Royal Enfield Interceptor raising money for the Marines: Auction results

Simon de Burton’s sales round-up includes a Marines-styled bike and a Chapman gift

Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor ‘Bootneck’
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Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor ‘Bootneck’

Sold at Royal Marines Association gala auction, £60,000

Royal Enfield is going great guns with its 650cc models – and, given the India-based marque’s British roots and long-standing military ties, it’s fitting that one of its bikes was chosen as the basis for this unique special created to raise money for the Royal Marines Association. Built by the custom division of Edinburgh’s Saltire Motorcycles, the Interceptor was modified with a shortened chassis and a fuel tank embedded with a replica Fairbairn Sykes fighting knife. Road ragers, take note…

Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor ‘Bootneck’


2004 Ferrari Enzo

Sold by RM Sotheby’s, price not revealed

Offered through the Sotheby’s Sealed private auction system, this was the only Enzo to leave Maranello in matt black. It was a special order for the Sultan of Brunei, with just 5500 miles from new.

2004 Ferrari Enzo


1971 Ford Escort Mexico

Sold by Hampson Auctions, £25,875

A Ford Escort Mexico was my favourite Scalextric car as a boy but this full-sized version would have been more fun because it had been upgraded with a normally aspirated 2.1-litre Cosworth engine.

1971 Ford Escort Mexico


1972 Porsche Targa

Sold by RM Sotheby’s, £960,000

To mark 50 years since the founding of Porsche Design, PD and Porsche Classic restored this unique 911S. It was sold with a one-off chronograph based on a 1972 watch – PD’s first product.

1972 Porsche Targa


1969 Lamborghini Miura P400S

Sold by Bonhams, £1.07m

Sold by its owner of 25 years, this Miura originally belonged to the aristocrat and banking heir George de Vere Drummond – a former gentleman racer who once campaigned a Ferrari 250 GTO.

1969 Lamborghini Miura P400S


1980 Bugatti Type 52 child’s car

Sold by Bonhams, £16,575

This electric-powered child’s car was one of 19 miniature Bugattis sold from the estate of the late Sir Terence Conran. The designer displayed them on a wall at his Berkshire home of 50 years.

1980 Bugatti Type 52 child’s car


1982 Golf GTi

Sold by Classic Car Auctions, £14,850

Back in the early 2000s, the makers of Slick 50 oil treatment staged a race series for road-legal cars. This GTI was one of the contenders. It was in single ownership for 25 years and recently ‘refreshed’.

1982 Golf GTi


1976 Lotus Elite

Sold by H&H, £11,250

Sold for recommissioning, this Elite was a gift from the Lotus boss Colin Chapman to grand prix star and works driver Mario Andretti in 1976 – the year of his first F1 victory for Lotus. It has been in the last registered keeper’s ownership since 1984 and off the road for the past decade.

1976 Lotus Elite


Forthcoming sale highlights

  • Bonhams, Grand Palais, Paris, February 1
    Bonhams’ outing to Paris will include the remarkable ‘his and hers’ collection of pioneer motorcycles and veteran and vintage cars, commercials and farm machinery amassed by the late German enthusiasts Peter and Ulrike Bühner. Among the 50 motorcycles and 20 other vehicles is an example of the world’s oldest production motorcycle, a Hildebrand & Wolfmüller from 1894 (estimate £100,000).
  • RM Sotheby’s, Salles du Carrousel, Louvre Palace, Paris, February 1
    If you’re filthy rich but missed one of the 500 available build slots for a Bugatti Chiron, now’s your chance to get your hands on a new one. This RM Sotheby’s sale will include the unique Profilée version which is among the last of the 230mph W16 cars to be created. Finished in a one-off coat of silver paint above a lower body of exposed carbon tinted Bugatti Blue, it’s likely to fetch more than £2.6m.
  • Gooding & Company, Amelia Island, Florida, March 2-3
    Among the usual array of interesting high-profile lots at its annual Amelia Island sale, Gooding & Company will offer a quartet of RUF Porsches comprising a Turbo R, Turbo R Cabriolet, a BTR2 and an ultra-rare RK Coupé – the supercharged model developed with Italian styling house Studiotorino. Based on the 987 Cayman, just two RK Coupés were built.
  • Broad Arrow, Amelia Island, Florida, March 3-4
    Broad Arrow makes its first appearance of 2023, at Amelia Island. Among the offerings is a 1969 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 that was converted to Competizione specification during the 1980s and has been driven at the Classic Sebring 12 Hours, the Classic Daytona 24 Hours and the Monterey Motorsports Reunion by stars including Jochen Mass and Arturo Merzario. It’s tipped to fetch up to £500,000.