On September 12th, Bonhams will hold the annual Goodwood Revival Sale in Chichester. The highlight of this year's auction is a collection of thirteen cars, all of them owned by Chris Evans. Of the lot, the weirdest and most interesting is a replica of the steampunk-licious Chitty Chitty Bang Bang hero car.
For the younger audience, we should mention that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one of the best musical films ever made, based on a novel written by Ian Fleming of James Bond fame. Referred to as The Magical Car, the original vehicle used in the movie was auctioned in 2011 for $805,000. Chris Evan's replica is expected to fetch much less than that, even though that it was built with assistance from the original's creator, it's road legal, and it's simply cool.
Built from scratch, only the Ford V6 motor and accompanying automatic transmission aren't hand-built because the original had a similar powertrain. As for the other cars on the list, you'll be surprised to find that six of them have Ferrari badges. The rest is represented by a Jaguar trio (XK120 Alloy Roadster, XKSS Lynx, XK150 FHC), a Mercedes-Benz 280 SL Pagoda, a Daimler Dart SP250 police car, and, are you sitting down, a Fiat 127 Abarth from 1983. What? The latter doesn't seem to fit in with the super exotica crowd.
Fret not - the little Abarth is a wonderful, wonderful machine by hot hatchback standards. Built by the owner of the Jordan Racing Team, everything has been rebuilt to original specification or improved to suit Evans' taste. One of the most recent acquisitions in the Top Gear host's garage holds an estimate of around $23,400, which is rather cheap considering how much elbow grease and attention went into it.
Other than the Chris Evans-owned vehicles presented in the list below, Bonhams will auction off about 140 automobilia items owned by the media personality, with proceeds to be donated to the Children in Need charity. Tell us in a comment what's your favorite old-timer from the following thirteen:
- 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C Alloy, estimate £2,600,000-2,900,000
- 1971 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider, estimate £2,300,000-2,600,000
- 1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L Lusso, estimate £1,400,000-1,800,000
- 1965 Ferrari 275 GTS Spyder, estimate £1,300,000-1,600,000
- 1963 Ferrari 250 SWB Replica, estimate £500,000-600,000
- 1949 Jaguar XK120 Alloy Roadster, estimated £325,000-375,000
- 1967 Jaguar XKSS Lynx, estimate £325,000-375,000
- 1936 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Replica, estimate £250,000-350,000
- 1970 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda, estimate £100,000-130,000
- 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS, estimate £100,000-130,000
- 1958 Jaguar XK150 3.4 Fixed Head Coupé, estimate £55,000-65,000
- 1964 Daimler Dart Police Car SP250, estimate £50,000-60,000
- 1983 Fiat 127 Abarth, estimate £10,000-15,000
We still want that Fiat... and the XKSS. Oh, darn it, we can't make up our minds.
Built from scratch, only the Ford V6 motor and accompanying automatic transmission aren't hand-built because the original had a similar powertrain. As for the other cars on the list, you'll be surprised to find that six of them have Ferrari badges. The rest is represented by a Jaguar trio (XK120 Alloy Roadster, XKSS Lynx, XK150 FHC), a Mercedes-Benz 280 SL Pagoda, a Daimler Dart SP250 police car, and, are you sitting down, a Fiat 127 Abarth from 1983. What? The latter doesn't seem to fit in with the super exotica crowd.
Fret not - the little Abarth is a wonderful, wonderful machine by hot hatchback standards. Built by the owner of the Jordan Racing Team, everything has been rebuilt to original specification or improved to suit Evans' taste. One of the most recent acquisitions in the Top Gear host's garage holds an estimate of around $23,400, which is rather cheap considering how much elbow grease and attention went into it.
Other than the Chris Evans-owned vehicles presented in the list below, Bonhams will auction off about 140 automobilia items owned by the media personality, with proceeds to be donated to the Children in Need charity. Tell us in a comment what's your favorite old-timer from the following thirteen:
- 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C Alloy, estimate £2,600,000-2,900,000
- 1971 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider, estimate £2,300,000-2,600,000
- 1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L Lusso, estimate £1,400,000-1,800,000
- 1965 Ferrari 275 GTS Spyder, estimate £1,300,000-1,600,000
- 1963 Ferrari 250 SWB Replica, estimate £500,000-600,000
- 1949 Jaguar XK120 Alloy Roadster, estimated £325,000-375,000
- 1967 Jaguar XKSS Lynx, estimate £325,000-375,000
- 1936 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Replica, estimate £250,000-350,000
- 1970 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda, estimate £100,000-130,000
- 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS, estimate £100,000-130,000
- 1958 Jaguar XK150 3.4 Fixed Head Coupé, estimate £55,000-65,000
- 1964 Daimler Dart Police Car SP250, estimate £50,000-60,000
- 1983 Fiat 127 Abarth, estimate £10,000-15,000
We still want that Fiat... and the XKSS. Oh, darn it, we can't make up our minds.