1987 Volkswagen Golf cabriolet – nicknamed ‘Rodney’ – previously owned by ‘Only Fools and Horses’ actor Sir David Jason to be auctioned; sadly, of it, even Del Boy couldn’t claim: “Just one lady owner from new”
Del Boy’s Golf cabriolet – An alpine white 1987 Volkswagen Golf GTI Karmann convertible purchased for Sir David Jason’s late partner, Myfanwy Talog, is to be auctioned later this month, It was subsequently owned by his manager, Sidney Law, and then by his children’s godfather, John Williams.
Unlike the vehicle most associated with the character most famously played by Sir David, the custard yellow Reliant Regal van driven by Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses, the Golf cabriolet that will be hammered down is described as “in sparkling condition, patently cherished and almost certainly a best of breed.”
Sir David Jason and his late partner Myfanwy Talog (1944 – 1995).Del Boy was himself best known for driving a Reliant Regal three wheeler van in the series. There are many replicas, but the original vehicle used by the BBC was sold for £42,000 ($55,000, €47,000 or درهم203,000) in November 2017.Prior to becoming famous Sir David Jason used to joke: “One day, one day I’m going to have a Rolls-Royce.” In Only Fools and Horses, he eventually got one complete with the plate ‘1 DEL.’Boycie, played by John Challis in the series, bought a Jaguar E-Type in the second ever episode of Only Fools and Horses in 1981. Of this birthday gift for his “bit on the side,” he stated: “It’s only E-Type Jaguars and Adam Peaty that makes me proud to be British these days.” In May 2013, interviewed in ‘The Steeple Times,’ Challis stated his personal preference for Aston Martin DB4s.When sold in December 2017, the Golf cabriolet offered this month came with various documentation including a file that stated its nickname as ‘Rodney’ alongside a quote that read: “This car has a longstanding association with David Jason and his family – naturally we call him ‘Rodney.’”
Sold for £17,820 ($23,439, €19,739 or درهم86,080) in December 2017 by Classic Car Auctions Everyman Classics and by Cotswold Classic Car Restorations on another occasion, the car – which was one of just 138 examples produced as part of Volkswagen’s limited edition all-white series – has just under 22,000 miles on the clock.
Silverstone Auctions will offer the car with an estimate of £18,000 to £22,000 ($23,700 to $28,900, €19,900 to €24,400 or درهم86,900 to درهم106,300) at their NEC Classic Live online auction on Saturday 14th November 2020.
In ‘Only Fools and Horses,’ Del Boy was prepared to trade anything – dodgy cars included. “Only one previous owner, a vicar” and “only left his bible in the glove compartment” were amongst the lines in this classic clip.
Quirky Aston Martin DB6 Vantage shooting brake goes to auction with a reserve of just under £1 million
1966 is best remembered as the year that England won the World Cup, but now someone with very deep pockets has the chance to acquire one of that year’s finest vintage cars.
Offered by Bonhams at the Quail motorcar auction in Los Angeles, California on 14th August with an estimate of £780,000 to £930,000 ($1 million to $1.2 million, €850,000 to €1 million or درهم3.7 million to درهم4.4 million), an Aston Martin DB6 Vantage shooting brake is one of only six ever built by Harold Radford.
Commissioned new for a gentleman realtor named Middleton George Charles Train – “Middy” to his mates – the example offered suited its owners passions for duck hunting and golf. With its commodious boot, the car most certainly provided ample space to accommodate clubs and guns and in addition the vehicle features the “novelty” of a Webasto sun roof and a luggage rack on the roof.
Trimmed with Connolly blue-grey leather and painted in black, the car has covered 50,000 miles and is offered from the estate of its second owner, one David L. Van Schaick. He acquired the car in October 1976 and “used it sporadically” and as a result Bonhams describe the vehicle as “running well” and “in remarkably good order for its age.”
They add: “[This car is] an absolute magnet for people of all ages, from the ‘cognoscenti’ to the ‘innocenti,’ the phrase ‘that’s cool’ [is] the most common way to describe it.”
Elsewhere, the £1.25 million ($1.63 million, €1.39 million or درهم5.99 million) 2012 Aston Martin Jet 2+2 shooting brake we featured in December 2019 has been reduced in price to £800,000 ($1 million, €888,000 or درهم3.8 million).
‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the rammed full of gadgets limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even
Whilst a 1967 Mercedes-Benz ‘Dictator Car we featured in April eventually sold for £237,000 ($298,000, €264,000 or درهم1.1 million), a lover of limousines with far shallower pockets might care to bid on a Japanese example that is headed to auction this month.
Though the word “limousine” originally derived from the “type of carriage hood that physically resembled the cloak worn by shepherds in the Limousin region of France,” this automotive category is now sadly more generally associated with that especially ghastly, much over-used adjective “luxury.”
Limousines are not only considered the preserve of the aforementioned despots, but they’re also the favoured modes of conveyance of business titans, young Arabic and Russian showoffs and rappers now even. A well-known reader of ours even once stated she’d like to have several herself. This friend of royalty added that a collection of security guards running alongside with torches also would complete her ideal spectacle.
Coming in the form of a four-seat, stretched saloon car, the 1994 Toyota Century to be offered was imported to the UK by Mohamad Issa in 2019. It is longer than a Rolls-Royce Phantom, but slightly shorter than a Maybach at 19-feet in length, is presented in black with a black leather interior and was fully serviced in Japan prior to being shipped. The odometer reads 34,500 miles.
Historics Auctioneers will sell the 1994 Toyota Century limousine at their Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July. They have set an estimate of just £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) and describe the car as being: “A stunning example of a rare car even in Japan, this is a real collector’s car that is a sign of wealth and power for the price of a new Ford Fiesta!”
Featured earlier this year in a 19-minute video by two vloggers named Ben and Alfie of a YouTube channel named The Department of Motoring Affairs, of this particular Century they surmised: “People are surprised that this is a Toyota… If you don’t get it by now you don’t belong in the club anyway… If you know, you know” and indeed they’re right: Here is a quirky limousine that you could only originally have had if the Japanese ‘powers that be’ allowed you.
The passenger “compartment” is described as “richly appointed” and includes not only “soft and supple” heated power, leather seats with variable speed massage functions, but also gadgets galore. Most importantly for the notoriously shy Japanese market, the compartment has all-round curtains as well as an electric privacy partition to separate it from the driver’s compartment (with an intercom communications system).There is a cordless 1990s mobile telephone, a television (described as “working but TV to Japanese specification”) with a VHS player, as well as a tape deck built into the rear centre armrest that even has an in-built recording device. A mini fridge also has a heating function for hot food and there is a cabinet containing crystal glasses and a decanter even.A desk can fold out for a mogul who wishes to work whilst on-the-road inside their Toyota Century limousine. It is made of mahogany and for those that wish to ‘drink-and-ride’ there are mahogany glass holders as well.The chauffeur also gets to sit in luxury (unlike in many other limousines). Whilst in original limousines, the chauffeur’s compartment was open, here they get not only a roof, but a leather seat also.Technology is the order of the day given this Toyota Century limousine was manufactured in Japan. The car has automatic transmission, cruise control and a fully functional digital dash.The soft-closing boot contains the original tyre and jacking equipment.The engine is a Lexus 4-litre 5V-EU V8. Of it, Historics Auctioneers remark: “We are informed by the vendor that [it] starts well and pulls strong with the temperature gauge reading a little below half and the automatic transmission shifts are firm and smooth.”From the front; this Toyota Century stretched saloon is described as “clean and straight, the chrome trim and bumpers are all intact and gleaming.” And from the rear; here is a car that Historics Auctioneers laud as having a look “denoting conservative success.”
Historics Auctioneers have produced a video tour of the vehicle to market it to potential purchasers during the coronavirus lockdown.
The 1994 Toyota Century limousine to be auctioned featured in an amusing 19-minute long YouTube video in March this year by vlogger Alfred Munkenbeck and his co-host Ben (surname unknown). They plainly loved the vehicle.
Rolls-Royce issues a press release to try and stop the media mistakenly saying they are Rolls-Royce; they want to highlight the difference between PLC and Cars
When you think of Rolls-Royce, you may think of handcrafted limousines made with the most exquisite materials. You might think of the royalty, heads of state and stars who’ve owned such vehicles, but one thing’s for sure, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, a “wholly-owned subsidiary of BMW Group (Munich)” now want to make very clear: They have nothing to do with the aircraft, ship and submarine manufacturers Rolls-Royce PLC.
In a press release issued on Thursday, Andrew Ball for Goodwood, West Sussex based Rolls-Royce Motor Cars pointedly remarked:
“Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has issued a statement in response to continuing media confusion and misreporting concerning its assumed or implied connection to Rolls-Royce PLC.”
“Media are kindly asked to note that images of Rolls-Royce motor cars, the black and silver ‘Double R’ logo, the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ (‘Flying Lady’) mascot, the Rolls-Royce Pantheon Grille and other related content are all signifiers of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and its Brand.”
“The use of these images to illustrate stories relating to Rolls-Royce plc together with copy that unnecessarily confuses or conflates the two companies, is incorrect and leads to public confusion.”
Given “recent announcements” have led to the “media confusing and misreporting” the two, one thing’s for sure: A Rolls-Royce car is a Rolls-Royce car when it’s a Rolls-Royce Motor Car; when it’s not, it’s just not. “Now Jeeves, be a darling, go fetch the Toyota.”
Some quotes about Rolls-Royces
“Greatness takes time: It takes 13 hours to build a Toyota, but it takes 6 months to build a Rolls-Royce.”
Unknown.
“Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls-Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.”
‘Most successful investor in the world’ Warren Buffett.
“At 60 miles per hour, the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.”
‘Father of Advertising’ David Ogilvy CBE.
“When you are a rich man, you are proud to own a Rolls-Royce and when you are a poor man, you are proud to own a Renault.”
Charismatic footballer Eric Cantona.
“If a working-class Englishman saw a bloke drive past in a Rolls-Royce, he’d say to himself: ‘Come the social revolution and we’ll take that away from you, mate.’ Whereas, if his American counterpart saw a bloke drive past in a Cadillac, he’d say: ‘One day, I’m going to own one of those.’ To my way of thinking, the first attitude is wrong. The latter is right.”
Media tycoon Kerry Packer.
Pictured top: A selection of models currently available in Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ current line-up.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars want to remind the world that they produce motor cars. They most certainly don’t want people thinking they produce flying hairdryers.In October 2016, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured this 1926 Rolls-Royce Phantom I by Brougham De Ville. It has an interior inspired by Versailles and the interior was described as “like stepping inside a very fine Georgian manor house.”In March 2017, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured this 1958 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I drophead coupé. It was nicknamed ‘The Honeymoon Express’ given it seats just two and has an oversized boot capable of carrying a week’s luggage.In August 2015, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured this 1973 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI by Pietro Frua. It was described as “the largest convertible ever built,” measured over 22-foot in length and took two years to build. The giant motor was originally owned by His Excellency Consul Simon van Kempen of Switzerland and Monaco sold for £442,546 including premium as part of The Frederiksen Auction in Denmark. In February 2018, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured this special edition 1995 Rolls-Royce Flying Spur converted to an estate car from a Silver Spur III.In September 2016, ‘The Steeple Times’ joined those describing the owner of this Rolls-Royce as having “the most vulgar numberplate in Britain.” The owner of ‘SH10W OF’ plainly is a person without an ounce of modesty in their entire being.
‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide doors and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf
American Hee Haw host and country singer Roy Clark (1933 – 2018) was best known for songs such as Yesterday, When I Was Young and Thank God and Greyhound. Now, enthusiasts of this tobacco farmer’s son have the opportunity to buy a piece of his memorabilia in the form of a Rolls-Royce that he owned for some forty years.
Last offered without reserve at the Leake Auction Company sale in Tulsa in June 2019, the dark red 1964 Phantom V touring limousine by James Young was owned by the star from 1977 until his death. Clark paid $19,500 (the equivalent of £70,000, $86,000, €79,000 or درهم316,000 today) when he purchased it and after it was subsequently sold to a “noted private collection in Texas,” they lavished £24,000 ($30,000, €27,000 or درهم110,000) on servicing it in 2019 and 2020.
This month, RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000). Of the car, they remark:
“The limousine is finished in a lovely shade of dark red and accented by a gold pinstripe running the length of the car. The initials “RC” are prominently featured on the driver’s side passenger door. The interior is trimmed in tan leather and is accented by beautiful woodwork throughout. The driver compartment features Smiths instrumentation, an AM/FM radio, and an altimeter in the passenger glove box door. Furthermore, the car is equipped with electric windows and air conditioning which is vented into both the driver and passenger compartments. A division window separates the driver from the passengers. The rear compartment is the epitome of 1960s luxury and features dual footrests, fold-out jump seats, pillar-mounted flower vases, reading lights, and a Smiths clock while fold-out picnic tables flank a small cocktail bar with crystal decanters and glassware.”
Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57SC Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 99.9% lower than the most famous of the four originals is said to be worth
If ever rediscovered, a car termed “the most beautiful ever created” – the second of four Bugatti Type 57S Atlantic coupés – would supposedly be worth £93 million ($113 million, €104 million or درهم415 million).
Handcrafted as part of a limited production with sales only to the British banker Victor, 3rd Baron Rothschild, an English tennis player named Richard B. Pope and a Frenchman named Jacques Holzschuh between 1936 and 1938, the second coupé made was used for promotion and then given to its creator, Gianoberto ‘Jean’ Bugatti (1909 – 1939). After he was killed whilst testing a Type 57 tank-bodied racer, his car passed into the hands of various racing drivers. It was then hidden away with the outset of the Second World War, but sadly never resurfaced.
Named in honour of Mr. Bugatti’s aviator friend Jean Mermoz (1901 – 1936), whom never returned from a journey across the South Atlantic in 1936 in a Latécoère 300 Croix-du-Sud plane, the 12-foot long 57SC is lauded as the ultimate automotive design icon. Bugatti themselves term the “world’s most valuable vehicle” to be “extraordinary” and reference the coupé “unique in its time and still unique today.”
As a result of their desirability, the car – which Motor Authority terms “delightfully swoopy… [the] crown jewels of Bugatti production cars” – has unsurprisingly inspired a number of automotive designers to create homages to it. One example, created by “hot rodder” Terry Cook, is being auctioned this month – but one thing’s for sure, whatever it sells for, its hammer price will nowhere near that of a ‘real’ example.
In March 2017, the “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57SC Atlantic coupé,” the Delahaye USA Pacific was auctioned at the Mostalgia Amelia Island sale in Florida. It sold for £182,000 ($220,000, €204,000 or درهم808,000). The same car is headed to auction again this month.Jean Bugatti pictured next to the ‘Royale Esders Roadster’ prototype he designed in 1932.The four Bugatti 57SC Atlantic cars.
The “reimagined Atlantic” concerned was made by Cook’s firm, Delahaye USA, in 2016 and is described as “noticeably longer than the original, 10 inches to be exact.” It has a 127-inch wheelbase and features a BMW fuel-injected 12-cylinder engine and automatic transmission and unlike its forerunners comes equipped with air conditioning, heating and power windows. The stainless steel tubular seat frames are exact copies of those from the 57SC now owned by Ralph Lauren and the fabric is described as “richly decorative.”
RM Sotheby’s will sell the 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific – which actually is titled a 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ – as part of their ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000) for this “wonderful modern homage.” Of it, they add: “The Delahaye USA Pacific is sure to turn heads no matter where it may travel, be it on any side of either ocean.”
Those on an even more limited budget could still live the ‘Atlantic dream’ – Ralph Lauren is currently marketing a 1:18 scale, die-cast, hand-painted replica of Mr. Lauren’s 57SC for ‘just’ £1,595 ($1,930, €1,784 or درهم7,090).
The metallic gray-blue 1936 Bugatti Type 57S – chassis number 57374 – was originally owned by Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild and thus known as the ‘Rothschild Atlantic.’ It was sold for in excess of £24.8 million ($30 million, €27.7 million or درهم110.2 million) in 2010 to the collector Peter Mullin. The car is now displayed at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California.The missing 1936 57SC – chassis 57453 – was presented in black and known as ‘La Voiture Noire’ or ‘The Black Car.’ It was the second Atlantic manufactured, disappeared from France in February 1941 and has never been seen since. Jean Bugatti considered this particular example his “most innovative and most valuable creation.”The 1936 Bugatti 57SC – chassis number 57473, ‘the Holzschuh Atlantic’ – was first owned by Jacques Holzschuch and his wife, Yvonne, and presented in black. After they were killed in the Second World War, the car’s subsequent owner, René Chatard, was hit by a train whilst in it 1955. He and his companion died and the remains of the vehicle were sold on. The restored car – considered a replica by experts – is displayed at the Torrota private collection in Spain.Clothier Ralph Lauren with his 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC – chassis 57591, the ‘Pope Atlantic.’ It was originally owned by Richard B. Pope and presented in sapphire blue, but painted black after being sold to Ralph Lauren in 1988.At the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, commemorating the 110th anniversary of Jean Bugatti’s birth, Bugatti sold a one-off model named ‘La Voiture Noire’ in homage to the missing 57SC for circa £15.7 million ($19 million, €17.6 million or درهم70 million). They declared it: “The most expensive new car ever sold.”The model available from Ralph Lauren.The steering wheel of the 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific.The seats are an artwork in themselves.Another view of the interior.With the doors open, from the front.The spare wheel.From the front.From the rear (complete with twelve exhaust pipes).The bonnet of the vehicle with a model of the car that inspired it on it.
1978 Piaggio Ape ‘limousine’ used by the controversial Countess Agusta – a woman who either fell or was pushed to her death from her home above Portofino in 2001 – to be auctioned
On 8th January 2001, “shop assistant turned model turned multi-millionairess many times over turned fugitive” (via a stretch in what American’s so pleasantly term ‘pokey’) Countess Francesca Vacca Agusta “disappeared” from the terrace of her Ligurian seaside home. The series of events that preceded and followed could have featured in an Agatha Christie novel or a Sherlock Holmes story.
Graffagni saw off the business tycoon’s first wife, Pupetta Maresca, after a torrid affair and following their marriage in 1974, amongst other things, became chatelaine of a 40-room property complete with a helipad. It had been built in 1870 by George Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon – whose death was attributed by amongst others Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the “curse of King Tut” – as his holiday home and during the 1970s and 1980s guests to “jet-set parties” given at the house by the socialite Countess were ferried back and forth from their dock in Portofino harbour in a custom built 1978 Piaggio Ape coachbuilt ‘limousine.’ This vehicle, described as a “perfect yacht tender” with its opulently patterned interior and passenger-driver intercom, is now for sale.
Countess Francesca Agusta (née Francesca Vacca Graffagni, 29th October 1942 – 8th January 2001). It is most surprising that the late Dominick Dunne did not make a television programme about her life and demise.Villa Altachiara (alternatively known as ‘Villa Alta Chiara’ or ‘Villa Carnarvon’) was one of Countess Agusta’s homes from the 1960s until her death in 2001; it was originally built as a holiday home for Lord Carnarvon (26th June 1866 – 5th April 1923) – the financier of Howard Carter’s explorations of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings that led to the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb. The Carnarvon family hosted many guests during their ownership, amongst them Brooke Astor and Evelyn Waugh.
Count Agusta died in 1989 without divorcing his second wife in spite of separating from her in 1985. At that time, in addition to Villa Altachiara, he had given her four apartments in Milan, an estate in Cuernavaca, Mexico, family jewellery and an undisclosed cash sum. With his demise, she came into yet further fortune.
This by-then “very wealthy woman” hit the headlines again in 1994 when she and her new lover, a “former Portofino playboy politician [named] Maurizio Raggio,” were discovered to have been part of a corruption scandal involving Bettino Craxi, the Prime Minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. Before police could apprehend them to charge them with amongst other things money laundering, the pair fled to Mexico and lived on her estate until 1997 as fugitives. During this period, the Countess reportedly attempted suicide at least once.
Upon her return to Italy, the Countess plea-bargained and spent just three months in Milan’s Opera prison for her crimes in spite of receiving a two-year jail sentence. After “some further time under house arrest” in the Villa Altachiara, the “retired” gadabout then took up with a Mexican, Tirso ‘Tito’ Chazaro (also known as ‘Tirso Di Ricardo’ and ‘Rafael Tirso Roncado Gonzales’), and lived in the style of Miss Havisham. She was rarely seen in public and having become dependent on drink and drugs, was known for her erratic behaviour and temper.
“Considerably the worse for wear and muttering she would not be coming back” on the night of 8th January 2001, the Countess supposedly told her lover and two others present that she was going for a swim, but either slipped on wet leaves or was pushed off a veranda into the sea. A search followed, but after the only traces found were the Countess’s dressing gown on the seabed close to the Villa Altachiara and her slippers on nearby rocks, press reports suggested she had either committed suicide or, given her past form, staged an “elaborate disappearing act.”
Countess Agusta’s badly decomposed body washed up three weeks later on a beach at Toulon on the French Riviera. Her feet had been gnawed off by fish, her skull was smashed and her face was disfigured. She could only be identified by two rings she was wearing and her exact cause of death could thus not be determined.
As an autopsy found no trace of water in her lungs, she plainly did not die by drowning, but in in 2004 the Countess’s brother, Domenico Vacca Graffagni, was quoted in the Independent as stating: “The [original] inquiry was closed in a hasty fashion because of absence of proof, relying too readily on ‘reasonable doubt’ … It was manslaughter. He [Chazaro] was always beating her. He didn’t mean to kill her. But that evening things didn’t go the way the Carabinieri said, my sister was not drunk and she did not slip on wet leaves on the veranda.”
Adding further to speculation, much earlier, the Countess’s step-son, racing driver and team owner Rocky Agusta (1950 – 2018), told Corriere della Sera in 2001: “Francesca was a beautiful woman, simpatica, very rich… People have written that she inherited 500bn lire, but if it had been only 50 or 25, who commits suicide with 25bn lire set aside? … The people who were around her certainly did not help her… It’s not up to me to formulate accusations, but Francesca was not alone that night. She was very upset. She should have been put to bed. Instead, they let her go out into a dark, wet, cold night, not even dressed.”
In due course, the last of many wills left by Countess Agusta revealed Tirso Chazaro to be her sole beneficiary, but after this was challenged in court by her former lover, Maurizio Raggio, the pair split the legacy – reported to be worth as much as £165 million ($201 million, €186 million or درهم738 million) according to the Guardian in 2001 – sixty-forty between them.
In 2009, the Villa Altachiara was offered for sale initially for £44 million ($54 million, €50 million or درهم198 million) and then for £30 million ($37 million, €34 million or درهم135 million) in 2014. It supposedly eventually sold for less than half that sum to a Russian billionaire a number of years later in spite of an estate agent remarking: “Some say the spirit of Countess Francesca Vacca Agusta still walks the estate looking for her husband and you can hear her shouting for him on the wind.”
An estimate of £37,000 to £49,000 ($45,000 to $60,000, €42,000 to €55,000 or درهم165,000 to درهم220,000) for the Countess’s Piaggio Ape. Described as “sweet” and “[anything but] an Italian tuk-tuk” by RideApart, the one-off private taxi will be auctioned as part of the forthcoming RM Sotheby’s ‘Driving Into Summer’ 21st to 29th May 2020 online sale. One can only hope it finds a happier home than it encountered at that of its former mistress.
Black cab (in green) that has never carried a paying passenger to be auctioned in May; it was originally owned by construction giants Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd.
What do the Duke of Edinburgh, Noel Edmonds, Yvette Fielding, Stephen Fry, Simon Hughes, Stanley Kubrick, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kate Moss, Sir Laurence Olivier and Arnold Schwarzenegger have in common? All of them, variously, have owned black cabs (also known as ‘Hackney carriages’ and ‘hacks’).
Stephen Fry with the black cab he owns.The ex-Nubar Gulbenkian 1960 Austin FX4 Brougham Sedanca taxi with coachwork by FLM Panelcraft. It was sold at auction for £31,900 ($39,000, €36,200 or درهم143,600) in 2015 by Bonhams at their Quail Lodge auction in Carmel, California.
Whilst in the past, the eccentric Armenian business magnate and socialite Nubar Gulbenkian went one stage further and “dolled-up” a 1960 Austin FX4 taxi to his own specifications, a more modern adapted example is to be sold by Bonhams in May.
Lacking a traditional amber light on its roof, the 2006 London Taxi International TXII Gold to be offered has “never carried a fare paying passenger in its life.” This vehicle, instead, was bought new by the construction company Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd. and subsequently given a “bespoke upgrade” costing £12,000 ($14,700, €13,600 or درهم53,900) by LTI dealers KPM Automotive.
Fitted with replacement green velour seating in the passenger section, the 2.4-litre, automatic car has two Motorola telephones, air-conditioning, an intercom and a fold-down wheelchair access ramp. It has covered 18,000 miles from new and is described as being in generally “superb condition” and having a “distinguished air.”
Bonhams will offer the taxi at their online Bicester sale on 30th May. They have set an estimate of £12,000 to £18,000 ($14,700 to $22,000, €13,600 to €20,400 or درهم53,900 to درهم80,900).
As someone named Lou Erickson once said: “Life is like a taxi. The meter keeps a-ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still.”
Superb example of the “world’s ultimate limousine” to be auctioned; the Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman was the favourite of dictators across the globe
Produced from 1963 to 1981 with a run of 2,677 units made, the Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman – also known as the ‘Grosser’ or ‘Grand Mercedes’ – is undoubtedly a star amongst cars.
With owners having included politicians such as Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (who had four) and Robert Mugabe and personalities including Coco Chanel and Elvis Presley, these high-end king of sedans has not only presence but also provide a smooth and quiet ride and extreme levels of comfort.
Later this month in California, a fine example of such a car will be sold at auction. Presented in dark blue (which is rare given most ‘Grossers’s’ are in black) with red leather, the 1969 Pullman offered has a 6,332-cc overhead-cam V8 engine and has been subject to a comprehensive renovation since being purchased by its current owner in 2005.
An estimate of £157,000 to £196,000 ($200,000 to $250,000, €176,000 to €220,000 or درهم735,000 to درهم918,000) has been set for the vehicle. It will be sold at RM Sotheby’sPeterson Automotive Museum auction on 8th December and seems like a veritable bargain given that Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito’s ‘Grosser’ sold for £2.5 million ($3.2 million, €2.8 million or درهم11.7 million) in 2017.
Produced between 1923 and 1939, Austin Sevens were a huge success because they were “simply constructed, economical and easily maintained by the home mechanic.” They “brought motoring within the financial reach of the man in the street” and by the time production ceased, over 290,000 had been made.
The canary yellow car to be offered was purchased by the current owner in 2013 and restored between 2015 and 2017 at an additional cost of £20,000 ($25,700, €22,100 or درهم94,300). It features a rebuilt engine, gearbox, front and rear axels, steering and brakes and has been driven just 400 miles since recommissioning.
An estimate of £19,000 to £25,000 ($24,400 to $32,100, €21,000 to €27,600 or درهم89,600 to درهم117,900) has been set for this little beauty. What better way could one think to take to the open road?
