Here is an Aston Martin DB4 Series III. It has been in storage for more than 30 years, looks like a mess, will require many hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment to make it look pretty, and is coming up for auction.
The estimated sale price? Around £220,000, which is more than a brand-new Vanquish. Welcome to the world of classic cars, circa 2015.
The story is thus. In July 1961, a man named Robert Drummond, who lived in London, paid good money to buy this Aston Martin DB4 Series III new. He sent it back to Aston barely two months after purchase, to have an overdrive fitted.
Between 1961 and 1982 - when the current owner purchased the Aston - the story goes blank. And, well, it's also quite blank for the 33 years from 1982 to the present day, because said owner started on a restoration project, but for whatever reason abandoned it.
So this sorry-looking DB4 has sat in storage for many, many years. Bonhams, who are offering up the Aston icon as part of their ‘Aston Martin Works' sale, say work on the engine was started - it was rebuilt with new bearing shells, valves and so forth - while bits of the chassis and sills were also fixed. But that was back in the Eighties.
It's being sold strictly as seen, is said to offer "a most rewarding restoration project", and is expected to fetch something between £200k to £220k.
If you don't fancy getting your hands dirty, and fancy a ready-finished classic Aston - and have a few bob lying around - there's also a mint condition DB5 Convertible up for grabs too. It's silver, left-hand-drive, was restored by a Brit in the 1980s and looks absolutely bloody gorgeous.
The sale takes place in Newport Pagnell on 9 May. Fancy taking a punt on one of these icons?
Check out the listings here and here
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