Celebrity cars – how relevant is Very Important Provenance?

Is a car worth more simply because it's been owned by someone famous - or does it all depend on exactly who that famous owner was, what they did with the car in question, and what it really meant to them? Simon de Burton considers the question...

Posterior provenance

When buying a classic, do you insist on originality, superb condition, matching numbers, faultless mechanicals and perfect running? Or are you more concerned with whose arse (or 'ass', for our U.S. readers) has been in the driver's seat? 

Plenty to come

There should be a plenty of opportunities to find out during the next few weeks, because there are more than a few 'celebrity' motors coming under the hammer, ranging from Steve McQueen's Porsche Turbo and one of the two Ferrari Testarossas used in the TV series Miami Vice, to the effortlessly cool 'Blue Lena' Bentley Flying Spur in which Rolling Stone Keith Richards was chauffeured from England to Morocco with only Anita Pallenberg, fellow model Deborah Dixon and an in-car record player for entertainment. God, that must have been a boring trip. Such a long way...

The petrolhead's petrolhead

Ordinarily, an early 930 Turbo could be had for around £100,000 - 150,000, but Mecum's slate grey McQueen car is being advertised as 'estimate on request' - auction speak for 'if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it'. That's because many people (mostly of a certain age) still regard McQueen as the petrolhead's petrolhead, meaning prices achieved in the past for cars touched by his presence have soared into the stratosphere. $1.3 million for the 911 used in the opening sequence of the movie Le Mans, for example; $11 million for the Ford GT40 he also drove in the film, and $10 million for his Ferrari 275 GTB four-cam - all at least double the value of comparable, non-McQueen examples.

The taint of Z-list celebs

But - King of Cool aside - does a famous name always add that much of a premium to a classic car these days? With values higher than ever at the top end, and condition and/or originality paramount, the bonus of celebrity ownership becomes less significant. For example, the 'barn find'Ferrari SWB California Spider that (probably) belonged to Alain Delon, and fetched 14 million euros earlier this year, would likely have made the same, even without its rather loose connection to the heartthrob actor.

Celebs who just weren't car guys

And what about motors owned by celebs who, quite simply, just weren't car guys? Did the 1955 Ferrari 857 that drew $6.2 million at Gooding and Co. three years ago really make more because it once belonged to fey pop artist Andy Warhol - who hired someone to drive it around New York? I doubt it.

Prime Ministerial upholstery

One car which really did have its value boosted by the 'name' who originally owned it, however, was the Series I Land Rover gifted to Sir Winston Churchill on his 80th birthday. It made £119,000 three years ago, at least quadruple what a mint, regular Series I would have made at the time.

Although it was in delightfully original condition - right down to the extra-wide seat squab fitted from new to accommodate the well-upholstered Prime Ministerial arse. Ass. Whatever you want to call it...

Photos: Getty Images / Edward Quinn Archive / Bonhams / Gooding & Company / RM Sotheby's / Mecum / Rémi Dargegen

Cars with notable provenance currently for sale in the Market

Market | Cars

1958 Fiat Multipla - Fissore Marinella

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1964 Maserati Mistral - 3.7 Spyder ex-Diana Dors

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1976 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow I

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1976 Jaguar XJS

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1955 Ferrari 410 Superamerica

EUR 4 522 840 - 5 427 408

Auctions | Cars

1961 Jaguar E-Type SI - E-Type Series 1 3.8-Litre Roadster

EUR 293 985 - 384 441

Auctions | Cars

1956 Ferrari 250 GT - Berlinetta Competizione 'Tour de France'

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

2005 Ferrari Enzo Ferrari - Enzo

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1953 Bentley R Type Continental

EUR 1 266 395 - 1 628 223

Auctions | Cars

1953 Bentley R Type Continental - R-Type Continental Fastback Sports...

P.O.R.

Norton Commando – The Gasbox

Written by Martin Hodgson.

Not too long ago The GasBox were featured on these pages when their BMW R80 was 3rd in Pipeburn’s 2014 Bike of the Year Awards, so it’s fair to say they can build one hell of a bike. But pinning down owner Jesse Bassett’s style isn’t easy. Take this 1974 Norton Commando 850. It’s neither a custom Café Racer nor a Concours d’Elegance build due to the modifications; but it, like all of Jesse’s builds, are as close to perfection as you can get. The again, maybe that’s his style.

It might be a big call to say a workshop is capable of building consistently “perfect” bikes, but look at their builds, their trophy cabinet and an achievement almost unheard of; Jesse’s first build at a tender age went straight onto the cover of a magazine. Jesse and his right hand man Tim Fiorucci have been impressing the best motorcycle judges in the world for the last few years so it’s no wonder the owner with his high expectations chose them to rebuild his Norton. This particular Commando 850 had spent the past twenty years of its life gathering dust in the corner of a shed and so upon arrival at The GasBox there was a lot to do. Nothing short of a complete strip down and rebuild would be acceptable and given that perfection takes time the owner was prepared to be patient.

With a bare frame to work with the rear hoop was shortened significantly to remove the overhang that the standard frame offers. The frame now ends where the seat does rather than the original which continues to run back to offer support to the now deleted tail light and plate holder. At first glance the 850 frame appears to be standard but this shortening of the frame gently cleans up the look. The other distinct feature of a Commando is the large rear fender, this too is gone with a GasBox shorter item in its place. With the rear end significantly tidied up the front end received similar treatment with a much smaller front fender fabricated that balances the ratio of material removed front to rear compared to a stock model.

During the build it should be remembered that Jesse and Tim also had four other GasBox bikes to build and three shows to attend, not to mention the daily jobs that any workshop has to handle. With all this going on the decision was made to rebuild the entire engine and transmission, Jesse is a master at finding rare vintage parts and isn’t fazed by what he might confront from an engine that has been sitting for decades. The classic Norton air-cooled OHV parallel twin is now as good as when it left the hands of the brilliant Norton engineers, the two-piece forged crank spinning on new mains, gaskets are all new, so too all filters and even little details like replacing the fuel lines to ensure perfect running operation.

On the outside of the engine what wasn’t painted or powder coated black was thoroughly cleaned and polished with the aluminium given a satin finish with other stock hardware zinc plated. The main custom touch to the engine is the in-house fabrication of the high mounted, scrambler-type twin exhausts that exit stage left. The electrics of a Commando 850 were considered quite advanced at the time for a British machine but Jesse has brought them in line with 2015 standards to ensure everything works when and how it should. One of the other advanced for the times features of the Commando was the vibration reducing Isolastic system which has now also been renewed separating the rider from the jarring of the torquey twin!

By today’s standard the Norton’s front end was a relatively simple one, but in keeping with the rest of the build The GasBox boys have found ways to clean it up further. The modern electrics allow for the fitment of a new, smaller headlight that is housed in a black casing to blend with the blacked out triple trees.

The gaudy rear light is gone and in its place are a pair of small brake lights cleverly fixed just behind the rear shock mounts. The dual instruments have been scrapped for a single speedo held in place by a beautifully fabricated bracket. While the bars wear a new brake master cylinder, custom switches and the ever popular Biltwell rubber grips.

With such an immaculate base now complete it would be easy for a builder to make wrong wheel and paint choices and in one move destroy all their hard work. But the consistency with which Jesse makes the right design decisions is no fluke. The wheels themselves have been respoked with brand new stainless items into blacked out rims before being wrapped in period correct Dunlop Roadmaster TT100 tyres.

The seat is a custom item, it doesn’t shy too far away from the Norton look, but the quality leather and brilliant stitch work make a statement of their own. Finally the colour choice for the straight as an arrow metal work had to be made, a colour that would fit the classy and sophisticated look of the build. This part was actually easy, the owner of the bike drives an Aston Martin in grey, so the same colour was applied to the Commando with the finish Aston Martin quality from the gun.

If you’re going to have two grey Brits at home an Aston and a Norton of this quality certainly beat playing house with The Two Ronnies. And that ends another picture perfect GasBox build, words and photos don’t do it justice but it’s hard to see how yet again Jesse and Tim won’t be receiving both the plaudits of the entire industry for their work and a few more trophies along the way.

via PIPEBURN

Snapshot, 1974: Student rags to riches

Students Gary Anusavice and John Gallagher, both 21, had $500 in the bank when they teamed up to offer pre-faded denim jackets and silk-screened T-shirts through adverts in Rolling Stone magazine. Nine months later they had grossed $100,000…

Their mail order business, Head Shed, was run from Anusavice’s home with the help of both his parents – who handled the orders and faded the denim. The boys bought the T-shirts for 90 cents each, silk-screen printed them at home with famous faces, and sold them on for $4.95. A tidy little margin with very few overheads. The photograph was taken in 1974, after they’d made their first $100,000, and it shows how the boys chose to spend some of the profits. An E-type Jaguar is a great choice of car, but we’d question the boys’ taste when it comes to that brash alloy wheel – an inappropriate choice that makes us wince. Then again, take a closer look and you’ll be relieved to see they’ve only been able to afford one wheel, so far. Let’s hope that by the time they made their next $100,000, their taste had improved.

Photo: Paul Slade/Paris Match via Getty Images

Porsche.....