London: Two Aston Martin convertibles similar to the one used by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for their wedding were sold as buyers competed at a $10 million (Dh36.7 million) auction of classic vehicles on Friday.
The DB6 cars, finished in black and platinum and like the Prince of Wales's blue model that William and Kate used, each made £232,500 (Dh1.3 million) with fees.
While both DB6s fetched hammer prices that were below their pre-auction estimates of as much as £250,000 pounds, the Bonhams sale showed continuing demand for the handmade cars. The annual event was held at the marque's factory in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, in the UK
"At least two billionaires have been buying Aston Martins aggressively over the last three or four years," Dietrich Hatlapa, founder of Historic Automobile Group International (HAGI), a London-based research company, said before the sale. "The wedding confirmed the car as a British institution."
The car in which the newlyweds drove from Buckingham Palace on April 29 was a Seychelles-blue DB6 Volante MKII that Queen Elizabeth gave Prince Charles for his 21st birthday in 1969. The Prince had it converted to run on bioethanol fuel. The Bonhams cars were DB6 Volante MKI convertibles, made in 1968.
In the 1980s, Prince Charles commissioned Aston Martin to make him another sports convertible, a V8 Volante with a more powerful Vantage engine. A further 24 of this type were made, the model becoming known as the V8 Vantage Volante "Prince of Wales."
Bond Cars
Timothy Dalton drove a V8 Volante "Prince of Wales" in the 1987 Bond film The Living Daylights. A factory-made replica sold for £172,000, well above the high estimate of £100,000. A clone of the DBS that George Lazenby drove in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service fetched £106,000, again beating the high estimate of as much as £70,000. Both replica cars were made by Aston Martin in 2008.
The top lot was a 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Series V Vantage 4.2-litre convertible that sold for £507,500 with fees. Finished in Aegean blue with pale grey leather upholstery, it had been estimated to fetch between £440,000 to £480,000.
The auction raised about £6 million with fees, against a high estimate of £5.3 million, based on hammer prices. The two royal wedding lookalike cars and the top lot were sold to UK bidders.
