When Jaguar released the E-Type in 1961, Enzo Ferrari declared his rival’s automobile to be “the most beautiful car ever made”. Frank Sinatra took one look and said: “I want that car and I want it now.”
Plenty of wealthy collectors still want that car at almost any cost judging by the amount the 1963 E-Type, right, commanded at a Bonhams auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Thursday. A bidder paid $7.37 million (£5.93 million) for the car, making it the most expensive E-Type sold at an auction. With only 4,000 miles on the clock, it was deemed to be one of the best examples of a Lightweight E-Type — a dozen extremely rare cars designed for the race track, not the open market.
It can achieve speeds of up to 150mph and was described in the auction catalogue as being “fastidiously maintained” by three owners over half a century and it has never been disassembled or restored.
The UK classic-car market is estimated to be worth £5.5 billion. Rare E-Types aside, however, fund managers are warning that the market is starting to quieten with talk of a re-adjustment taking place.