Buyer snaps up battered Range Rover once owned by Peter Sellers

1977 Wood & Pickett ‘Sheer Rover’
Sold by Bonhams online, £21,951
Although this rare Wood & Pickett Range Rover looked down at heel, it came with a glamorous history: the car was owned by Peter Sellers, who paid £14,000 for the ‘Sheer Rover’ conversion in 1979 – almost what a standard Range Rover cost new. In the consignor’s family since 1980, it was recently recommissioned to the point that it ran and drove but a long period of neglect left it needing work. Importantly it appeared to have retained its original features, including a bespoke spare wheel cover – which alone set Sellers back £255, the equivalent of almost £2000 today.

2023 Porsche 911 (992) Dakar
Sold by Collecting Cars, £271,470
This example of Porsche’s off-road 911 had covered just nine miles since leaving the factory and was yet to be registered. Since the base retail price of the Dakar is £173,000, it was a successful ‘flip’.

2014 Alfa Romeo 4C
Sold by Collecting Cars, £37,250 
Alfa’s 4C is on the cusp of achieving modern classic status on the basis that pre-owned prices can now exceed the £45,000 the car cost new. This one had covered just 18,480 miles in 10 years. Heaps of fun.

2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI 
Sold by Historics, £36,960
Tommi Mäkinen’s four WRC titles with Mitsubishi from 1996-99 were celebrated with the limited edition Tommi Mäkinen Edition Lancer – with special seats, trim and decals. A real head-turner.

1962 Triumph TR4
Sold by Historics, £6259
This was bought new by music impresario Alan Bates of Riverside Records fame. Unrestored and showing just 75,000 miles from new, it had been in storage for a decade prior to Bates’s death last year.

1977 Aston Martin V8 S
Sold by Bonhams online, £72,086
Consigned by its owner of 20 years, this was a rare S version of the Series 3 V8; just 184 UK examples were built. The butch-but-naff bodykit was fitted by Tickford in the ’80s (as you might have guessed).

1981 Porsche 911 SC 
Sold by Historics, £40,698
To borrow from Tommy Cooper, this 911 might have been “filthy, dirty and covered in cobwebs” but it was well preserved beneath the dust accumulated during more than a decade of storage in a dry barn.

1928 Bentley 4½ litre supercharged
Sold by RM Sotheby’s, £313,000
Fitted with replica, Le Mans-style bodywork in 2004 and a supercharger five years later, this car made a good fist of imitating the celebrated ‘Blower’ Bentleys that failed to complete the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1930 – and sold for a fraction of the value of the genuine article.

Forthcoming sale highlights

• Bonhams, Goodwood, Chichester, April 14
  Since we brought you news of the Bonhams sale scheduled to take place during this year’s Goodwood Members’ Meeting, a whole host of interesting lots has been consigned. By far the most eye-catching, however, is a superb replica of one of the three Bristol 450 Aerodynamic coupés built to compete at Le Mans in 1954 and 1955 – where they took consecutive class and team prizes. Estimate: £140,000-£240,000.
• Barrett-Jackson, Palm Beach, Florida, April 18-20
  Barrett-Jackson’s annual spring excursion to Florida will see days of gavel-swinging with more than 1000 lots crossing the block. We like the look of a 2022 Ford GT from the decidedly limited edition of cars liveried in the celebrated red, white and gold of Alan Mann Racing to celebrate the team’s experimental GT of 1966. The 2022 tribute versions were available only to selected Ford GT customers.
• Iconic Auctioneers, Shuttleworth, Beds, April 7
  If our tribute to Ayrton Senna in this edition of Motor Sport has reminded you of the Brazilian’s brilliance, you could celebrate it by bidding on one of Ducati’s limited edition Senna special 916 superbikes being offered in this spring motorcycle sale. Estimate is £13,000-£15,000. Other highly collectable ‘moderns’ include an excellent example of Honda’s mighty, six-cylinder CBX 1000 (also £13,000-£15,000).
• RM Sotheby’s, Toronto, canada, May 31-June 1
  Dubbed the Dare to Dream Collection, this sale will feature 40 blue chip collector cars, dozens of pairs of rare ‘sneakers’ and dozens more items of sporting memorabilia – all of which has been amassed by the same Canadian enthusiast who has spent years tracking down the ‘best of the best’. The auction, which includes nine Ferraris and eight Porsches, will take place at the owner’s extensive home.