Auction Stations! Celeb Cars For Sale
Update: Fancy driving Mr Bean’s car? Want to pretend you’re in a Jamiroquai music video? Now you have your chance with the first virtual car auction by famous British establishment, Classic Car Auctions.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the auction has moved from Birmingham to Warwickshire and instead of being held over two days with the public in attendance, will instead take place by video over 16 days, starting on Saturday 28 March.
It’s the same auction that has the late Princess Diana’s Audi convertible for sale, but now there are some more celebrities involved.
Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr Bean, has one of his cars for sale – and sorry, it’s not a Mini! Instead car enthusiast Atkinson has his 1993 Mercedes-Benz 500E at offer for no reserve. It sold for $56,793.
Classic Car Auction’s manager Gary Dunne, said the Mercedes was “a superb example and possibly one of the best looking in Nautic Blue with a leather interior”.
“This is Rowan’s personal car … it was new to Japan and arrived in the UK in late 2015 complete with a full book pack, Japanese history and up to date UK history. It has also benefitted from the woodwork and seats being refurbished.”
Jamiroquai front man, and well-known car fanatic, Jay Kay has a very special car up for auction. The1972 BMW 1602 was the car he learned to drive in, and drove 30,000miles (48,000km) while touring and writing songs for the British band.
“We believe a lot of his first album was created in this car. He then sold it to a band member and 10 years ago he bought it back,” said Dunne.
“He intended to restore the car and has garaged it at home in anticipation of doing so. However, he hasn’t got around to doing it and is now offering this great 1602 at no reserve, to someone who can [restore it].
Another Kay car in the auction is a 1976 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow that featured in a Jamiroquai music video. In 2015, the Rolls was refurbished and stripped back to bare metal before being repainted in Rolls-Royce Black Emerald metallic.
The current owner bought it in 2017 and it is estimated to sell for between £27,000 and £32,000 (NZ$54,000- $64,000).