncing off its curvy armour-like shell, designed to profile its muscle structure and ferocious 7993cc – with pano roof down right now?

When the Bugatti Veyron was launched, it redefined sports motoring on the road, in the way that only every decade or so, a new contender explodes on the scene. This is a hypercar of extreme concept fully realised. Its 0 to 60 in just over 2 seconds is too simplistic a way to describe its abilities. It’s a car you can feel; the dealer describes the noise you hear when firing it up as “utterly charming, the oils and fluids pulsing around the engine warming up the 16 cylinders make you just sizzle with excitement,” though I am still waiting to share the flutter of elation from an ever-hopeful outing.

With the heritage of Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti and memorable Grand Prix victories, the 21^st century Bugatti is a brand of our Euro-age, as a French subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. After some six years in concept, the Veyron was launched in 2005, and models of increasing refinement rolled off for nearly a decade after. Four turbochargers produced 1001 horsepower offering a top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h) and the price was announced at £880,000 ($1.2 million, €1 million or درهم4.5 million). It sealed its iconic status when the BBC’s Top Gear compared it to Concorde.

And who are amongst the greatest who have sought the greatest? Tom Cruise set the pace of the Mission Impossible III premiere by arriving in a Bugatti Veyron. Beyoncé gifted one to Jay-Z, and the Veyron’s speed and slick looks lured sportsmen Cristiano Ronaldo and Floyd Mayweather Jr and lifestyle designer Ralph Lauren, plus a sizeable clutch of big-time rappers and R&B dukes.

Jazzy customisations and two-tone body paint on Veyrons have been plenty, so it’s soothing to see our pearly king sporting a restrained black interior. It’s currently number plated as ‘BIG 3.’ Does that give a clue as to its current owner?

Just hope we don’t have any more lockdown travel restrictions. You’re almost guaranteed to be tracked if you’re driving this. And don’t even think about emulating the infamous 2014 insurance scam when an owner drove his Veyron into a lake, claiming ‘to avoid a low flying pelican’, then tried to claim £1.6 million ($2.2 million, €1.8 million or درهم8.1 million). His antics were crisply caught on film by an admiring nearby driver and are well worth a watch.

The market at this ultimate top end has stayed unswervingly buoyant in these troubled times, so this Grand Sport looks an investment you can indulge your passion in for decades to come.

Graeme Hunt have the 2013 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport listed at a price of £1.55 million ($2.14 million, €1.79 million or درهم7.88 million). They share that the cherished number plate ‘BIG 3’ “does not form part of the sale,” but add: “We do have ‘BUG 8’ on retention should anyone wish to discuss it.”

April 18, 2021
The Spectre Shooting Brake

2015 Rolls-Royce Wraith converted to a ‘Spectre’ shooting brake by automotive genius Niels van Roij for sale for 157% more than it originally cost

A modern day ‘shooting brake’ is effectively just a “sexier” ‘estate car’ if you’d believe Car Wow, but an adapted one-off Rolls-Royce Wraith version that is to be auctioned later this month with an upper estimate of nearly £500,000 is definitely more than appealing.

Named in honour of the 2015 James Bond film Spectre, the big-booted two-seater to be offered by Bonhams is the creation of the Niels van Roij Design studio – whose £256,000 coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover ‘Adventum Coupé’ we featured in March 2020.

Based on a Rolls-Royce Wraith produced in mid-2015 and first registered in the UK in January 2016, the original car – which had around 11,100 miles on the clock – was last serviced in 2018 and then subjected to an 18-month £260,000 conversion that makes it “one of the costliest cars ever made.”

Driven just 125 miles in the time since, the vehicle is described as being “in excellent condition throughout” and because of the coronavirus pandemic has not been exhibited publicly until now.

Of it, its creator, who worked with Belgian firm Carat Duchatelet to build it, remarked: “The elongated lines signal masterful craftsmanship and exquisite style. A manifestation of Grand Touring in its purest form.”

In a series of videos shared on YouTube in October 2020, Niels van Roij remarked:

“The car has been named after the image of a shadow, a ghost, a spirit if you’d like and has been styled by Niels van Roij Design… As you can see, the car has been styled with a certain sense of drama that harks back to the heydays of shooting brakes in the 1930s.”

“We’ve also overseen the construction process, as we do with all our coachbuilt cars… The outcome is an original design and also historically relevant… The new bodywork allows for very different proportions [that are]… very sculptural.”

“The Silver Spectre shooting brake is strictly limited to only seven examples [since changed to just one] worldwide and it is available with the largest starlight headliner boasting a world’s first celestial infinity nightscape.”

“The Silver Spectre has also been equipped with an increased power output giving a total of 700 horsepower.”

‘The Spectre Shooting Brake’ will be auctioned by Bonhams at their ‘Les Grandes Marques à Monaco’ sale in Monte Carlo on 23^rd April.

The Numbers – The Spectre Shooting Brake

23^rd April 2021 – Offered at auction by Bonhams in Monaco with an estimate of £320,000 to £480,000 ($440,000 to $660,000, €370,000 to €550,000 or درهم1.6 million to درهم2.4 million).

2018 – 2020 – Cost of conversion estimated to be £260,000 ($360,000, €300,000 or درهم1.3 million) giving a total cost for the creation of circa £448,000 ($618,000, €515,750 or درهم2.3 million).

Base price in 2013 for the original mid-2015 car – £187,000 ($258,000, €215,750 or درهم949,000).

Aside from having ‘suicide doors,’ the shooting brake has a lavishly appointed interior that features highly polished woods and colour matched leather.

The boot is large enough to accommodate shotguns, golf clubs or simply a picnic even.

A unique picnic hamper trunk comes with the vehicle.

The car also features plates from Niels van Roij Design’s studio.

Here is a one of one shooting brake that nobody else will ever own. It has been subjected to an increase in power and torque output of the 6.6 liter twin-turbo V12 engine. The standard 632 hp and 800 Nm (or max 870 Nm of torque for Black Badge) has been increased to 700 hp and 900 Nm.

In this video, shared on YouTube, Niels van Roij explains what inspired him to create the car. Going further, on his own website, he added: “We envisioned a daring, three-box rather than two-box shooting brake aesthetic and with that a convention-challenging design. The car features very English proportions inside and out, and uncompromised levels of luxury.”

April 15, 2021
Anything But BIG

Pretentious number plate ‘BIG’ attracts attention in Knightsbridge

‘Mr Big’ in Sex and the City was considered a bit of player. He was the “big man on the campus” according to Carrie Bradshaw and he was an “intriguing character” in the eyes of Comcast.

Now, in Cadogan Square in London, someone has decided to pretend to be him. They’ve positioned their ego on a Porsche and installed on it a numberplate that reads ‘81G’ (or ‘BIG’ to the casual observer).

Plainly not all locals were as unimpressed as us: Someone named Tabrez left a note on the car asking to buy it. He announced: “I already hold other ‘BIG’ plates.”

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Update – 14th April 2021 – ‘81G’ attracted the attention of Sam McAlister, the BBC “booker extraordinaire” of Prince Andrew for that now forever infamous ‘Newsnight’ interview. She shared an image of the Porsche with her 11,600 followers and remarked: “I bet it isn’t…” and attracted over 3,200 likes and 140 retweets.

Personalised number plates are very much something people either love or loathe. In London, they are ten-a-penny and frankly though some can be amusing, many are just ludicrous, tacky, stupid and common.

This motorist plainly thinks driving around emblazoned with a plate referencing the ‘G-spot’ makes them either witty or sexually appealing even. Frankly, unless the owner works in a sex clinic, what are they trying to achieve?

Another motorist with a bizarre or frankly warped sense of humour imagines this plate to be appealing. We’d argue, instead, that the owner of this car instead gets mocked and derided wherever they dare drive.

March 14, 2019
Three Umbrellas

‘Million Dollar Listing’s’ Justin Fichelson lists £12.6 million Three Umbrellas, Carmel estate used by Ferrari and Pagani during the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

Used by both Ferrari and Pagani during the famed Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, ‘Tres Paraguas’ – Spanish for ‘three umbrellas’ – in Jacks Peak, Carmel, California has been brought to the market by the star of Bravo TV’s Million Dollar Listing San Francisco, Justin Fichelson.

Three Umbrellas – Tres Paraguas, 566 Aguajito Road, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93923, USA

Priced at £12.6 million ($17.5 million, €16 million), the 12,482 square foot house was designed by architect Ron Mann for Bob and Aime Carroll in 2004 and described by him as an “experiment, … a one of kind living environment [and] something really new and innovative”.

Formed as a complex of five structures around a large enclosed courtyard with a pool, catina and spa, Tres Paraguas is dominated by three giant roofs of corten steel and features 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and 2 half-bathrooms.

Enjoying “sweeping views” of the Monterrey Peninsula and the Pacific Ocean beyond, the property stands on a lot that extends to a total of 4.75 acres. It is within 10 minutes of downtown Carmel and is described by Fichelson as “a spectacular modern estate”.

Three Umbrellas – The internal style is strikingly modern.

Three Umbrellas – There are both outdoor and indoor entertaining spaces

Three Umbrellas – An aerial view of the compound with the Pacific Ocean beyond illustrates the umbrellas Ron Mann envisaged in his design

For more information, email Justin Fichelson at [email protected]

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February 27, 2016