Rolls ‘oldie’ sells for €4.9m

The oldest Rolls-Royce in the world broke records yesterday when it went under the hammer for £3.5 million (€4.9m).

The 1904 car sold for almost twice its estimate when it was bought by a private collector at Bonhams in London, in a tense auction that began at £1million and quickly evolved into a bidding war between two telephone buyers.

The previous highest price paid for a Rolls was in August this year when a 1912 Silver Ghost sold for £1.5m in California.

Also sold was the Aston Martin that became the first car to be driven along the whole length of the 10,000 mile Asian Highway.

The V8 Vantage completed the epic journey, which took it through 18 countries on August 14, 49 days after it left Tokyo.

The car, which sold for £38,900 (€54,771), was specially modified for the trip and withstood everything the Asian continent could throw at it, from oppressive heat and inhospitable terrain to challenging bureaucracy and petrol supply problems.

Its two drivers raised awareness and funds for children’s road safety campaigns in some of the countries they travelled through.